Blocked toilet: what helps now
After flushing, the water does not go down, it rises. The first reflex is to flush again. That is exactly what makes it worse.
This page tells you what to do instead, how to stop the bowl from overflowing, and how to tell whether it is this toilet or the pipe behind it.
What you can do right now
The first few moves decide whether the bowl simply stays full or whether the water goes over the rim.
Do not flush again
The cistern is full and empties completely into the bowl at the next press. If the outlet is blocked, the water then stands above the rim.
Shut off the water supply
The isolating valve is usually beside or behind the toilet and can be closed with a screwdriver. Then the cistern cannot refill and nobody can flush by accident.
Watch the water level
If the water slowly goes down by itself, the pipe is not fully blocked and the obstruction probably sits close. If the level stays, it sits tighter or further back.
Plunger instead of chemicals
Place the plunger so it is covered by water and work steadily rather than hard. Chemical drain cleaners rarely achieve anything in a toilet and splash back while you work.
Do not push anything further in
A foreign object pushed deeper is harder to recover and can get stuck in the pipe. If something has fallen in, tell us on the phone what it was.
Keep an eye on the other drains
If water rises in another bathroom or in the basement, the problem is not in this bowl but in the shared pipe.
When to call us
- The water stands in the bowl and does not go down.
- Several toilets or drains in the building are affected.
- An object has fallen into the bowl.
- Water is escaping from the bowl or from another drain.
- There is a smell of sewage.
- In a hotel, a holiday rental or a restaurant, a toilet that is needed has stopped working.
Why toilets block
What does not belong in a toilet
Wet wipes do not break down in water, not even the ones sold as flushable. They catch on everything else on the way and form a rope that closes the pipe.
The same goes for hygiene products, cotton buds, cat litter, kitchen roll and food waste. Toilet paper and what the bowl was built for, nothing else.
When a foreign object is stuck
Phones, toys, brushes and cleaning cloths get caught in the trap of the bowl or just behind it. A plunger will not move that and often pushes it in deeper.
In those cases the object is recovered deliberately instead of being pushed on. So tell us what is missing.
When the bowl is not the problem
If the toilet stops working together with the shower, the basin or another bathroom, the blockage sits in the shared soil stack or in the main house drain.
Then only cleaning the pipe itself helps. That is exactly what drain spirals and high pressure jetting are for.
Common questions about blocked toilets
The wet wipes say flushable. Can I put them in?
Better not. The label mostly means the wipe fits through the trap. It does not break down further along and binds with fat and other residue into a solid rope.
Does hot water help with a blocked toilet?
With a paper jam sometimes, because the paper softens. Use warm and not boiling water, ceramic can crack with sudden heat. With foreign objects it does nothing.
Does the toilet have to be taken off?
Usually not. It can become necessary if an object is stuck fast in the trap of the bowl and cannot be recovered. We tell you on site whether that is the case before we remove anything.
Can a blocked toilet cause damage?
Yes. If the bowl overflows, the water goes into the screed and into neighbouring rooms. On an upper floor that quickly affects the flat below. So close the supply first.
We only have one toilet. What do you suggest?
Close the supply, do not pour anything in and call us. Mention on the phone that it is the only toilet. That matters for how we assess the situation.