Toilet Overflowing in Dallas: How to Stop It

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Water climbing toward the rim? Take the lid off the tank and press the flapper down, or lift the float, and the bowl stops filling within seconds. Then turn the small valve behind the toilet clockwise and keep your hand off the handle. Dallas 24 PLUMBER clears overflowing toilets and backed-up drains all over Dallas from our base on Botham Jean Blvd, just south of downtown.

Sewage coming up in a tub, shower or floor drain as well? Stop using water anywhere in the house and call (844) 313-1397. That points to a main line blockage, and we send our on-call plumber right away.

Stop the water at the tank first

An overflowing bowl means the drain under it is blocked while the tank keeps feeding water in. Tank water comes straight from your supply pipe, so reaching in is safe.

Lift off the tank lid and set it flat on a towel.
Push the flapper closed. Pressing the rubber disc at the bottom of the tank onto its seat stops water flowing into the bowl.
Raise the float. Lift the plastic cup on the fill valve, or the ball on a rod in an older toilet, and the tank stops refilling.
Close the stop valve. Turn the oval handle on the supply line behind the bowl clockwise as far as it goes.

If the valve won't budge or its stem drips, don't force it; prop the float up and close the main shut-off. Dallas Water Utilities guidance puts the house cut-off in one of a few places: by an outdoor spigot next to the house, beside the sprinkler valve toward the property line, or, at older homes, underground with an L-shaped iron handle. Inside the city, 311 can get DWU to shut the water at the meter around the clock. In a condo tower downtown or in Uptown, use your unit shut-off or call the building engineer.

Don't flush again, and plunge the right way

A second flush turns a small spill into a soaked floor. Let the bowl drain down first, or bail some into a bucket.

Use a flange plunger, the kind with a soft sleeve under the cup; a flat sink plunger can't seal on a curved bowl.
Seat it under water so you push water, not air, and ease down on the first stroke to avoid splashing.
Work it hard: 15 to 20 firm strokes without breaking the seal, then pull it away sharply.
Test before you flush. Reopen the stop valve, let the tank refill and lift the flapper partway by hand. If the bowl drains briskly, finish with a full flush.

If a toy or a phone went down, stop plunging, because that wedges it deeper; a closet auger or pulling the toilet gets it out.

When other drains back up too: the main line

A toilet that overflows on its own usually has a clog in its own trap. Check the rest of the house:

dirty water rises in the tub or shower when someone flushes;
a sink gurgles as the toilet drains, or the toilet bubbles when the washer empties;
several fixtures turn slow at once, or water shows up at the outdoor cleanout.

These signs usually put the blockage in the building drain or the sewer line to the street. A plunger can't reach it and only forces sewage out of the lowest opening, usually the tub. Stop all water use and call; our plumber clears the line from the cleanout and, for repeat backups, checks it with a camera.

Older parts of Oak Cliff, Lakewood and South Dallas still have clay sewer laterals and cast-iron drains. Roots push into clay joints, and Blackland Prairie clay swells in wet weather and shrinks in drought, shifting pipe until paper catches. If neighbors are backing up too, the city main may be the problem; see the FAQ below on who fixes what. See drain cleaning, video camera inspection and sewage backing up in a tub.

Clean-water overflow or sewage overflow?

Clean water that leaked from the tank side, not the bowl (a cracked tank, supply hose or tank bolt), is tap water. Mop it and run fans.
Bowl water from a flush with no waste in it is lightly contaminated. Mop it, then wash the floor with a household disinfectant.
Sewage, meaning water with waste in it or anything from another drain, carries germs. Keep kids and pets out, wear gloves and boots, and bag soaked rugs. Carpet, padding and drywall that absorbed sewage usually get cut out rather than dried.

Water travels further than it looks: through the subfloor into the crawlspace of a pier-and-beam house, under baseboards and vanities on a slab, or onto the ceiling of the condo below.

When to call a plumber

Call (844) 313-1397 at any hour if the water won't stop because a valve fails, sewage is rising in another drain, water has reached the walls or the unit below, or several rounds with a flange plunger haven't cleared it. For those, we send our on-call plumber right away.

If the toilet works again but overflows every few weeks, book a visit at a time that suits you. Repeat overflows often trace back to a partly blocked trap, rim holes crusted with mineral scale, a blocked vent or an early low-flow toilet that never flushed well. We fix those under toilet repair and installation.

Overflowing toilet questions

Why does my toilet overflow when I flush it?

The drain can't carry water away as quickly as the tank releases it. Usually that's a clog in the toilet's own trap. If other drains are slow or gurgling too, the blockage is in the main line.

Can I pour drain cleaner or boiling water into an overflowing toilet?

It's better not to. Chemical openers sit in a full bowl and can splash onto skin and eyes, and very hot water can crack porcelain. Use a flange plunger or a closet auger.

Is water from an overflowing toilet dangerous?

Tank water is clean. Bowl water is mildly contaminated, and water with waste in it or from another drain is sewage. Wear gloves, disinfect hard surfaces and throw out soaked rugs.

Who fixes a sewer backup in Dallas, me or the city?

The property owner generally looks after the private line from the house, and Dallas Water Utilities looks after the public main. If the main itself is clogged or overflowing, report it to Dallas 311.

Toilet still overflowing? Call us

Call (844) 313-1397 from any part of Dallas, be it a Deep Ellum loft, a Kessler Park bungalow or a ranch house in Pleasant Grove. Coupons (terms): $50 off for new customers, 10% off for seniors, military and first responders, and a $0 dispatch fee with a repair. Texas plumbing license # M-27587.