Blocked toilet: how to clear it safely and when to call a plumber

Blocked toilet? What to do in the first five minutes

In the first five minutes, your job is to stop the water rising, then find out how far the blockage goes before you start plunging. Work through these steps in order.

1. Stop flushing. Every extra flush adds water to a bowl that can't drain.
2. Turn off the stop tap on the wall behind or beside the pan. Turn it clockwise until it stops. This stops the cistern refilling.
3. Run a basin tap or the shower for a few seconds. If those drains are slow or gurgling, the toilet is not the only problem.
4. Go outside and look at the overflow relief gully (ORG), a grated fitting in the ground outside your home. If it is overflowing, don't plunge.
5. If only the toilet is affected, use a flange plunger. If that fails, try a hand toilet auger.
6. If sewage is coming up in another fixture or at the gully, stop using water and call a licensed plumber.

Put old towels around the base of the pan before you start. If water has already spilled, wear rubber gloves for the clean-up. Logan City Council advises never touching raw sewage with bare hands and washing your hands straight afterwards. Contact with sewage can cause illnesses such as gastroenteritis, so keep children and pets away from the area until it has been disinfected.

Is it just the toilet or the drain behind it? Check your other fixtures and the gully

A blockage that affects only the toilet is usually in the toilet or the pipe just behind the toilet, while a blockage that shows up in several fixtures is further down the house drain. Redland City Council puts it simply: if only one sink or toilet is blocked while everything else works fine, the problem is most likely in your home's plumbing. The overflow relief gully (ORG) is the other clue. The ORG is a grated fitting in the ground outside that lets wastewater spill outside rather than inside if there is a blockage on your property.

Redland City Council notes that properties connected to the wastewater system before the 1970s may not have an ORG, and suggests contacting a plumber to discuss it.

How to unblock a toilet with a plunger

A flange plunger is the right first tool for a blocked toilet, because the flange (the soft sleeve under the cup) seals into the outlet of the bowl where a flat sink plunger can't. A soft blockage in the bowl or trap will often move with steady plunging.

1. Make sure there is enough water in the bowl to cover the plunger cup. If the bowl is nearly empty, add a little from a bucket.
2. Fold the flange out and set it into the outlet at the bottom of the bowl, so the cup sits flat over the hole.
3. Push down gently the first time to push the air out without splashing.
4. Then pump firmly up and down a dozen times or so, keeping the seal. The pull back matters as much as the push.
5. Lift the plunger off and watch. If the water drains away, the blockage has moved.
6. Turn the stop tap back on, let the cistern fill, and flush once to test. Keep your hand near the stop tap in case it rises again.

Repeat the plunging two or three times before giving up. If the water still won't go down, or you can feel something solid in the outlet, move on to a toilet auger rather than plunging harder.

No plunger? Warm water and dish liquid can shift a soft blockage, but not an object

Without a plunger, warm water and dish liquid are a low-risk first try for a soft blockage of toilet paper, but they won't clear wipes, sanitary items or a dropped object. Toilet paper is made to break down quickly in water, so a paper blockage can sometimes soften and move.

• Squirt a generous amount of dish liquid into the bowl and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour in a bucket of warm water from the tap, not boiling water from the kettle, from about waist height. Pour slowly and stop if the level climbs near the rim.
• If the bowl drains, test with one flush with your hand near the stop tap.

Boiling water is hard to carry and pour safely, and the extra heat does nothing for a blockage of wipes or a solid object. Redland City Council explains that wet wipes, paper towel and sanitary products are designed to absorb fluid while holding their shape. If one or two tries with warm water don't work, buy a flange plunger rather than repeating it.

Using a toilet auger without scratching the pan

A hand toilet auger is the next step when a plunger fails, and a toilet auger is the tool to use instead of a general drain snake, because a toilet auger has a rubber or plastic sleeve that protects the glazed bowl. A toilet auger is a short crank-handled cable in a curved tube, made to reach only through the bend of the pan.

1. Pull the cable back so only the tip shows at the end of the tube.
2. Set the curved end, sleeve side down, into the outlet at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Turn the handle clockwise while gently pushing the cable down into the bend. Don't force it.
4. When you feel resistance, keep turning to hook or break up the blockage, then pull the cable back slowly.
5. Flush once to test, with the stop tap ready.

