Bathrooms are where the water is, so bathroom flooding is an unfortunately frequent occurrence. Nevertheless, when it happens, it's often a complete surprise and a cause for great alarm. This can lead to hasty measures that may only make the situation worse. A frequent response to an overflowing toilet, for example, is to push the handle repeatedly in an attempt to induce proper flushing. Not only does that do nothing to address the underlying cause—usually a clog in the toilet piping—it also almost guarantees bathroom flooding will be the inevitable result as more water from the tank pours into the bowl, causing an overflow.
Other causes of common bathroom flooding include:
- Flushing too much toilet tissue or items that don't belong in the toilet. Remember, the only paper products in the toilet should be toilet tissue, not paper towels or other material that may not decompose.
- Excess hair in sink or other substances in the sink or tub drains. Install a more effective drain screen than original equipment to strain out hair more effectively. Regularly use a commercial drain maintenance product to reduce soap buildup inside drains.
- Carelessness. Everyone's been distracted and allowed a bathtub or sink to overfill. A sluggish overflow drain may not prevent a flood.
- Frozen pipes. If bathroom pipes are routed through an unconditioned crawl space or the wall voids of an exterior wall, freezing and rupture can occur when temperatures drop below 28 degrees. Consider insulating exposed pipes.
- Burst pipes. Pinhole leaks on bathroom water supply lines may be a warning of internal corrosion that can cause a sudden catastrophic pipe rupture. A broken supply line can leak hundreds of gallons in a short time.
For more information on preventing and responding to bathroom flooding, contact the water damage experts at Rytech.
