If you are reading this post right now, we can presume that you are experiencing an overflowing toilet. An overflowing toilet can be a matter of great frustration and can cause bacterial contamination if not addressed for too long.
If you feel a little worried right now, it is normal to feel that way, and many feel the same way as you are feeling right now. However, there are ways to go about it and clean up the overflowed toilet water. Hence, you could stop worrying and follow our simple steps to break out of this situation.
The idea of cleaning the toilet on one’s own can also be a nightmare for many. However, it is not as gross as you think as long as you follow our steps accurately. Most importantly, fixing it on your own can save you some money which you would have to spend paying the professional charges.
Steps to cleaning up the overflowed toilet water
Stopping the overflow
First things first, you must stop the overflow to prevent damage. For that, you might need an extra hand who can shut off the water valve while you remove the toilet tank lid, push down the circular and rubber valve at the bottom and lift the float.
In case you don’t have anyone around, you could either wait unless one is available or figure out a way to do it on your own. However, it is wise to have at least one person with you.
Mopping up the water
The next best thing to do is mopping up the water as soon as possible to ensure that the dirty toilet water does sit on the bathroom floor. It’s wise to use as much water as possible while mopping. You could use a bucket for that.
Unclogging the toilet
Once you finish mopping up the dirty toilet water, it’s time to use a plunger to unclog the toilet. In most cases, the issue is resolved in this step itself. However, if this doesn’t seem to work, you can consider trying our next step.
Try using an Auger
If a plunger doesn’t work as expected, you could try using a closet auger. However, when you use it, you have to ensure that you crank it in both ways to remove the clog. After that, you could gently get the auger out of the toilet and use the plunger back again.
Time for a flush
Once you are this far, you can flush the bucket of water that you used for mopping down into the toilet. After that, you must clean the bucket with hot water to prevent any bacteria formation.
Try a Bleach cleaning
No matter if you have succeeded or not in unclogging the toilet, you must not leave the bathroom without cleaning it with bleach. A bleach cleaning will cut down on even the slightest chance of any bacteria contamination in the bathroom.
You have to mix one cup of bleach to one gallon of warm water in a bucket to do this. You could then sanitize your bathroom using a mop or a cloth. However, don’t forget to put on rubber gloves before performing the cleaning.
Calling in a Professional
If nothing seems to work and the problem persists, you can stop experimenting further and call in a professional. It is wise to call up a professional as soon as possible as further delay could worsen the situation.
Besides, if you think the steps that we mentioned in this post would be hard for you to follow or perhaps, you don’t have the time and patience for implementing our steps, you can right away call in a professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What leads to an overflowing toilet?
An overflowing can be caused by a clogged or a blocked drain or by a float that had been adjusted wrongly or a blocked vent pipe.
How to clean an overflowing toilet?
The best way to clean an overflowing toilet is to sanitize it with a mixture of 1 cup of bleach and 1 gallon of water. As far as the cleaning technique goes, you can either clean it using a mop or a cloth. However, it is extremely important to put on your gloves while you are cleaning.
How to unclog a toilet while the water is high?
For unclogging a toilet while the water is high, you would first need to drain at least half of the water from the bowl. After that, you could pour 1 cup of baking soda and 2 cups of vinegar into the toilet. You could leave it for some time, and it will gradually unclog the toilet.
Wrapping Up
It is not hard to visualize the frustration one would experience seeing one’s toilet overflowing. However, doing something about it is more critical than simply worrying about it. The sooner you act, the better since an overflowing toilet, if kept unattended for too long, can lead to bacteria formation.
The steps that we shared in this post will work for most of the cases. However, just if the situation is a little tricky and doesn’t get better even after trying our steps, you can call in a professional without any delay to prevent the situation from getting worse.
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