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ryan_d_sucks

Is this plumber lying to me?

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I'll preface this with saying that I have a lot of drunk friends... This weekend one of my particularly drunk friends knocked a plastic bottle of aftershave into the toilet while he was taking a piss. Instead of fishing the bottle out and then washing his hands he decided just to flush it. He claims his rationale was that he thought the bottle wouldn't go down, only the urine in the toilet would, thus he would be able to fish out the bottle without reaching into a toilet full of piss. However, the bottle did go down.

Afterwards we tried a few practice flushes, and the toilet worked flawlessly. We all laughed and high-fived about how funny it was. Then someone took a shit, the toilet stopped working, and it is no longer quite as funny.

I had a plumber from roto-rooter come out to look at it today, and he told me right off the bat that my toilet is busted and has to be replaced. He said this before even looking at anything, and then started telling me how he could cut me a deal on toilet installation. It seemed a little odd to come to such a diagnosis so quickly, and without even examining the toilet. I asked him if he would attempt to snake it since he was out here anyway and he begrudgingly tried.. for about 3 minutes. He quickly gave up and deemed it a useless effort. He then said he wouldn't charge for the service that he did today, if I let him personally do the toilet installation later this week. I know nothing about toilets plumbing or piping, so I just kind of accepted my fate of buying a new toilet. He says the bottle is stuck in the piping of the commode itself, not in the line past the toilet, so a new commode is the only answer.

After he left I found myself wondering if such a small object could really ruin a pretty nice, perfectly functional toilet. I also started thinking about how eager he was to sell me a new toilet, and I began to wonder if this was kind of what its like to be car-illiterate, and deal with a shady mechanic.

So, anyone with plumbing knowledge, does it sound likely that this 2.4 oz plastic bottle of aftershave has killed my toilet? Should I get someone else to take a look?

A pic is attached of the aftershave bottle.. Its the blue bottle that says Gillette in this picture.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/gillette%20aftershave%20gel/aggreko07/IMG_0360.jpg

Living in a one bedroom, zero bathroom condo totally sucks.

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It could get stuck in the toilet itself. Adding the "waste" behind it just made it gross. Now, If its all stopped up you have to get it fixed or dig a ditch in your yard.

How far did the snake go in? If you look at the side of the bowl you will see the outline of the way it is piped. does it look like the snake went in only a few inches and could go any further? or did the plumber get the snake in 5 feet and it stopped?

Chance are if it is stuck in the bowl itself you'll have to at least take the bowl off the floor and see if you can remove it from the underside or you could try to get creative and find a way to break the plastic bottle into smaler peices.

Hint: an M-80 isn't a good idea if you are tyring to save money.
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The guy is a lying sack of shit. Report his ass to the BBB. If your toliet works OK there is nothing wrong with it. Look at Kohler's site. I think they have pictures of them testing toliets by filling the thing with golf balls and a bunch of other stuff.
Keep a plunger handy in case you take a big dump and it plugs up. THen you might have to do something, but I doubt it.
You can buy a toliet for about $70 and put it in yourself, if you ever need to. Simple job.
Man it just pisses me off when guys try to cheat people. There is so much honest work, you should never have to do that.
Invite that thief back and give him a swirly until he sees the error of his ways. Might do the same with your drunk buddy.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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Hahaha, well, the toilet most definitely does NOT work at this point in time. It worked well for flushing liquids after the bottle was flushed. However the first time it tried to handle the 'real deal' after the bottle went down it clogged, and plunging seems to be ineffective.

So the toilet definitely needs some sort of intervention, I'm just not yet convinced that a brand new toilet is the only answer.

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The bottle is inside the toilet itself, it did not seal up the passage until you added the solids, ( paper & waste ).

Pull the toilet, turn it over & you should be able to remove the bottle easy enough because it's plastic & can crushed .
I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

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- he may not be lying about needing a new toilet, but unless he is the owner of the company it appears that he is trying to get some work for himself on the side, i.e. you write the check to him rather than Roto Inc, if the toilet actually needs replacing that may be your cheapest option other than do-it-yourself
- it is possible that the plastic bottle is stuck inside the toilet, some toilets are better than others at passing large objects, if that is the case it will probably be impossible to remove except by hand
- of course to do this you will probably want to remove the stuff in the bowl, you may get lucky that by removing all the water and tapping on the drain pipe of the toilet the bottle may simply fall free
- CAUTION - don't get to crazy and get your hand stuck in the toilet
- see if you can stick your hand in and remove it, if your hand is too large you need to find a friend with a small hand, I've used a small mirror to look and see the stuck device
- if that doesn't work then remove the toilet from the floor and see if you can see the bottle from the other end, try pushing it back the way it came, you may need to twist it
- if that doesn't work, and the bottle is in fact in the toilet and you can't figure any way to get it out, then buy a new toilet and install it
- all this is easy if you have any mechanical abilities, the process can be found on the Net
Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

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I've rebuilt toilets (due to seals finally wearing out after decades of use here in my house). The only thing that seems to prepare them for the grave is water hard deposits finally getting the better of the flow of flush water tank/bowl, etc. Even then you can take a coat hanger and clear them decently.

