We are an emergency plumber for Santa Clarita, CA, and we know what it’s like for a homeowner to run into a major plumbing fiasco at the worst possible time. There are troubles more likely to send a homeowner into a panic than others. And one of the big worrying events is when the toilet overflows.
Yes, if this happens to you, you aren’t going to like it. But it doesn’t have to be a horrible day-ruining experience. We can help solve this problem with our speedy-response emergency plumbing as well as our experience. We’ve been handling plumbing problems since the mid-1930s after all! We have advice for how to handle the trouble with an overflowing toilet so you can stay sane and see the problem is resolved with as little fuss as possible.
Step 1: Shut off the water flow
The first thing you want to do is stop water from flooding out of the toilet and onto the floor. It’s not difficult if you stop to remember how the toilet operates in the first place. To fill up the tank after each flush, the toilet draws water through a feed tube behind it attached to the wall. When the toilet is flooding, is likely because the water flow hasn’t been stopped by mechanisms in the tank. But you can stop it on the outside of the tank by shutting off the valve on the feed line: just turn it until water stops flowing.
Step 1a: “I don’t see a valve on the feed line!”
Older toilets may not have a valve. Don’t worry. Open up the top of the tank and rig up the chain on the float so the float rises high enough to shut off the water flow.
Step 2: Call a professional plumber
Now that you’ve temporarily stopped the flow of water and the immediate danger of further flooding, call our plumbers to come and fix the issue. When this is done, you can at least relax knowing a permanent solution is near at hand.
Step 3: Clean up as much water as you can
You’ll have spilled water around the tank base now, and you want to get rid of as much of this as possible. This is not only for hygienic reasons but to avoid water seepage into the floor and water damage. Weakening the floor around the toilet is not something you want to happen. If you have wet/dry shop vac, now is the time to use it. Otherwise, lay down towels to absorb the water. After the water has been soaked up, we recommend scrubbing with disinfectant around the affected area.
Step 4: Check for obstructions in the toilet
The overflow problem might be an object lodged in the toilet. Test to see if this can be removed with a plunger and stop the overflow. If a plunger doesn’t solve the problem, then a plumber will need to fix it. But you’ve already called the plumber, because you want to find out if there are other reasons behind the overflow.
Husted Plumbing has been family-owned and operated since 1935. Call us for plumbing service in the Greater Santa Barbara and Ventura County Area.