Left obstruction in toilet drain... help!

mikemcd · 10-15-2012, 11:44 AM

I put a new toilet in my bathroom and in the process of test-fitting the toilet and wax ring, I got a little ahead of myself and finished off the installation while leaving a wad of paper towels in the drain. I had plugged up the drain with the paper towels just to keep out the sewer smell while I worked.

The toilet flushes slowly, no surprise there. I figured the paper towels would eventually break up and move down the pipe, but no luck and it's been a few days.

I think the towels are still in the top of the drain pipe, because as the toilet bowl empties, I can hear the trickle of water in the bottom of the toilet at the floor level. so it sounds like the obstruction is still right there.

So a couple of questions:

1. Can I fix this without taking the toilet back out? Plunging didn't help.

2. If I redo the install, can I reuse the wax ring I just put in, or should I get a new one? Not sure if this is the sort of thing you only want to press into place once and if it loses some of it's seal if it's pressed in, removed, and pressed in again.

joecaption · 10-15-2012, 02:15 PM

Do it right, remove the toilet.
And no you can not just reuse the wax ring!!!.

Fairview · 10-15-2012, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemcd

I put a new toilet in my bathroom and in the process of test-fitting the toilet and wax ring, I got a little ahead of myself and finished off the installation while leaving a wad of paper towels in the drain. I had plugged up the drain with the paper towels just to keep out the sewer smell while I worked.

The toilet flushes slowly, no surprise there. I figured the paper towels would eventually break up and move down the pipe, but no luck and it's been a few days.

I think the towels are still in the top of the drain pipe, because as the toilet bowl empties, I can hear the trickle of water in the bottom of the toilet at the floor level. so it sounds like the obstruction is still right there.

So a couple of questions:

1. Can I fix this without taking the toilet back out? Plunging didn't help.

2. If I redo the install, can I reuse the wax ring I just put in, or should I get a new one? Not sure if this is the sort of thing you only want to press into place once and if it loses some of it's seal if it's pressed in, removed, and pressed in again.

Pull the toilet, solve the problem and install a new wax seal . You'll never forget that lesson learned .

mikemcd · 10-16-2012, 01:23 PM

Thanks guys. I had a feeling that was the way I'd end up going.

mikemcd · 10-17-2012, 04:42 PM

Wow did I get lucky on this one. So I was about to head out to Home Depot yesterday to get another wax ring. My wife is upstairs running water in the kitchen sink, and I'm down in the office adjacent to the bathroom with the toilet problem. I hear a gurgling sound coming from the toilet, and water backing up in the shower drain. Not sure how this was happening (maybe the paper towel wad moved down the pipe into a spot where the shower and toilet drain pipes meet), but I figured I'd try plunging one more time, especially since the pipes were all full of water and I could maybe get some better pressure.

Plunging the toilet did nothing, again. After a couple of flushes, all I had was a full bowl. But then I went to the shower and plunged that drain. After just a few pushes, I hear the water rush out of the toilet bowl and it's empty. Bingo!

Thanks for the help guys. This is still a very good lesson learned, and I got away with not having to take up the toilet as punishment.

**oh'mike** · 10-17-2012, 05:32 PM

This one made me laugh----thank you----