Dental floss toilet beast (must see)

[oparr]

My basement toilet had always been a slow flusher, so much so that it was seldom ever used. Decided to get one of those toilet augers from Home Depot and give it a spin today. Well, the darn thing got trapped in the pipe and all the twisting and pulling in the world couldn't release it. Had to remove the toilet to investigate. Here's what I found after shifting the toilet bowl;

Had to cut the auger free;

Figured it was then just a case of freeing the ball of dental floss from the rusted pipe but after cutting away and pulling, it started to look like I had bitten off more than I could chew. Perseverance finally prevailed after pulling with all my might using two hands. Wasn't really prepared for what slowly emerged from the pipe....A three foot long floss beast;

Its head;

Its belly;

Moral of this story is probably never to flush dental floss down a toilet. You may never know what lurks beneath your toilet thereafter.

[oparr]

Auger you!

[hrhofmann]

YYYYUUUUKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

How long had you been in the house??? How many years had the beast been building up?

[Caesar Romano]

On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:01:21 -0800 (PST), harry wrote Re Re: Dental floss toilet beast (must see):

That's what it looks like to me too.

It will be leaking someplace now.

[Vic Smith]

Sewer stack joints used to get packed with oakum, (either tarred hemp or bentonite soaked hemp.) Then filled with melted lead. I don't see how he could pull the oakum out unless it was a really badly done joint. Doubt it will cause a leak unless the lead bead is broken and he gets a backup.

--Vic

[RicodJour]

Well, Sherlock ya ain't.

Every single bell and hub joint in a three bathroom house would have to have been pulled out to create that amount of fibrous material, and it wouldn't have all collected at the one basement toilet flange.

R

[Harry K]

I agree. If that is what it was, it would have had to be put there through the toilet itself.

Harry K

[Bob_Villa]

I'm hoping that's NOT how you got it out!

How long have you been it the house? (Is this from previous owners?)

[oparr]

Alas, the beast be 13 years (or more) old. Plunged at it during many an encounter to no avail. I now breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it's finally slain.

[oparr]

No mop heads, just at least 13 years of dental floss. The green floss seemed to be the most resilient, hadn't used that in years but the relatively few strands of that had retained their color well and were one hell to cut.

[Steve B]

Someone used one hell of a lot of dental floss. And musta flushed that toilet many thousands of time for that much to build up. Talk about a hoarder.

Steve

[oparr]

Something else to bear in mind is the nature of the pipe involved. Here we're talking iron with bumps, lumps and protrusions, just waiting to snag strands of floss, as opposed to smooth as a baby's bottom PVC;

[Steve B]

Something else to bear in mind is the nature of the pipe involved. Here we're talking iron with bumps, lumps and protrusions, just waiting to snag strands of floss, as opposed to smooth as a baby's bottom PVC;

reply: Agreed. But I'd say there's about 500 rolls of dental floss there .......

Steve

[oparr]

Nay, 'twas not I.

[oparr]

Depends on the length of floss on a roll. The rolls I use have 200 yards of floss on them. Estimated usage over 13 years is 2.7 miles or approximately 24 rolls. About 2/3 of that were flushed.

[Vic Smith]

That would screw me good. I have a "lift" system. All house water gets pumped out. Shortly after I spent $2100 for a plumber to replace the 50 year-old pump, it started vibrating. Plumber had to pull the pump out. $290. Believe me, this plumber was a bargain. He found a pair of shredded womans panties wrapped in the impeller. I figure a guest shit her pants and flushed them down. I almost feel like putting a sign opposite the commode. Just haven't settled on the wording.

--Vic

[oparr]

Looks like it can screw an entire city too;

[Bernt Berger]

Look at the bright side. You now have a lifetime supply of recycled dental floss. ;-)

[RicodJour]

"If it didn't come out of your colon don't be putting it in the bowl-in."

R

[oparr]

P in the basin? And what about toilet paper? That would be one confusing sign IMO.