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Toilet Troubles

KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
edited July 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So, my girlfriend flushed a tube of bacitracin down the toilet on accident. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste. We can piss in the toilet, but not shit. I'd really like to take care of this without involving my landlord. What are my options here?

Kingthlayer on

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  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    So, my girlfriend flushed a tube of bacitracin down the toilet on accident. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste. We can piss in the toilet, but not shit. I'd really like to take care of this without involving my landlord. What are my options here?

    Call a plumber.

    Esh on
  • KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Esh wrote: »
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    So, my girlfriend flushed a tube of bacitracin down the toilet on accident. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste. We can piss in the toilet, but not shit. I'd really like to take care of this without involving my landlord. What are my options here?

    Call a plumber.

    That's what I'll do if I can't take care of it myself. I'm pretty handy I just know next to nothing about plumbing.

    Kingthlayer on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    Esh wrote: »
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    So, my girlfriend flushed a tube of bacitracin down the toilet on accident. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste. We can piss in the toilet, but not shit. I'd really like to take care of this without involving my landlord. What are my options here?

    Call a plumber.

    That's what I'll do if I can't take care of it myself. I'm pretty handy I just know next to nothing about plumbing.

    Can you see the pipes? Maybe turn off the waterflow and undo them like underneath a sink? Pull the tube out that way?

    Esh on
  • KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Esh wrote: »
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    Esh wrote: »
    Kingthlayer wrote: »
    So, my girlfriend flushed a tube of bacitracin down the toilet on accident. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste. We can piss in the toilet, but not shit. I'd really like to take care of this without involving my landlord. What are my options here?

    Call a plumber.

    That's what I'll do if I can't take care of it myself. I'm pretty handy I just know next to nothing about plumbing.

    Can you see the pipes? Maybe turn off the waterflow and undo them like underneath a sink? Pull the tube out that way?

    I'd have to get into the crawlspace under our apartment, but I could certainly check when I get home.

    Would a bent up clothes hanger work or am I on the completely wrong track here?

    Kingthlayer on
  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    Buttcleft on
  • KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    That thing puts a bent up clothes hangar to shame. This will be my first course of action.

    Kingthlayer on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    I thought those were just for breaking clogs. Can it pull it out?

    Esh on
  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    You can't get to the pipes from under the toilet, unless the thing was plumbed against code. Don't even bother climbing into the crawlspace.

    Buttcleft's right, you need a toilet auger. Extend it fully, put the little "hook" on the end in the toilet (hooking into the hole at the bottom, of course), and push the handle down while turning the crank. It might take several passes... tubes in particular are a pain in the ass to get out of a toilet, since the auger tends to slide right past them.

    Seattle Thread on
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  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Esh wrote: »
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    I thought those were just for breaking clogs. Can it pull it out?
    It's to push any obstruction out of the toilet trap. You can't pull anything out (well, unless you unbolt the toilet from the floor, turn it upside down and auger it from the other end, but that's a gigantic pain in the ass).

    Seattle Thread on
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  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Makershot wrote: »
    Esh wrote: »
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    I thought those were just for breaking clogs. Can it pull it out?
    It's to push any obstruction out of the toilet trap. You can't pull anything out (well, unless you unbolt the toilet from the floor, turn it upside down and auger it from the other end, but that's a gigantic pain in the ass).

    What's to keep the tube from getting stuck further down? Or do the pipes get big enough to accomodate it?

    Esh on
  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Nothing. If it gets stuck farther down the trap, you keep augering until it's gone.

    Seattle Thread on
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  • KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Thanks for all the advice. Case closed, I'd say. If the auger doesn't work then it's plumber time.

    Kingthlayer on
  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Makershot wrote: »
    Esh wrote: »
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Go get one of these

    Amazon link was just to show you what they look like, can get them at your local hardware shop for like 5 bucks.

    I thought those were just for breaking clogs. Can it pull it out?
    It's to push any obstruction out of the toilet trap. You can't pull anything out (well, unless you unbolt the toilet from the floor, turn it upside down and auger it from the other end, but that's a gigantic pain in the ass).

    I've pulled many lost items out of a toilet with an auger, back into the bowl where they are retrieved with disposable tongs.

    Buttcleft on
  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I've never bothered. The old pro I used to work with had pulled a few bizarre items out of toilets in his time, but most of the people I dealt with were of the "forget it man... it's gone" mentality. Unless junior flushed something of sentimental value down there, no one wanted to retrieve their now-tainted things.

    Seattle Thread on
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  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I'd confess to the landlord and get a pro to do it. It is not your house/apartment/whatever, so I highly doubt you should be trying to fix it yourself. You might just turn a minor plumbing job into a major contracting job costing you $texas AND getting you evicted.

    JaysonFour on
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    I can has cheezburger, yes?
  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    It's really, really hard to break a toilet with an auger.

    Seattle Thread on
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  • WulfWulf Disciple of Tzeentch The Void... (New Jersey)Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Makershot wrote: »
    It's really, really hard to break a toilet with an auger.

    There is an analogy... something about the ingenuity of fools and the proofing of things, as compared to people and trying to fix things :whistle:

    Wulf on
    Everyone needs a little Chaos!
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    how big a tube of bacitracin was it? does the toilet still drain correctly?

    mts on
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  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Wulf wrote: »
    Makershot wrote: »
    It's really, really hard to break a toilet with an auger.

    There is an analogy... something about the ingenuity of fools and the proofing of things, as compared to people and trying to fix things :whistle:
    If you make it idiot proof, they just make a better idiot.

    matt has a problem on
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  • BEAST!BEAST! Adventurer Adventure!!!!!Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    first, i'm saddened that you missed the opportunity to make the title "Double, Double Toilet Troubles"

    second, i agree with the auger idea, pretty hard to mess up a toilet with an auger and the main thing you want it for is to get it past the trap, after that it should go on its merry way

    BEAST! on
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