Your Toilet Is Overflowing—What Now?
It’s a very common occurrence in households across the country: someone flushes the toilet, then watches in horror as the water fills higher and higher until it reaches the brim and overflows onto the floor. While your first instinct may be to panic, try to keep a level head and act quickly to stop the overflow and fix it as soon as possible.
More often than not, you will be able to identify and fix the source of the overflow yourself. In other cases, you will need to call an emergency plumber in Las Vegas, NV to come and restore your toilet to its full capabilities. If your toilet suddenly overflows, follow these steps to fix it, or at least minimize the damage.
Shut off the water
The first thing you will want to do when faced with an overflowing toilet is shut off the water. If you act quickly enough, you might be able to stop the flow before it actually spills over the brim of the toilet bowl, but if it’s past that point, you might have to get a little messy.
Many toilets have a shutoff valve located near the base of the toilet on the water supply line. Find this valve and turn it to shut off the water, and make sure all flow to the toilet bowl has been halted.
If you can’t find the shutoff valve, you might need to lift the cover of your toilet tank and lift the tank float out of the water and rig it so the water remains off. If all else fails, find your main water shutoff valve and turn off the water to your entire house.
Clean up the water
If water or waste has spilled over the edges of your toilet bowl onto the floor, you’ll want to clean it up as soon as you have turned off the water. Use paper towels to soak up water on a tile or other non-carpeted floor, wearing rubber gloves if it’s dirty. If water has spilled onto any fabric or carpet, use a shop vac or similar tool to remove the excess water.
After you mop up the water, be sure to disinfect everything the water touched, regardless of whether it was clean or dirty.
Next, grab a bucket and small cup and remove the excess water from the top of the bowl. Remove enough so that it won’t overflow again if you insert your hand or a plunger. Keep the wastewater in a bucket so you can flush it down later.
Remove the clog
If you think the overflowing toilet was caused by a foreign object or clog, put on rubber gloves to try and remove it from the toilet base. If you can’t see the clog, use a toilet plunger centered over the hole and apply consistent force and pressure. Hopefully, the plunger will dislodge the clog and your toilet will be able to flush normally.
If you are unable to remove the clog yourself, call an emergency plumber in Las Vegas, NV right away. They should be able to use tools to remove the clog and fix your toilet.
Call in the experts
Don’t delay in getting an overflowing toilet unclogged! Call Orchard Plumbing, your local provider of plumbing, drain and sewer services. An emergency plumber in Las Vegas, NV is available 24/7 to assist you. Call us today!