With A DIY Attitude and The Internet, I Can Be A Plumber

EOD_Plumber_PIc

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My daughter stomped down the stairs, arms locked straight down with an angry look on her face. “DAD! Again!” I knew she was coming from our upstairs bathroom, so I knew exactly what she was complaining about.

The toilet was clogged again.

We’ve been having issues with that toilet for a few months now, and on Saturday morning the problem reached critical mass. It was time for me to put on my Do It Yourself Plumber tool belt (just a metaphor, folks, I skipped the plumber’s crack), and spend some time trying to fix it.

Analysis: Comparison Flushing

The first thing I did was flush each of the three toilets in our home a few times to compare how the problem toilet’s behavior differed from the two that are functioning as normal. I noticed two differences:

  • The flush action in the problem toilet was not swirling the bowl with the same veracity as the others.
  • The toilet tank was not always refilling after the flush was complete. This would leave no water in the tank for the next flush.

Fixing The Problem Take One: DIY Style

  • The first thing I checked was to ensure that the water valve on the water line leading to the toilet was wide open. Maybe someone had bumped it while using or cleaning the bathroom. I found that it was already completely open, thus not the source of my problem.
  • The natural water pressure in our home is fairly low, so we have a water pressure booster in our mechanical room. When the pressure drops below a certain level, the booster will kick in and raise the pressure. This usually happens when there is a draw on the water such as a faucet, a dishwasher, or a shower.  I noticed that when the pressure was really low, the toilet tank would not fill and the booster would not start. If I turned on another faucet the booster would start, the pressure would rise, and the toilet tank would fill. Referencing the manual, I adjusted the cut in pressure for the booster resulting in the flushing of the toilet being enough to activate the booster, and the tank would fill.
  • I tested my fix by flushing the toilet several times. While the tank now filled, it just didn’t seem to be able to push the contents of the bowl out of the toilet as well as it should.

Fixing The Problem Take Two: The Internet Knows Everything

I pulled up the all-knowing Google, and searched for flushing issues. I found two potential issues that I could verify before replacing the toilet.

  • Something could be blocking the exit pipe : Before removing the toilet and checking or snaking the pipe the recommendation was to take a large bucket of water and pour it into the toilet. If it seemed to push the contents successfully, then the plumbing was fine. I did this, and everything worked fabulously.
  • The water fill holes on the underside of the bowl could be blocked with calcium deposits: The article I found recommended checking the water fill holes on the underside of the bowl for calcium deposits. I inspected the holes, and found a disturbing amount of buildup. I cleaned all the holes with CLR and gave the problem toilet a couple of test flushes. The flushing expelled the contents of the bowl with a ferociousness that I hadn’t seen in years.

I declared the toilet officially open for business.

Let’s review the steps taken to diagnose and fix my problem:

  1. Test flushes: I flushed not only the problem toilet, but also the ones that were working in my home to compare the behavior.
  2. Check water valve: I ensured that the valve on the water line leading to the toilet was wide open.
  3. Water pressure booster : I lowered the cut in water pressure on my water pressure booster to ensure that the tank filled properly after flushing
  4. Bucket flush test: I poured a large bucket of water into the toilet to test that if there was blockage in the exit pipe.
  5. Cleaning the bowl : Over time calcium deposits form on water fill holes on the inside of the bowl. It’s exactly like the white flaky stuff you see form on your water faucet over time. If the holes are blocked, you won’t get enough push from the water to properly flush your toilet.

A new toilet would have cost me anywhere from $90 to $300 plus the time to install it, or the cost to have a plumber do it for me. To be honest, I probably could have found a pretty reasonable LA plumber to handle the task. Instead, getting my DIY plumber skills on got my toilet back working for a grand total of $0.

Have you ever played DIY plumber? How much did you save?

About Travis

34 Responses to “With A DIY Attitude and The Internet, I Can Be A Plumber”

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  1. Sassy Mamaw says:

    Oh my gosh, Travis! I’m going upstairs to try this TODAY! We also have issues with low water pressure, but the downstairs toilet works so much better than upstairs. Exactly how did you clean the “water fill holes”? (Or maybe I should just check Google…lol) Thank you for the awesome blog, and so many money saving ideas!

    • Travis says:

      I found some CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) product that I always have on hand and mixed it 50/50 (with water) as the directions instruct. I then just took an old rag, dipped in in the solution and started scrubbing under the rim of the bowl. I also then pulled out one of those green scrubber pads and used that as well. I was SHOCKED to find that the area around the holes was all brown (YUK) with calcium build up and gunk. I clean the thing regularly, but apparently I need to inspect closer each time I’m done. Once I got it all cleaned out, it worked so much better. Good luck, Sassy Mamaw, I hope it works for you too – come back and let me know how it pans out for you!

  2. Nicely Done Travis! I have, I have replaced the flush valve before and repaired the kitchen sink drain. Google and YouTube are your best friend in a DIY situation.

    • Travis says:

      I initially thought the tank was draining due to a leaky rubber stopper….and for awhile thought I might have to replace all the internals of the tank….luckily it didn’t come to that! Thanks for reading, Brian!

  3. I’m pretty useless when it comes to fixing stuff, but the internet is a HUGE resource for me. I actually get irrationally angry when I can’t find what I’m looking for online.

    • Travis says:

      I know exactly what you mean, Stefanie……..we think the internet knows everything…so when we don’t find something right away, it’s FRUSTRATING!

