Blocked drains are the most common causes of overflowing or flooding toilets. The drain, sewage, and wastewater overflow and don’t flush down smoothly when this happens. So, if you don’t attend to the problem as soon as possible, the toilet ceiling can leak and damage your bathroom flooring.

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You will need to fix an overflowing toilet immediately. However, before that, you must identify the source or cause of the problem. If you haven’t noticed that your toilet is overflowing yet, the chances are that the sewage and drain water have already entered the flooring, baseboard, and walls.

In such cases, you better call an expert such as Water Damage Near Me to resolve the problem. However, if you want to fix it yourself, ensure that you have all the tools necessary for the job. The tools and supplies that you will need for such a project may include:

  1. Towels
  2. Sponges or Rags
  3. Bucket
  4. Mop
  5. Soap and Bleach
  6. Toilet Auger or Drain Snake
  7. Wet-Dry Vacuum
  8. High-Volume Fan
  9. Structural Dehumidifier

How to Fix a Flooded Toilet?

So, once you have gathered all the tools and supplies, you can get down to fixing the problem. Fixing a flooded or overflowing toilet requires you to follow the steps outlined below. Additionally, you will also need the skills and expertise, so it is always better to call a professional such as Water Damage Near Me and have them assess and handle the situation. However, you can follow these steps to get better results to do it yourself.

1.Turn the Water Off

When your toilet overflows, you must first cut the water supply by closing the valves. Even if the problem isn’t from the supply line, remember to do this. You can cut the water supply to the toilet by turning off the dedicated valve. If your toilet doesn’t have a valve, you can turn it off by opening the lid and removing the float to stop the water flow.

Once you remove the float, water may start flowing intermittently, or your toilet may continue to overflow. If that happens, turn off the main water supply. However, if your toilet still overflows even with the main water supply turned off, the drain or sewer line may be the problem.

Toilet

2.Use the Toilet Auger or Drain Snake

While you may think you may be better off using a plunger to drain out your overflowing toilet, it may not always work. Now, there are many reasons for the plunger not working. However, what you can do instead, is use a toilet auger or drain snake. Toilet augers and drain snakes are similar tools that can stop the toilet from overflowing.

These tools help unclog your toilet, and all you need to do is crank them until the clogs snag. You can then pull the clogs out. In many cases, the auger may even undo the clog, letting it down into the sewers.

3. Remove the Standing Waste Water

Next, you must remove the standing wastewater. You ought to do this as quickly as possible to prevent further damage to your bathroom. Standing water can flow into the walls and cabinets quicker than you think.

So, use that wet-dry vacuum to suck out as much wastewater as possible. Subsequently, use a dry towel or cloth to wipe any remaining water.

4. Let the Damaged Walls and Cabinets Dry

Once you rid the place of standing wastewater, use a high-volume fan dryer to dry out the walls and cabinets. It’s better to use high-volume fan driers than regular ones as they do the job faster, and you will need less equipment.

However, if your toilet has overflowed into the other rooms, you might need to dry more than one fan.

5. Cleaning and Disinfection

The last step in this process is to clean and disinfect the bathroom. Wash the floors, walls, cabinets, and other affected items with soap, bleach, another suitable cleansing agent, and warm water.

Pour one cup of bleach or cleansing agent into a gallon of warm water and mix it thoroughly. Wipe all the affected areas by dipping a mop into the solution to drive all the bacteria and foul smells away.

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How to unclog an overflowing toilet?

If your toilet has not overflowed but is clogged, you can unclog it with a plunger. Toilet clogging mainly occurs in the bowl or trap. So, force the clog down the drain using a suitable plunger.

The upward and downward movement of the plunger works to unclog your toilet by letting it down into the sewers. While the upward movement creates the suction that loosens the clog up, the downward movement helps force it down the drain.

However, you don’t need to plunge too much either. You just need to create the required seal between the plunger and bowl so that there is enough suction to force the contents down the drain.

You would be better off using a bell plunger since it can create the required suction.

Conclusion

There are several reasons why your toilet overflows, including:

  1. Clogged toilet bowls
  2. Clogged toilet traps.
  3. Clogged drain pipes
  4. Clogged sewer lines
  5. A broken septic system
  6. Low-flush toilets

So, while it would be better to call a professional such as Water Damage Near Me when your toilet overflows, you can also do it yourself. The following table sums up the procedure you will need to follow to fix an overflowing toilet.

S.No. Steps to Take
1 Turn the water off
2 Stop the toilet from overflowing using a drain snake or auger.
3 Remove the excess standing wastewater.
4 Dry out the walls, cabinets, and other affected items.
5 Clean and disinfect the bathroom.