Well my 4 y/o grandson must have flushed something down the toilet yesterday afternoon.

Drain cleaner didn’t do anything, tried to snake it out to no avail, whatever it is apparently is trapped in the “s” and I’m afraid of it actually getting pushed down into the PVC if I dislodge it the wrong way.

There are the original builder grade commodes circa 1994 and this one has needed the internals replaced for some time and both have been problematic at times for clogging.

So if I’m going to have to pull it to remove whatever is trapped I might as well just replace it, that is my thought anyhow. What a Christmas present, a new WC!

Planned on a afternoon range day, looks like my plans have changed.

That's a shitty situation.

When moving into my first place, the toilet wouldn't flush very well.
The plumber come out and asked what was flushed down the toilet. I stated I had just moved in and this is how I found it.
He said there was something suck in it. He pulled the toilet and wrested with it for a while before pulling out a hair comb/pick.

I used to do that for a living. Combs, razors, tooth brushes and tooth past tubes were the number one culprit for the toilet. And often toys. Seen a few phones in recent years (other people took out)

Strangest things in a house trap was a duck (who flushed a duck and why?) The other interesting one of note was a bag of crack vials. Found out the cops had come at some point (go figure) right before the previous tenants had to move out (go figure). Hmmmm... lol

Some good advice from a contractor friend, never do plumbing work on a Friday. I know it was out of your control, shovelhead, but general words of warning.

We have another full bath and one half bath so not in total panic.

Figured if I have a plumber come out I’m looking at a 200 dollar bill to pull the commode so why not just do it myself and replace it at the same time.

Buy an extra wax ring and double up on the new one you install. A professional showed me that trick. Makes them seal up better.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

THE MIGHTY FERGUSON

I remember a plumber mentioning a beer can or two, plugging the line.

quote:

Originally posted by coloradohunter44:
Buy an extra wax ring and double up on the new one you install. A professional showed me that trick. Makes them seal up better.

That's probably the only thing I know about installing a toilet, and I agree.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
I remember a plumber mentioning a beer can or two, plugging the line.

He’s four, I would hope not yet!

The Cadet 3 is cheaper and can be found with the slow close seat and ring. Pretty good flusher.

I have replaced a few toilets recently and a while ago in my home and other family members and it is easy to do. Home Depot or Lowes has some nice,new types of toilets that are better than older ones and have all the internals installed in them already from the factory. I have used the newer type of sealers,(some have wax rings in them while others do not), and I think they work and install easier than a simple wax ring. I have yet to have a problem with them and it has been years ago that I replaced them. Danco has one called "Next" and Fluidmaster has a couple. If you happen to screw up the placement on the wax ring for whatever reason it's not good but the newer types of seals are more forgiving.

Thanks all for the humor and encouragement.

I went with the American Standard Champion. Better warranty and supposed to be clog resistant. And at 209 vs. 189 a no brained at least to me. Also got the taller model, originally thought how much difference can it make? I stand corrected, much nicer and easier for my beat up knees.

Only had two problems with the install, first one of the floor mounting bolts had a boogered thread, a quick chase with a 1/4-20 die fixed that. Second, had a slight bowl to flange leak, my own fault as I didn’t tighten it down enough initially, all good now.

So I’m now committed to replace the one in the master bath next, I’ll wait until January’s check gets here.

Also forgot, yesterday the basement bathroom has a pit and an ejector pump. And guess what I found? Yep, one of the flex connectors on the check valve started leaking. So that was my fun yesterday afternoon.

I hate plumbing work with a passion, it seems every time I try to do anything it becomes a major epic saga.

The Champion is an excellent choice. Due to a medical condition, I am, shall we say, overly productive. I've never been able to clog a Champion. I've got 3. (and had two at my previous house.)

I’ve always liked these instead of wax gaskets.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Thanks all for the humor and encouragement.

I went with the American Standard Champion. Better warranty and supposed to be clog resistant. And at 209 vs. 189 a no brained at least to me. Also got the taller model, originally thought how much difference can it make? I stand corrected, much nicer and easier for my beat up knees.

Only had two problems with the install, first one of the floor mounting bolts had a boogered thread, a quick chase with a 1/4-20 die fixed that. Second, had a slight bowl to flange leak, my own fault as I didn’t tighten it down enough initially, all good now.

So I’m now committed to replace the one in the master bath next, I’ll wait until January’s check gets here.

Did you get what was plugging it up?

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Thanks all for the humor and encouragement.

I went with the American Standard Champion. Better warranty and supposed to be clog resistant. And at 209 vs. 189 a no brained at least to me. Also got the taller model, originally thought how much difference can it make? I stand corrected, much nicer and easier for my beat up knees.

Only had two problems with the install, first one of the floor mounting bolts had a boogered thread, a quick chase with a 1/4-20 die fixed that. Second, had a slight bowl to flange leak, my own fault as I didn’t tighten it down enough initially, all good now.

So I’m now committed to replace the one in the master bath next, I’ll wait until January’s check gets here.

Did you get what was plugging it up?

Well I saw the plug at where the bowl met the flange on the bowl side, literally plugged solid with waste. The roll of TP was almost empty so I have an idea that it was the combination of the two. As much curiosity I had(!) whatever was in there was nothing I would want to reclaim. Probably better off not to know. From the flange down the pipe was clear. One good thing was that the tub/shower connects to this pipe within three feet and the tub drained fine so I knew about where the problem was. I really expected the discharge pipe to be plugged somewhere, just how my luck works.

These commodes have been problematic since the first day we moved in here in '04. First generation of low flow models. As all the houses in this development were built by the same builder from the late 80's through 94-5 it is not unusual to see one alongside the street on bulk pickup day.

I'm going to give it a few days to see if any discount coupons come through from Home Depot and if not just go ahead and pick up another one to replace the master bath's also before the price jumps up.

Then today I had to have an odor investigation, smelled something like combustion gas from the furnace or hot water heater but not really that. Had the gas company come out, all checked out fine with a sniffer. The serviceman from the gas company and I were both wondering, he pointed to the one Fluorescent light fixture in my workshop near the furnace and said "Maybe the ballast?" Sure enough, ballast was stinking. When I took it down I realized it was one of the two we took out of my late F-I-L's basement. As it was bolted to the ceiling I had to take the cover off. I'm not saying it was old but the ballast's label had the company address shown as Chicago,18, Illinois. So pre 63?

I've had two new built houses and one new built apartment we're renting now. The last house we owned and the apartment ended up getting plugged shortly after moving in.

It was new build debris of parts of lumber that blocked the pipe in both cases.