GBPH&A Blog
GBPH&A Blog

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    Something dropped in Toilet?

  • Apr 13, 2011 | Gary Burch

    I received a call from one of our customers in Mill Valley, CA.  She was concerned that one of her customers dropped his keys in the toilet and wanted to know if she should have us come out and remove them to avoid a drain stoppage issue?

    I have received many of these types of drain stoppage questions over the years. The fact is, in this case of the toilet itself, the drain is 2″ in Diameter (slightly larger with newer models) and the sewer pipe underneath the toilet is 3′ or 4″ in diameter. The possibility of an item as small as keys causing the main drain to have a  stoppage without a  past history of drain issues is unlikely! Assuming of course it does not have non-related key attachments such as flashlights, bottle openers  etc…

    I advised her that removing the keys was not a reasonable option. We could however remove the toilet and run a cable to ensure that there would be no problem or keep an eye on things for a few days and call us if she needed too!  All is well she never called! :-)

    If the toilet can handle it, most likely your drains can too!   G.B.

    • Water Heater

  • Mar 25, 2011 | Gary Burch

    A little about Hot Water heating!  In a business with 35+ years experience in Marin County I have seen many advances in product development in regards to efficiency, recovery rate etc… The new State Premier 96% High  Efficiency Water Heater is one of the most impressive!!

    Due to some of the installation challenges and flow rate issues with other high efficient water heaters, such as the on demand type. We have installed many of these in Marin County in the last year with great results, the most impressive to me is its ability to heat 50 gallons of water from approx 60 to 120 degrees  in  less than 10 minutes!  Although not considered an on demand water heater, at 164 gallons of  first hour recovery its close! At 96% efficiency….  Impressive!!!  Gary Burch