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Plumbers of Knoxville
Plumbers of Knoxville
Plumbing · Tennessee
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Overflowing Toilet

Turn the small valve behind the toilet clockwise until it stops to cut the refill, and if water still rises with the valve closed, the blockage is in the house drain and needs opening now.

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When this becomes an emergency

What a pro does

An overflowing toilet is one of two very different problems, and the plumber decides which within the first minute. If closing the supply stop ends it, the blockage is in the toilet itself or the branch just behind it, and clearing the trap or pulling the fixture handles it. If water keeps coming up with the supply shut off, that water isn't from the tank at all, and the house drain is backing up through the lowest opening it can find. That second case is what gets ugly in older Knoxville neighborhoods. Where the lateral is clay tile and roots have opened a joint, or where the pipe crosses ground that's settled over soluble limestone, a heavy spring rain can add enough groundwater into a compromised line to push it over. The plumber runs a cable or a camera from the outside cleanout in that case rather than fighting it from the bathroom. Wax ring failures get caught here too, since water at the base with a clear bowl is a seal problem instead of a clog.

Frequently asked questions

No. Each flush adds a couple more gallons to a bowl that already isn't draining, and the water on the floor is the expensive part. Close the supply stop behind the toilet and stop there.
Usually the wax seal between the toilet and the floor flange, which fails when the fixture has rocked on an uneven floor. Old houses with settling floors go through these. It leaks a little on every flush and quietly damages the subfloor long before anyone notices.
Because a main line backup surfaces at the lowest fixture in the house. If the lowest bathroom is the one flooding while everything upstairs behaves, the problem is almost certainly out in the main or the lateral, not in that toilet.
It can where the sewer lateral is cracked or has open joints. Groundwater gets in through those defects and takes up capacity the line needs for the house, which is why some backups only ever happen during a wet stretch.

Overflowing Toilet?

Get connected with a local pro now.

Tap to Call(855) 321-3426

Keep going

Plumbing in TennesseeBurst PipeClogged DrainDrain CleaningEmergency PlumberNo Hot WaterPlumber Near MeSewer Line RepairSlab LeakSump Pump RepairWater Heater RepairWater Leak Repair

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