  4. Nice work Travis! We’ve not had to do much with plumbing, though I did help my Dad with a number of things like this when I was growing up. I never used to be much of a DIY person, but having a house changed that pretty quickly. 🙂 Thankfully most things I’ve done, that I knew I could do without killing myself or setting the house aflame, have come relatively easily and it’s usually thanks to Google. 😉

  5. I love hearing stories like this. It’s pretty incredible the wealth of information and resources available online. I will attempt to do most home repairs myself and only call in a pro if I screw up the repair and can’t do it myself. I read a lot and watched a number of videos about retaining walls the past year or so and I plan on rebuilding the one in our backyard myself. I don’t think I would attempt it if I was living in the “pre-internet” days, but since all the info is out there I simply have to make the time to actually complete the projects; all the info I could possibly need is available to me.

    • Travis says:

      I agree, DC…without the internet there’s so many things I wouldn’t have been able to do. I even fixed my van once by searching the internet…I had people telling me it needed some major work, when all it needed was a fuse!

  6. Hey, that’s awesome. The internet is a treasure trove for DIYers. My husband learned how to express our dog’s anal glands on YouTube. Saved a $40 vet visit!

  7. I’ve switched out components on toilets in the past, but they still never seemed to work properly. So we’ve completely replaced a few toilets. It was nice to upgrade to low flush toilets too. I think we netted a profit of $50 per toilet at our last place because of the all the government grants and buying the new toilets on sale.

  8. Amazing, Travis! We are having a similar problem with our toilet, except for sometimes it flushes slow/plugs up, and sometimes it’s fine!

    • Travis says:

      Sounds exactly like what I was dealing with….if we were doing something else in the house (like washing clothes) so the pressure booster was already running, everything was fine!

  9. Isn’t it amazing what you can learn how to do from Google and YouTube. They are a real lifesaver, especially when it comes to simple things. I admit that we are not super handy, although we do try to find basic, simple solutions to attempt before calling in the professionals. And I love it when we can save money by doing it ourselves.

  10. Posts like these make me realize what a lousy feminist I am! I’m thinking, “I’ll get my husband to read this.”

  11. Great work on solving the problem yourself. When we have issues around the house, usually my wife or I will want to try a DIY solution, with the other shaking their head going “I don’t know…”. Somehow we’ve managed to solve a few issues or install items ourselves, but other times we call in a pro. The internet has definitely given us more knowledge (and confidence!) to try things though.

    • Travis says:

      The right attitude is a powerful thing, Gary….once you’re successful in fixing something yourself once, you gain the confidence that you can do it again. There’s nothing magical about fixing things yourself, it’s just a matter of learning the right skills.

  12. I always make it a point to go to YouTube and watch a video to see if I can fix something myself rather than call a pro. Many times, the fixes are basic enough for me to give it a try. I think this was the most surprising thing of all – how easy many of the fixes are. A call to the plumber would run at least $100. I fixed the problems in 5 minutes and for $10-$15!

    • Travis says:

      Exactly, Jon…..you pay that $100 just to have a plumber come to your house. You’re paying for his time and his knowledge. Why not gain that knowledge yourself!

  13. That’s awesome, nicely done! We are DIY-ers too and have found that there’s a YouTube video for just about every home improvement/repair project imaginable. Mr. Frugalwoods recently needed to drywall a wall in our kitchen and he found awesome videos on how to get the corners to look just right, etc. It’s amazing how much labor costs, so anytime we can do something ourselves, we do! We’ve actually only had a repair person to our house once, so hopefully we can keep the streak going 🙂

    • Travis says:

      LOL, Mrs. Frugalwoods, why can I imagine a sign in your home that says, “It has been X days since a repairperson last visited this home.” 😉

  14. Scott W says:

    Not a plumbing story but an internet/DIY story.

    My wife had a Ford Escape that had a light on that indicated the passenger side airbag had an issue. It was an older car and we weren’t dying to pay a lot but my wife finally took it to the dealer who told her it would cost $975 to fix. She said “no way” and left. We didn’t do anything for a while but it concerned us so my wife decided to look it up and somebody had posted that the problem is usually just a connector that came loose. They then said that they are located under the car seat for Ford Escapes. My wife went out and found it immediately and yes it had come unplugged. She connected the cable and light went off.

    My wife then sent a nasty e-mail to the dealership.

    • Travis says:

      I had a similar situation, Scott W. Our “check engine light” came on, and we had the code read at Autozone (for FREE!) and it said something was wrong with the cooling fan. Dealership gave us a huge estimate to fix the fan, or possibly even replace the wiring harness. Guess what was needed? A $3 fuse. I found the information on the internet…..I felt AWESOME when I figured that out….thanks for sharing your story!

  15. Michelle says:

    “Expelled the contents with a ferociousness” is the best line ever considering what you’re talking about. I love that you figured this out and I plan on looking into using CLR too!

    • Travis says:

      I’m glad you liked the line, Michelle….I must say I laughed when I put that in the post. CLR works for cleaning SO many things, I always have some on hand!

  16. Indeed the internet does know just about everything. I have never been good and DIY stuff myself. I found that the internet doesn’t know how to teach me. Also just wanted to say, way to go making an article like this so fun to read. Really enjoyed the little jokes here and there, such as the “toilet officially open for business” and “The flushing expelled the contents of the bowl with a ferociousness”.

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