How to Unclog a Toilet

Featured Pro: Eric Stromer
Category: Home Improvement
Time: 2:15


ERIC STROMER: There’s never a convenient time for a clogged toilet. I’m going to show you the basics of clearing one so you don’t have to wait for a professional. I’m Eric Stromer, and this is your GMC Trade Secret, brought to you by the GMC Sierra.

Now, if water won’t flush from the toilet or if the water drains slowly, you probably have a clog somewhere in the toilet or drainage line. Considering most clogged toilets are created by toilet paper, many will clear themselves after a few moments.

Your first step is almost too simple to mention, but I’m going to do it anyway. Try flushing the toilet again, but only if the water level drops to a normal level. It’s coming up. It’s coming up. Yeah, that’s a clogged toilet, all right.

Now, if there is a slow drain in the toilet, this is your easiest way to clear it. And if that doesn’t work, then you can try a plunger, also known as a plumber’s helper. Now, most bathrooms have one handy. And you’ve got to make sure that the plunger head is big enough to cover the drainage hole in the bottom of the toilet.

Okay, now most people give it usually about three or four plunges and then they call it quits. They do this. They go, one, two, three. Oh, man, it doesn’t work. I’ve got to call a plumber. But the reality is you’ve got to give it 20 or so pumps with the plunger. Check it out. Get some suction on it, and then back and forth just like that. There we go. That did the trick.

Now, if that doesn’t work, you might have to resort to the big guns. And by that I mean the toilet auger, also known as a snake. Now, what this does is it goes into the toilet just like that. Now, most blockages occur usually in the first 48 inches of the toilet drain. All you’ve got to do is feed the line right up into the drain until it meets the blockage. Now, sometimes if you flush it a little bit, that’ll help get the auger deeper into the toilet. There we go. Now, to retrieve the auger, you just rotate the handle counterclockwise and then go and wipe it down with a rag.

Now you can save yourself an expensive call to a plumber next time you have a toilet that won’t flush. I’m Eric Stromer, and that’s your GMC Trade Secret.