Fixing my leaking shower

Say What? What Do You Do When There's A Rubber Duckie In The Loo?

by Andy Butler

The rotating whirlpool of a flushed toilet is like a homing beacon to curious young minds. With a final kiss goodbye to their beloved yellow duck, your child's favourite bathroom toy is tossed into the churning waves of the whirlpool where it is carried to a place where it can be seen no more. The problem as the owner of the home, however, is where exactly did the duck go? There are several things you can do when a rubber duckie has been chucked into the loo!

Flushing The Toilet

One of the first big concerns you have is where the duck is trapped after it left the bowl of the toilet. Is it stuck in the pipe between the toilet bowl and the floor? Or has it made it's way further down into the sewerage drain. Until you know where it is trapped you can't decide on your next course of action.

One of the fastest ways to determine whether the duck is trapped between the bowl and the bathroom floor is to flush the toilet. Before you do this, however, place some old towels or other absorbent material around the bowl in case of an overflow. If the duck has moved into the drain, the toilet will flush properly, but if it is still trapped in the toilet itself, the blockage will not allow the toilet to flush easily. A duck that has moved into the drain needs professional help straight away. If it gets wedged in the sewerage pipe, you could be looking at an expensive repair if the pipe needs to be replaced.

If the duck is still trapped above-ground, it's time for the next step.

Options For Removing The Duck

The first thing you need to know right now is to put away the plunger. Using a plunger for an object the size of a rubber duck could cause the duck to get wedged in the toilet tighter. Right now you have two choices available to you:

  1. Remove the toilet from the floor by unscrewing the bolts that hold it on the floor. The problem with doing this is that you will break the wax seal between the toilet and the floor. This seal stops the water from leaking out and if you have never attempted this before, you should go straight to option 2.
  2. Call a plumber. While you may be a little embarrassed there's a yellow duck in your toilet, you can rest assured they have seen this problem more than once.

Unless you have prior home plumbing experience, using a plumber (like those at Bunbury Plumbing and Gas) to rescue the little yellow friend removes the chances of you cracking the toilet by using too much force, or getting the duck wedged in there tight. After the duck has been extracted, however, it's time to have a chat with your young one about keeping their ducks floating only in the bath from now on.

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