Quick, Call the Plumber!
Posted by 
June 30, 2011 •
If there’s one thing I rely on to work at all times in our house, it’s the toilet. Pretty much anything else I can work around if it’s broken. But the toilet, well, mama’s gotta have a place to do her business. We only have one bathroom in our house which may seem fine for only two adults and a baby, but it leaves little to no room for a backup if we’re having plumbing issues.
Stop mocking me.
It wasn’t too long ago that we had a plumbing emergency. Something that made me contemplate calling the plumber or my husband… but I wasn’t sure which to call first.
And believe me, calling in a professional service on short notice is not something I take lightly. It’s not cheap! (Like the time with our water heater…). With the toilet acting up, I knew I couldn’t wait a day or more for an appointment like when our sink backed up.
Have I mentioned that I have a very strong dislike for our plumbing?
So, anyway, the toilet was acting up in the morning shortly after breakfast. I plunged it – no big deal. Pretty normal.
Later in the day I noticed the water level was low. This happens a lot and usually resolves itself with the next flush. But it didn’t. Again, no biggie. If I let it sit, the now high level will drain and gurgle…and return to normal in an hour or so.
But not that day.
No, the stupid toilet didn’t flush right. I tried plunging it, but no luck. The water filled the bowl – threatening to overflow. I needed to go. I couldn’t hold it anymore.
All I can say is: thank goodness baby is in diapers. I didn’t need to worry about her using the potty. After more unsuccessful plunging attempts I knew I had to make a phone call. My hands hurt from the plungers (I tried two different ones), my hair was in disarray, and I was swearing like a sailor. (Good thing baby can’t talk yet either.)
I called my husband and asked if he could come home early because I needed to go. He came home 20ish minutes later, tried to plunge… no luck. In fact, it made things worse… water was dripping from a pipe in the basement! We discussed calling a plumber and used a McDonald’s bathroom in the meantime. Hubby wanted to call his brother first.
Thankfully, his brother – who’s pretty handy – came over. They had to remove the toilet, do some major plunging and replace some seal or something that broke (hence the dripping water). It was an all evening project. I was doing the dance again by the time our toilet was back in place!
Could you imagine if that happened while I was pregnant? Now, wanna guess how long it’ll be before we face our next plumbing woes?
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Disclosure: I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog and was compensated. However, the thoughts, experiences, and views are my own.
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Tags: bathroom, bucks2blog, DIY, family, plumbing issues, roto-rooter, sponsored
Me kids clog my toilet ALL the time. I have got to the point where they are only allowed to use their toliet because..well I’m not being w/o a place to “go” because they use a whole roll of toliet paper with every flush. ;-)crystalnjoe1105
Lol….All I see is pee-pee dance and desperation! Make ya wanna have a few roto-rooter connections :)closertolucy
And that is why I like having more than one bathroom!momsmutterings
i only let kamikaze use her own toilet bc she is so gross, lol
A few years ago all the plumbing at my parents’–all the toilets, all the drains–backed up. (I was living with them at the time.) Turned out there was a blockage in one of the underground pipes and they called someone to come with this big truck and suck the blockage out. The guy who did it said that if blockage becomes a persistent problem (apparently they used oval pipes in in the 60′s or 70′s and that can cause problems), they’d have to replace the pipes. In the meantime, we were showering and using the bathroom (even at 6AM) at the neighbors’. I’d blocked that from my memory till just now. Huh.