Toilet blockage please help. With picture

[armyash]

Definitely sounds like something in the pan. Not a complete blockage just enough to slow the rate the water drains. Baby wipes, blue roll, something in that line i suspect. You should be able to remove the pan and cistern without removing the boxing, just make sure the pan con is in good condition and stays put when you slide the pan back in.

Although if he is grumbling about price just tell him to do one!

I reckon you are right and I reckon the customer knows something too but doesn't want to say. \he kept saying how 'maybe' someone has put something down there. So I reckon they put anything down without a care in the world.

 

[solutions]

Twice, cheeky gets, I wouldn't go back with an attitude like that.

So you tell him £60. He says is that the best you can do? then you say.... Well if you want my best it will be £90.

 

[Mike Jackson]

90% of the time it's something stuck in the back of the pan. Last one I had was a ribena carton that the kid had chucked down. It's normally one of those cage toilet rim things. If you plunge and it improves then goes back to partial blockage after you chuck paper down that's the most likely place for the blockage.

There is always the worse case scenario of a huge richard wedged across the outlet so have a bucket handy for when you retch.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Have you fixed it yet Ash? It's nearly 9 o'clock.

 

[AWheating]

Old fashioned string mop will unblock it, just don't use it to mop the floor afterwards.

 

[armyash]

Have you fixed it yet Ash? It's nearly 9 o'clock.

I haven't had a call or text yet to say its still blocked so fingers crossed.

 

[armyash]

Old fashioned string mop will unblock it, just don't use it to mop the floor afterwards.

Tried that yesterday, it did improve it slightly I just couldn't clear it fully.

 

[armyash]

How much would you guys be charging for this job?

One visit yesterday, it improved slightly. If it hasn't cleared today I will have to go back and remove pan. (which I would have rather done while I was there yesterday).

 

[rocketmanbkk]

How long were you there? Id have wanted £75 for yesterday for an hour or two.

Trouble is, if you can't fix it 100% it's difficult to charge much.

What did you tell the custard?

 

[armyash]

How long were you there? Id have wanted £75 for yesterday for an hour or two.

Trouble is, if you can't fix it 100% it's difficult to charge much.

What did you tell the custard?

I know what you mean it's hard to charge if it's not sorted fully. I only £45 for yesterday.

The thing is the customer didn't want to pay me anymore so he got left with drain unblocker. I said it will cost more and take a little bit longer for me to start taking the pan out and clearing the blockage. It would mean resealing pan etc. I was more than happy to do it but he didn't want me doing that.

Everyone tells me i'm too cheap but as soon as I give a price for a job I get customers asking me to do it cheaper. I need to come back with something that doesn't sound rude or aggressive but makes them look cheeky. I usually say ' you are more than welcome to see if you can find someone to do it cheaper' that usually shuts them up because they know they are getting a deal.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

£45 is too cheap but that's only my opinion.

What id do if he rings is tell him today's visit (Sunday) is X amount to do what you think. BUT I'd also say if the drains need jetting after your done then you still want paying, I'd make that clear.

If someone rings me to unblock a toilet I tell them upfront a payable price. If the quibble I tell them I'll look for my callout fee & then provide a price.

If they still quibble I walk away.

I would say it's all great experience and I tell you I need it but I'm now coming to the end of my second year self employed and I won't act out of desperation doing jobs to break even. I did do it as I thought it was the way to go, doing jobs for peanuts, imo it's not worth it,

As was said in a post, time with family is important, money is not everything.

 

[armyash]

Thanks Rocket some good advice there.

I'm going to start charging accordingly.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

That's only me Ash.

I do a bit of property maintenance for an estate agent I know.

I know you work also so people need to pay accordingly. If not they can look elsewhere imo.

It's all good experience & learning & confidence but they gotta pay.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

My very first job was a bath tap change. From Rated People.

The chap said someone else quoted £30. I thought I must earn money so I said £25 - ridiculous.

Anyway, the job turned bad, taps a bugger to get off etc.

I lost money, gained experience & was ok about it.

The moral of the story is the chap chose the cheapest Wickes taps.

He emailed me last May to say they were leaking & could I sort them out under their 12 warranty.

Well, I looked on Rated People & his feedback was left in April last year so over 12 months!

I replied saying I remembered him, how he wanted everything done for nothing, bought the cheapest taps etc. I then told him I'd be happy to return & quoted him an hourly rate us a fixed price. Never heard anything again!!

I did about 3 rated people jobs, all grief & wanted the earth for nothing. No more.

 

[Paulplumb]

Haha just remembered a time I got called to a house with a blocked toilet. The woman who lived in the house was like 30+ Stone. I tried a plunger and buckets of water etc to no avail. I removed all the screws and pulled the toilet forward and looked in the soil pipe to be confronted with a huge turd almost the diameter of the soil pipe! I was wretching busting it up with the bog brush lol.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Haha just remembered a time I got called to a house with a blocked toilet. The woman who lived in the house was like 30+ Stone. I tried a plunger and buckets of water etc to no avail. I removed all the screws and pulled the toilet forward and looked in the soil pipe to be confronted with a huge turd almost the diameter of the soil pipe! I was wretching busting it up with the bog brush lol.

That's to nasty for a Sunday morning.
I'm off!

 

[rpm]

Did anyone notice the 2 Black caps either side of the toilet on the skirting / trunking?

 

[brum]

I would have just pulled the toilet out without informing custard after all you have a job to do and you cant have them telling you how to do it ..brum

 

[armyash]

Did anyone notice the 2 Black caps either side of the toilet on the skirting / trunking?

They are access caps in to the shower waste and the basin waste.

 

[rpm]

They are access caps in to the shower waste and the basin waste.

Thats what I thought but also thought a little unusual so hence the question.

 

[armyash]

I would have just pulled the toilet out without informing custard after all you have a job to do and you cant have them telling you how to do it ..brum

I understand but he obviously doesn't like paying for a job to be done and if I had pulled it out and something gone wrong (not likely but always possible) I could have been there for a while and not been paid what it was worth.

At least I got paid yesterday, if it hasn't worked I will go back and remove pan but charge extra and he gets his toilet that flushes properly and I get paid a bit more for doing a bit more work. I can live with that. It's not ideal but if he wasn't tight I would have done the job properly the first time, now I will see what happens.

 

[rpm]

Before I get shot down in flames I admit this is a 5000-1 shot but when I see a box of that shape and size behind a pan with a little Black rubber tube sticking up through the top and the bath & basin pipes on top of the floor then it only means one thing to me in my game.

To save you time and a mess can I suggest that you take a wire coat hanger with you and poke it in around the gap where the pan connecter is in the boxing to see if you find a hard plastic box behind there.

The only thing against this idea is the fact that you said that the water in the pan reduces to normal but if the discharge pipe of a pump is a low side connecter then the water could be pushed out regardless. It will only take a few minutes and could save you heartache.

 

[gassafe]

If the shower & basin work fine without backing up, plus the drains outside clear then I would be suspecting a blockage or build up of crap in the pan connector directly behind the toilet!

just tell him, it's the next thing to check & it will be £xx amount, I hate it when the custards try & dictate how we go about are job... Bugger the drain cleaner, more chance of pushing the blockage further down the stack & then you'll have an even bigger job lol!

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Has he called you? What's the custard saying?

 

[armyash]

Has he called you? What's the custard saying?

Still no call or text. Got to be a good sign surely