Plumbers agree on what NOT to do when DIYing bathroom repairs

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Published Date 11/9/2023

Of all the rooms in the house we freak out over when something goes wrong, it’s the bathroom. Why? Because unclogging gurgling toilets, sinks, and bathtubs is not a job any of us would ever want to tackle.

Of course, ideally, our bathroom pipes run smoothly without distressing noises or smells. But when HuffPost’ Monica Torres decided to engage the comments of a collection of professional plumbers, the advice they came up with may indeed save you a few stinky headaches.

First off, before you start working on a pipe or fixture you suspect is leaking, turn off its water supply to stop the flow of water — or else you will be risking water flowing into your bathroom. Never work on a fixture that doesn’t have reliable and working shut-off valves. If you are working on a fixture and it starts to leak, a broken or failing shut-off won’t hold, says the experts. Can’t find it? Look for the main one in your house before doing any plumbing — typically near a hot water heater, your basement, or the foundation of your house outside.

Next, NEVER put flushable wipes down a toilet. No matter that it says “flushable” on its packaging. It often is not. Plumbing experts say you may well face the prospect of paying up to $10,000 to have your front yard ripped up if your plumbing system came over with Columbus. Old cast iron pipes don’t permit the wipes to disintegrate, and plumbers have had instances where they spent up to two days drain-cleaning until they get to the point of having to dig the entire pipe out. A dug-up front yard or basement is not a pretty sight and the process is costly. So if you do use flushable wipes, put them in a trash can, not in your toilet.

Same with tampons. Never flush tampons and/or menstrual products down your toilet. The point of their purpose is to expand whenever moisture hits them. Duh.

Drano or Plumber’s Helper? They can do more harm than good, eating through older pipes. “So, sure, it’ll get rid of the clog, but it’ll also start raining in your living room,” says one plumber Torres interviewed. Plus, the cleaner can move the buildup in your pipes to another area that’s harder to reach. “If it sludges into a hard turn, then you have a major clog,” she said as an example.

If you’re the earth mother who prefers to use the popular DIY solution of baking soda and vinegar on sink pipe clogs, just know it can eat away at the rubber gasket used to put the sink drain together. Instead, take the plunge. It’s the safest.

One item plumbers agree is bad is an adjustable P-trap. Although they are advertised as a convenient plumbing solution for DIY homeowners, they can cause more problems than they solve. “The ridges on these traps tend to collect buildup and catch hair, leading to frequent clogs, and they’re difficult to unclog without needing to disassemble the entire drain,” they said. “Using the right materials from the start will save you time in the long run and avoid the hassle of having to frequently unclog your drain.” Look for a standard slip nut washer trap over an adjustable P-trap for your sink.

Use that trusty toilet brush and a spray cleaner instead of dropping a cleaning tablet into your toilet tank. Those blue tablets and bleach tablets are horrible for the toilet. They break down the tank parts and constantly need replacing. In fact, the group says the longer that a cleaning tablet sits in your toilet, the more likely that it will dissolve the plastic and rubber gaskets, washers, and pipes around it. Instead, use distilled white vinegar and get rid of stains in an effective, yet valuable way.

HuffPost, TBWS

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