I continue to have lots of toilet clogs. The Dawn dishwashing liquid "cure" only works part of the time. The last two times I had to call a plumber, and this last time we decided that the brand of toilet was at least part of the problem, so that will be replaced. At least I will have one that I can use a plunger with. The toilet I have now has a weird shape in the bottom of the bowl..kind of like a loaf pan. It's long, narrow, and rectangular. Can't plunge it.
When it became clear that my most recent clog would not give way to the Dawn, I made the mistake of visiting my local hardware store. My original intent was fine--perhaps to find a really, really big plunger that would fit all the way around the "loaf pan." They didn't have one. So I asked if they had something I could pour down the thing, as Drano is a no-no. They sold me a quart of a substance called Liquid Fire, which sounds like it would do something, for good or for ill. The fine print said it was sulfuric acid, and again, that sounded like it would be effective. Maybe effective in eating through the pipes, but would do something.
The directions said that for a toilet, pour in 8 oz. and wait 15 minutes. Nothing happened. I put in more and more and more. In the end, I had poured in the entire quart. Then, I waited. I waited 2 days. Nothing happened, except I had a toilet full of bad smelling sulfuric acid.
I was talking to a fellow faculty member about this, who happens to teach chemistry. She said that she had been told by more than one plumber that they would have nothing to do with any toilet that had been "treated" with sulfuric acid. Ooops. I got out my old turkey baster and emptied the acid out of the toilet bowl into old kitchen bowls as best as I could. It filled 3 bowls. I took each outside in 15 below weather and dumped bicarbonate of soda into them until all the acid seemed to be neutralized, they threw away the bowls and the baster, and one bathroom towel. It was great fun. Can't wait to do that again. So, now the expense for the clog is $10 for the liquid fire, 3 bowls, one towel, and one baster.
I called my plumber, confessed my sulfuric acid sins to him, and received absolution. He then came to my house, placed his hands on the toilet, and healed it. He was not surprised that my "liquid fire" did nothing. Now my expense is up by $55, but at least that actually worked! Now I need to call and make an appointment for getting a new toilet.
You may be wondering what this has to do with my garage door. Actually, nothing, except it broke at about the same time as the toilet got clogged this last time. I don't know exactly what's wrong except that it no longer goes up and down straight, but crooked. It will open, though it makes a funny clanking noise, but the only way it will close is if I push down on one side to keep it straight while it is closing. I can do this if I am on the inside, but as there is no outside handle, I can't if I am on the outside. So, if I want to go anywhere in my car, I must do the following: Open the garage door, drive the car out into the driveway, turn off the car, get out of the car, lock the car, go back into the garage, hit the button to close the door, dash back down to the garage door and push on it so it will close, go back through the house and out the front door (which is on the east side of the house, lock the front door, and walk back to the rear of the house on the south side, get into the car, and be on my way. An inconvenient process, but at least it works.
But, I'm not spending any significant time in an unheated garage trying to figure out the problem until the weather is a little warmer!!
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