Is it better to plunge or snake a toilet? Plunge first, since a plunger is gentler on the pan. Use the auger when plunging fails or you know something solid went down. If the auger reaches its full length and the toilet still won't drain, the blockage is past the pan and in the drain, and the drain is a job for a licensed plumber.

What not to do: no caustic soda, acid cleaners, coat hangers or lifting the pan

The things not to do with a blocked toilet are pouring in chemicals, poking it with wire, and taking the toilet off the floor. Each one can turn a simple blockage into a bigger job.

• No caustic soda, acid or supermarket drain cleaners. Logan City Council warns that chemicals and cleaning products can corrode the pipes on your property and in the council network.
• Store cleaning products out of reach and out of sight of children, as the Queensland Government advises.
• No wire coat hangers or metal rods. Bare wire can scratch the glazed bowl and is unlikely to reach the blockage.
• Don't keep flushing to force it through. You'll only raise the water level.
• Don't remove, lift or reset the toilet pan, or open the drain or any inspection point, to get at a blockage.

If you think someone may have been poisoned by a cleaning product, don't wait for symptoms: call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for first aid advice. The Queensland Government advises calling Triple Zero (000) first if the person has collapsed or isn't breathing.

Why your toilet keeps blocking: usually wipes, a partial blockage or a damaged drain

A toilet that keeps blocking usually has something stuck in it that never fully cleared, a habit that keeps feeding it, or a fault in the drain further down. The common causes are:

• Wipes and sanitary items. Logan City Council says wet wipes, including ones labelled flushable, tissues, paper towels, sanitary items and cotton buds don't break down and may block your pipes.
• A partial blockage. An object or a wad of wipes can sit in the pan or pipe and catch paper each time you flush, so the toilet drains slowly, then blocks again.
• Too much paper in one flush. Using the half flush for a large load of paper can leave it sitting in the pipe.
• A damaged or root-affected drain. Urban Utilities explains that most house drain chokes come from defects such as cracked or broken pipes, often from ground movement, and that these defects most commonly let tree roots in.

Urban Utilities also warns that a choke caused by a defect in the drain will recur unless the damaged section is repaired. If your toilet blocks again within weeks or months of being cleared, a camera inspection of the drain is the sensible next step. Our guide to tree roots in pipes and relining covers that in more detail.

When to stop and call a licensed plumber

Call a licensed plumber when the plunger and auger haven't worked, when more than one fixture is affected, or when sewage is coming out anywhere. The QBCC, Queensland's plumbing regulator, says most plumbing work in Queensland must be done by a licensed plumber or drainer, and lists unblocking sanitary plumbing or drainage and removing a fixture as minor work for a QBCC licensee. The legal do-it-yourself list for drains is short: Queensland Government guidance covers things like cleaning ground-level grates to traps on sanitary drains.

What affects the size of the job: where the blockage is (in the pan, the house drain or near the sewer connection), how easy the drain is to get at, since inspection openings can be buried under landscaping, and whether a camera inspection is needed to find a cause such as roots or a broken pipe.

Who to call depends on where the blockage is. Redland City Council says the wastewater pipes on your property are yours to maintain, and Logan City Council asks residents to call a licensed plumber first for pipes on the property, while it repairs blocked mains outside the boundary. If the ORG overflows when nobody is using water, report it: Logan Water on 07 3412 3412, Urban Utilities on 13 23 64 in Brisbane, or Redland City Council in the Redlands.

Jim Monger Plumbing and Gas clears blocked drains across Brisbane and the Redlands with a jet rodder or electric eel, backed by CCTV inspections, under QBCC licence 15504687. If you're near the bay, see our Capalaba blocked drain page, or call 0418 871 269.

Keeping your toilet clear: flush only pee, poo and toilet paper

The simplest way to keep a toilet clear is to flush only the three Ps: pee, poo and toilet paper. Redland City Council says your toilet is designed to take only those three things.

• Bin all wet wipes, including ones sold as flushable. Logan City Council suggests wrapping tissues and wipes in plastic before they go in the bin.
• Bin sanitary products, nappies, cotton buds and paper towel.
• Use the full flush for a big load of toilet paper.
• Keep a lidded bin in the bathroom so there is somewhere easy to put things.
• Keep the ORG grate outside loose and clear of pot plants and pavers. Logan City Council says the grate should be able to pop off so wastewater goes outside, not into the house.

If you've noticed slow drains or smells as well as toilet blockages, read our complete guide to blocked drains or our page on smelly drains and sewer flies.