Overflowing toilet

[Mary Jo]

I just finished having a ceiling repaired, new flooring put into my bathroom and lots of other things taken care of that resulted in our son's toilet overflowing all night without our knowledge. It was all clear water. We never heard the water running or the toilet overflowing. It overflowed from the bowl, not the tank. We never figured out why it happened but the insurance took care of all expenses minus our deductible. We just had this all completed after weeks of contractors coming and going from our home.

Tonight we went to use this same bathroom on our 2nd floor, only to find the floor filled with water again (clear water) and a full toilet bowl overflowing slowly. Why is this happening again? Our son claims he never used that bathroom today. We don't know if we should believe him and maybe their is a problem with this toilet, or perhaps he did clog it to cause this. But it was clear water both times and we never heard anything strange from the bathroom such as running water from the toilet. Can a toilet just start running like this by itself? I would have thought if our son clogged it, the water would not have been clear. I'm ready to scream...if you know why this would happen again, please let me know. I will have to report this again to our insurance company and I don't know what they're going to say this time. We worry about mold if we don't get this all aired out and repaired quickly. Our home is 8 yrs old with water saver toilets but this is the only toilet that has overflowed.

[kactuskid]

You have 2 problems, first one is that you either have a clog in the toilet drain, or a clogged vent. I would definatly check the vent line that runs to the roof of your house, could have a birds nest in it or leaves, etc. You may also have something caught in the internal trap of the toilet which becomes lodged and dislodged. Pulling the toilet and cleaning out the trap with a snake and possibly the drain will remedy this. Here's a link to describe http://www.toiletology.com/howitwrk.shtml

I would also either replace the entire toilet with a new Kohler Wellworth lite, cost around $100 at Home Depot, or replace the devices inside the toilet tank. Your flush valve is not stopping the water from continuing to fil up the tank once the float has reached it's setpoint, sounds like the tube that directs this water to the overflow may also be too long. This tube should be 1/4" above the top of the overflow column. Your flapper may also be leaking by and allowing water into the bowl, so please replace all parts with new Fluidmaster parts. Here's another link to describe what parts: http://www.toiletology.com/troubles.shtml

Replacing the entire toilet is cheap insurance. Also make sure the vents and drains are clear. I would hold off reporting to your insurance company again, it will work against you, save the calls for high dollar items instead.