Clogged toilets have always plagued me, and I have become an expert over the years in toilet repair, based on my need to have it working.
My first memory of a toilet in trouble happened to me in Randallstown, MD, in my first house.
The search for the “right” house took a while, finding financing and figuring out how to make it work was complicated, but in late 1967 we moved into our first home. A nice little split level house built in 1956, with a finished lower level and a “studio” or workshop that took half the garage, and left the front half for trash, etc. Baltimore is not a very cold or snowy town usually, so cars can easily live outside.
We had two children at that point, my oldest son being almost five and the youngest, about one. We were in the house on our first day when my wife put the diaper in the toilet to soak. You all may remember that diapers were cloth, there were no disposables at that point, and even though we had a diaper service, you wanted to remove all the crap before you put the diaper in the pail.
A “new” and unusual colored toilet, a dark beige rather than white, kind of disguised the fact that a diaper was sitting in it. I went by or maybe used the toilet (I no longer remember) but I flushed it!
The diaper was stuck, I was dumbfounded, and the toilet overflowed! I screamed, but had no idea what to do; I was a novice in the world of toilets. The water overflowed, and went down into the ceiling through the calked sides of the toilet. I ran to see where it would come out and lo and behold, it was pouring through the lit ceiling light fixture onto the carpeting in the family room!
This was my first major toilet overflow experience. We all survived, the ceiling was undamaged as the water came through the fixture. No one was electrocuted; it dried out and was fine. The carpeting dried, and was replaced eventually, but not because of this event, there was a much bigger flood years later coming through the outside door from a clogged stairwell, but that’s a story for later kids!
My first memory of a toilet in trouble happened to me in Randallstown, MD, in my first house.
The search for the “right” house took a while, finding financing and figuring out how to make it work was complicated, but in late 1967 we moved into our first home. A nice little split level house built in 1956, with a finished lower level and a “studio” or workshop that took half the garage, and left the front half for trash, etc. Baltimore is not a very cold or snowy town usually, so cars can easily live outside.
We had two children at that point, my oldest son being almost five and the youngest, about one. We were in the house on our first day when my wife put the diaper in the toilet to soak. You all may remember that diapers were cloth, there were no disposables at that point, and even though we had a diaper service, you wanted to remove all the crap before you put the diaper in the pail.
A “new” and unusual colored toilet, a dark beige rather than white, kind of disguised the fact that a diaper was sitting in it. I went by or maybe used the toilet (I no longer remember) but I flushed it!
The diaper was stuck, I was dumbfounded, and the toilet overflowed! I screamed, but had no idea what to do; I was a novice in the world of toilets. The water overflowed, and went down into the ceiling through the calked sides of the toilet. I ran to see where it would come out and lo and behold, it was pouring through the lit ceiling light fixture onto the carpeting in the family room!
This was my first major toilet overflow experience. We all survived, the ceiling was undamaged as the water came through the fixture. No one was electrocuted; it dried out and was fine. The carpeting dried, and was replaced eventually, but not because of this event, there was a much bigger flood years later coming through the outside door from a clogged stairwell, but that’s a story for later kids!
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