I'm with Don, remove the toilet from the floor and see if you can locate the bottle from the bottom.

Of course, the easy way is to just remove and replace. :P


Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

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You do not need a new toilet.Turn the water supply
off.Remove all the water you can from the bowl and tank.Unbolt it and turn it on it's side .You will find your bottel stuck in the bottem or part way around the trap.
It would not be a good idea to try to force the bottle on in to the the pipe below.Then you will have a bigger problem . Oh pick up a new wax ring to reseal the toilet back to the toilet flange.SeYa Chuck

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i agree you need to remove the toilet yourself. before you do, take a look at the inner workings of the tank. if anything doesn't look close to new, take this opportunity to replace all the innards and hardware. it will set you back about $25 for a kit that will replace everything. just write down the brand of toilet so the guy working at whatever store you go to can give you the right kit. also pick up a wax ring and some rubber or latex gloves. chances are that once you pull the toilet, you will be able to reach the obstruction from the under side. and yes, you can use a shop vac to get water out if its a wet/dry shop vac.

once you get your toilet back in and working properly, call the company he works for and let them know what their employee is up to.


"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

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OTHER CAUTION-Turn the water off before you try to remove the toilet.




(bill, the OP doesnt seem to have any plumbing ability. Didn't want to take that water thing for granted. :D)

Quote

- he may not be lying about needing a new toilet, but unless he is the owner of the company it appears that he is trying to get some work for himself on the side, i.e. you write the check to him rather than Roto Inc, if the toilet actually needs replacing that may be your cheapest option other than do-it-yourself
- it is possible that the plastic bottle is stuck inside the toilet, some toilets are better than others at passing large objects, if that is the case it will probably be impossible to remove except by hand
- of course to do this you will probably want to remove the stuff in the bowl, you may get lucky that by removing all the water and tapping on the drain pipe of the toilet the bottle may simply fall free
- CAUTION - don't get to crazy and get your hand stuck in the toilet
- see if you can stick your hand in and remove it, if your hand is too large you need to find a friend with a small hand, I've used a small mirror to look and see the stuck device
- if that doesn't work then remove the toilet from the floor and see if you can see the bottle from the other end, try pushing it back the way it came, you may need to twist it
- if that doesn't work, and the bottle is in fact in the toilet and you can't figure any way to get it out, then buy a new toilet and install it
- all this is easy if you have any mechanical abilities, the process can be found on the Net


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I was watching my brothers kids one weekend several years ago when the toilet suddenly backed up for no apparent reason. I borrowed a snake from my buddy and fished around until I pulled out a...get this...a CARROT! I'm holding a 6 inch long carrot in my hand and ask out loud, in a rhetorical manner, "How in the hell did a carrot get in the toilet???"
My 4-year-old nephew got a very, very guilty expression, his face blushed slightly, and he departed the vicinity.
Case closed. :D

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

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I would go to the hardware store and buy a snake. If the claws on the snake cant grab it because of the size, retract the claws and fashion some type of small breakaway hook to the end of the snake. Such as, bending a piece of coat hanger into a simple right angle and tying it to the end of the snake with some thread (breakaway). make a small loop on the hook to attach some fishing line so you don't lose it. Use the snake to push the hook past the bottle and attempt to pull it out with the hook.

Just a thought.

I would try it before tearing my bathroom apart.
"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way." - Alan Watts

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Quote

OTHER CAUTION-Turn the water off before you try to remove the toilet.

(bill, the OP doesnt seem to have any plumbing ability. Didn't want to take that water thing for granted. :D)

Quote

- he may not be lying about needing a new toilet, but unless he is the owner of the company it appears that he is trying to get some work for himself on the side, i.e. you write the check to him rather than Roto Inc, if the toilet actually needs replacing that may be your cheapest option other than do-it-yourself
- it is possible that the plastic bottle is stuck inside the toilet, some toilets are better than others at passing large objects, if that is the case it will probably be impossible to remove except by hand
- of course to do this you will probably want to remove the stuff in the bowl, you may get lucky that by removing all the water and tapping on the drain pipe of the toilet the bottle may simply fall free
- CAUTION - don't get to crazy and get your hand stuck in the toilet
- see if you can stick your hand in and remove it, if your hand is too large you need to find a friend with a small hand, I've used a small mirror to look and see the stuck device
- if that doesn't work then remove the toilet from the floor and see if you can see the bottle from the other end, try pushing it back the way it came, you may need to twist it
- if that doesn't work, and the bottle is in fact in the toilet and you can't figure any way to get it out, then buy a new toilet and install it
- all this is easy if you have any mechanical abilities, the process can be found on the Net



agree: also should have said to remove tank from lower half of toilet, OP really needs to get a set of specific instructions otherwise this simple task will be difficult

of course when the water is shut off and the valve leaks then there is another problem :)
i wonder how some folks can afford to live, i've saved $30-$40K by doing stuff myself rather than paying a contractor, installed a meter assembly on a jet ski yesterday saved $160
Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

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The phone was already replaced before I got home. She called me while I was at sun-n-fun to tell me what happened. One I determined that she wasn't flushing biological waste I came up with the great idea of just using the other bathroom until I got home to save the plumber's bill.:S

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

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