We rushed up to my in-laws about a week-and-a-half ago because my mother-in-law seemed to be dying (it seems like she turned the corner this week and I think she will recover). Tonight, though, I ran to the bathroom in the basement apartment we use at their house with an upset stomach. At the bottom of the toilet was paper, a telltale sign of a toilet that was clogged but has since drained without flushing. Feeling like there was no time, I went ahead and used it, figuring I’d use the plunger after.

While I was there I could hear my wife in the kitchen on the other side of the wall. When she ran the sink the water in the toilet started gurgling, which is not something I’ve experienced before. Before adding any paper I figured I should try a “courtesy flush” to see what happened. It was clogged. Fortunately I didn’t end up needing much paper, but I was still surprised to find the toilet had already drained by the time I had finished.

I decided I should try to keep running the water into the toilet, figuring that maybe it was draining too fast but if I could keep the water pressure up it might clear itself and I wouldn’t need the plunger. I tried it for a couple minutes but then heard a sound and noticed that water was filling through the drain into the bathtub. At that point I figured this was probably not a plunger problem and instead time to call a plumber.

I told my wife but she still thought it was worth trying the plunger first, so I went to go through our room to head upstairs and get it. As I entered the room, I had the sensation that the laminate floor was floating, before it sank down into a puddle. I was wearing socks. I told my wife, so she went upstairs to tell her dad. When she came back down she came back through our room, also wearing socks. It was while waiting for the emergency plumber that I saw this post.