Toilet Challenge - Part II

Vermaraj

Last Nov I posted a question about a kohler one piece that was obstructed. Every time the plumber would rod it out it would work for a day or two and then get real slow. We even took it off the flange two or three times to rod it from the bottom. Never found any serious obstruction: http://www.contractortalk.com/f9/toilet-challenge-24521/

Long story short: The insurance company finally agreed to pay for a new toilet. Last week our plumber came and installed the new toilet and left the old one in the driveway.

For some reason I decided to clean the toilet and leave it by the wood pile. After bouncing around in the wheel barrel being pushed to the end of the yard. I pick up the toilet and out from the bottom falls a huge wad of paper towels that are soaked, intertwined are small pieces of soiled toilet paper.

I call the plumber to see if he jammed some paper in the bottom to keep it from dripping. He says he didn't use any paper towels. And, I am sure that when I cleaned it out from the top and bottom with the hose there was no paper visible.

Is it possible this wad of paper was the problem all along? How long can paper towels last in a trap? Its been nearly 18mos since the problem started.

neolitic

I'd say someone in that household
needs a lecture about what is and isn't
flushable.

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KillerToiletSpider

Yes that was the problem, and there is probably a high spot in the trap way that the paper got wedged against, like a bad seam, toilet bowls are made in multiple pieces and put together before firing.

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mdshunk

I pulled an entire Barbie doll from the underside of the one toilet when the kids were little. Barbie's not flushable either. The darndest one to get out was the rod from a toilet paper roll holder. That was downright difficult.

KillerToiletSpider

I had a shot glass get lodged in the outlet once, that one was a crapshoot on breaking the shot glass or the toilet, the shot glass lost.

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Vermaraj

So you think the paper towels can last 18mos in a trap?

neolitic

I would think so, if they were
at the high point of the trap,
like Killer said.
But I wouldn't believe they
survived all those closet augers.

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KillerToiletSpider

Sure.

Toilet paper is designed to dissolve in water, paper towels are designed to not dissolve in water. Baby wipes will last forever and a day as well.

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smellslike$tome

No, no, no. There is no paper towel anywhere that can stand up to an auger. The toilet ran fine for a day or two after each augering. The ho wanted a new toilet and was patient in their pursuit of it. After it was augered each time someone in the home put new paper towels in the toilet until the insurance company gave in.

Did the ho request a particular toilet from the plumber?

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Grumpyplumber

Something plastic, flat, flexible and the same diameter as the siphon, maybe slightly wider, it gets caught at the first bend inside the toilet.

Picture a coffee can cover.

It's just wider the the toilet drain...once flushed it gets compressed and conforms to the drains radius enough to allow water to pass.
Solids & paper tend to get snagged at that point, an auger will force the paper out, even flushing or plunging will, but the cap just sits there wedged and hugging the radius just enough to let the auger pass right by.
A week later, same problem...more paper gathered at the wedged cap.

neolitic

's what I said.

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Vermaraj

This is my personal house. Granted the insurance paid 2/3 the price for a kohler one piece. But I had to pay the other 1/3 plus the cost of the matching pedestal sink plus a bunch of other crap the wife picked out when she was shopping at the local plumbing showroom. And, the $50 copay every time the plumber came out.

I paid out a couple grand. Ended up with a perfectly good pedestal sink collecting dust in the basement. And, probably a perfectly good toilet sitting in the back yard.

I have trouble seeing how I am ahead just because the insurance paid out.

MALCO.New.York

Just for the record.................This is NOT the kinda BS that Insurance is for. Yes they paid this time, but wait till something REAL goes wrong. Like a Hurricane, Earthquake, Flood (if you have flood ins.) or Fire. Then see how willing they are to pay since you wasted your "Once in the average lifetime need" on drivel.

I hope that this was your "O.I.A.L." experience.

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Vermaraj

Your thinking of the wrong kind of insurance.

There are companies (I guess we are not suppose to name names) that insure appliances, hvac, plumbing etc... The company I use and generally recommend to all my clients charges $30/mo to cover 7 kitchen appliances, upto 4 ac pairs , washer/dryer, all the plumbing fixtures and pipes, ductwork, etc etc... The list of things they cover is about 10 pages long. No PM is included.

Each time you have a problem you pay a $50 fee, they send someone out to service the item. If it can't be fixed they pay for a "builders standard" replacement. In this case that means an American Standard one piece elongated. Just happened to be about 2/3 price of the model the wife wanted.

They use local plumbers, electricians, hvac techs, etc... You can request a certain company do the work as long as they have an agreement with the ins co. From what I've heard they pay the local company's std rate.

GE use to be in this business. They charged $19/mo and no per use fee. They would replace everything with GE appliances. Ended up losing their asses and declaring bankruptcy.

It's a pretty good deal if your appliances are a few years old.

mdshunk

Sounds sorta like that American Home Warranty thing. I think we've done work for them. The tradesman is responsible for collecting the 50 dollar co-pay.