On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 00:25:39 -0500, "Betsy" -0 wrote:

I'm not laughing, it was no joke. It works, it is cheap, and I'm disgusted
by the vulgar responses a guy got to his honest question.

I hardly think my response was vulgar. Humorously worded, perhaps. I
am truly amazed at the odd things people will try for a problem that
has two well-known, inexpensive and effective solutions. So much so
that I really thought a couple of you were kidding.

Plumbers are expensive. The guy who cost me $600 to videotape my main line
used a shop vac to clean it out. I could have done that myself. And what
he "discovered" with his expensive camera was nothing I couldn't have
predicted myself.

Plumbers ARE expensive, but plungers and closet augers are very
inexpensive. I've never considered calling a plumber for a clogged
toilet.

The shop vac works. It also works for clogged kitchen and bathtub drains.

It doesn't particularly surprise me that a shop vac might be able to
pull out a toilet clog. But I am quite sure that I can plunge almost
any clog in less time than it would take you to to just get your shop
vac into the bathroom. The few clogs serious enough to require a
toilet auger take another minute or two.

Neither one of these methods requires cleaning out a hose, bucket, and
attachments or replacing a filter. I don't think my sensibilities are
overly delicate, but I can't imagine how to clean out a corrugated
hose that's had the contents of a toilet run through it. I'm betting
it's done outdoors and is less than completely effective. Could the
whole process take any less than a half hour?

My answer to the original poster's "honest question" was simple and
obvious and I stick by it: Use a plunger first; it almost always
works. Use a closet auger in the rare occasions when that fails.

Greg Guarino