Comments on: Frugality In Practice: Don’t Call The Plumber

By: The Happy Housewife

The Happy Housewife — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:24:28 +0000

Oh, I am laughing! I am sure you weren’t at the time, but how funny! Glad you were able to do it yourself!
Toni

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:19:10 +0000

That’s why we have locks on the outside of our bathrooms’ doors!

By: Ryan S.@uncommon-cents.net

Ryan S.@uncommon-cents.net — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:27:47 +0000

Interestingly, I have a drain unclogging thread to put up on my blog myself, although mine is not just about toilets… mostly about shower drains, actually.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:26:13 +0000

Somehow in the process of snaking the toilet, the entire toilet bowl cracked and we had a toilet in 2 halves when we were done. I wonder if maybe it was coming anyway (it does seem odd that snaking the toilet would break it in half!) but it was a gigantic nightmare.

By: Kansas Mom

Kansas Mom — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:14:02 +0000

Well, there’s one benefit to renting. Something bad happens to the toilet and someone else has to pay! (Our landlords have been great the couple of times we’ve called them and have had someone on the way almost immediately. It makes a big difference to have such dependability.)

Now, my husband did try to fix our washing machine…unsuccessfully.

http://ourhomeontherange.blogspot.com/
2008/05/dirge-for-washing-machine.html

By: Kyle

Kyle — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:24:27 +0000

Jennifer, ouch, sorry to hear about your bad toilet experience!!

I guess I got lucky. Although I am curious (so I never do it) how you could ruin a toilet with a small snake. Especially since it sounds like your clog was in the main drain line not in the actual toilet. Hopefully you got a new low-flow toilet out of the deal.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:54:57 +0000

We ruined a toilet with a small snake when ours was clogged trying to unclog it ourselves. We had to replace the toilet and went through 3 wax seals trying to get it to install right (apparently the floor wasn’t quite level.) That all cost over $100. And then we still had to pay a plumber $75 because the clog was further down than our small snake could reach (the plumber used a power snake down the shower drain to find the clog, which was actually a “flushable” hygiene item.

So $175 later we’ve learned to call someone who knows what they are doing, AND make sure you never ever flush anything extra down the toilet, even if the packaging claims it’s OK to flush.

I hate toilet drama. And of course (for us anyway) it always happens on the weekend when you have house guests…