Making More Energy-Conscious Decisions

Your toilet is just one of those things that you expect to work. You move the handle down, the toilet flushes, and you move on with your day. You can quickly have a day go bad, though, the moment your toilet starts to back up. If you've had issues with this in the past and want to reduce the risk of this happening in the future, here are some tips that might help as well as what you can do if things do go wrong.

Change Your Habits

Before you make any serious adjustments to your house or sewer line, the first and easiest thing you can do to reduce the chance of a future sewer backup is to change any habits you might have that might have led to issues. If you have ever flushed anything besides toilet paper down the toilet, you are asking for trouble. Feminine products, baby products, and tissue paper should be put in the trash can, not in the toilet. Make sure every other member of your family is on board with this as well.

Install a Sewer Backup Prevention Valve

If your home frequently lets backwater into the home through the toilet or another drain, you can have a professional plumber install a sewer backup or backwater prevention valve. This setup allows water to leave the home, but the valve will lock down the moment it senses water coming back into the home. This will stop a backup in its tracks before it can cause any issues for you.

Use an Auger or Snake

If you have a toilet backup, you will, of course, want to push the clog free and allow your toilet to drain as soon as possible. Most homes have a plunger or two but not many have an auger or snake tool. This device can be strung down into the toilet drain to physically push a clog out of the way. You can get an auger at just about any major home improvement store. If you don't have previous experience using one, however, it might be best to leave this task to a professional.

Contact Professional Help

If you do encounter a toilet backup, you can go ahead and give the plunger a try, but if the backup won't clear, there could be other issues in play. Contact a local plumbing or toilet backup repair service to investigate the situation.