Toilet Overflowing? How to Stop It in Fort Worth

Stop the water before it reaches the floor

A clogged bowl spills over when more water arrives than it can drain: the flush itself, a tank that keeps refilling, or sewage pushed up from a blocked main line. The clog is usually paper, a wipe or a toy in the trap. Cut off the tank first.

1. Lift the tank lid and lay it flat on a towel.
2. Close the flapper. Press the rubber flapper at the bottom of the tank down over its opening, and free the chain if it's tangled. Tank water is clean, so this is safe by hand.
3. Raise the float until the hissing stops, which shuts off the refill.
4. Close the stop valve behind or under the toilet by turning it clockwise. Use firm hand pressure, not pliers; a corroded stem can snap.
5. Valve stuck? Use the house's main shutoff or the house-side valve in the meter box.

How to plunge a toilet correctly

1. Use a flange plunger, the kind with a soft sleeve below the cup. A flat sink plunger won't seal well in a toilet.
2. Adjust the water. Bail a brimming bowl into a bucket with gloves on, or add water until the cup is covered.
3. Start gently to push out trapped air, or bowl water sprays across the room.
4. Then pump firmly 15 to 20 times without breaking the seal, pulling back as hard as you push.
5. Test with the lid off. Lift the flapper by hand, drop it shut if the level climbs, and reopen the stop valve once the bowl drains.

Still blocked? A closet auger, a short crank snake with a rubber guard, reaches deeper without scratching the porcelain. Skip chemical drain openers, which sit in the bowl and can splash onto skin. If something solid went down, don't force it; the toilet may need to come off the floor, which is part of our toilet repair work.

Other drains backing up too? Think main line

A toilet clog affects one toilet. A blockage in the main drain or sewer lateral backs up the whole house, and the water rises at the lowest opening, usually a ground-floor tub, shower or toilet. Signs:

• Flushing makes dirty water rise in the tub or shower.
• The toilet bubbles when the washing machine drains.
• Every drain in the house is slow at once.
• Water comes up at a floor drain or the cleanout in the yard.

Plunging won't help and can push sewage out of the next fixture. Stop all water use and try the City of Fort Worth's test: ask whether neighbors have the same trouble, then watch with every faucet and appliance off. If the backup stops, the blockage is likely in your private sewer lateral, which the owner maintains from the house to the public main. If sewage keeps coming with nothing running, report it to Fort Worth Water, which looks after the mains in rights of way and easements.

Many older homes around Riverside, Oakhurst, Six Points and the Northside still drain through cast-iron or clay pipe, where roots work in at the joints and catch paper. Drain cleaning opens the line, and a camera inspection shows whether roots or a crack will bring the clog back. Sewage in a tub? See sewage backing up in the tub.

Clean-water overflow or sewage: how to clean up

• Clean water from the tank or supply line: mop it up, run fans and lift rugs.
• Bowl water: treat it as contaminated. Wear gloves, mop with hot soapy water, then disinfect the floor and toilet base.
• Sewage from the drain: keep kids and pets out, wear gloves and boots, and scrub up afterward. Soaked carpet, padding and the bottom of drywall usually have to be cut out.

In pier-and-beam houses, common in the city's older neighborhoods, water can seep through the subfloor into the crawlspace. If an upstairs toilet overflowed and the ceiling below is dripping, switch off the breaker for any wet light fixture, but only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot.

When to call a plumber

• Sewage is coming up in a tub, shower, floor drain or second toilet.
• The water won't stop because the valve is stuck or the flapper won't hold.
• The toilet clogs again within days, or a plunger and auger can't clear it.
• Water seeps from the base afterward, a sign the seal has shifted.
• Something hard went down, such as a toy or a phone.

For a sewage backup or water you can't shut off, call at any hour and we send our on-call plumber right away. Non-urgent repairs are booked at a time that suits you.

Overflowing toilet questions

Help with an overflowing toilet in Fort Worth

Call (817) 755-5621 and tell us whether it's one toilet or several drains. We serve Fort Worth, from Riverside, Oakhurst and Six Points near our shop to the Northside, plus Haltom City, North Richland Hills and other nearby towns. From our coupons: new customers take $50 off; seniors, military members and first responders save 10%; and dispatch is $0 with a repair.