One of my subscribers - he's been getting this newsletter for almost twenty years! - emailed me about a problem at his house. He had asked me for some advice on wax gaskets for toilets. About a week after I had given his some help, I emailed him asking what happened. Here's his response:
"After doing a great job on the wax rings, the toilet was still clogged. No surprise since I'd never done anything to fix it. When I tried to plunge it water backed up into the nearby bath tub, so I assumed the clog was deeper than I could get with a short toilet snake. I had too much work to do so I called a plumber. He was able to snake the line through the tub. It took awhile because the clog was 25 FEET AWAY, which I estimate may be where the line makes it to
the slab.
The culprit was "Flushable" wipes. They're apparently all the rage, even Howard Stern raves about them. Well, the plumber pulled out a large pile of them.
They are flushable only in the sense that they make it past your toilet, but the plumber says they do not decompose and tend to float so he's seen them make it partway through a house's system and then float back up toward the kitchen to cause a problem there!"
This is a great story because I feel the manufacturers of these products are only telling a half-truth.
Yes, you can flush the wipes. You can also flush small plastic army men, plastic dinosaurs, golf balls, sand, gravel, underwear, cell phones, etc. down a toilet.
Is it a GOOD IDEA to flush all those things? NO!!!!!!!
Have you ever noticed what happens if you take a piece of toilet paper, get it wet and try to rub a counter or anything else with it? It rapidly disintegrates. It's designed that way for a reason.
Do the same with a high-quality paper towel. The paper towel holds together. Flushable wipes are stronger than great paper towels.
Only flush toilet paper and body waste down toilets. PERIOD.
Great DIY High-Strength Concrete
CLICK or TAP HERE if you're about to do some concrete repair work at your home. I've got a ton of tips for you in many past columns. Scroll down PAST the ads you'll first see to get to all the wonderful money and time-saving tips.
When you get ready to mix up some new concrete, check out Quikrete's new/newer Q-Max Concrete in a bag.
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