Blocked toilet. Who should pay?

[Letmegonowihavehadenough]

I am going through a divorce and live in the family home at present which is currently on the market. He moved out. My toilet is blocked and we cannot use it for this reason. My stbxh won’t go halves to get the problem fixed saying it’s my fault for blocking it. Over the years it has occasionally got blocked and we have been able to unblock it. My dad has a long thing that goes far into the toilet but it can’t be unblocked and I have tried products including bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar along with other branded unblockers. Nothing except poo/wee and toilet paper had been put down it. I can’t afford to pay to get it unblocked by myself and it has been like this since November. AIBU to think my stbxh should pay half?

He isn't living there so it makes no difference to him if the toilet is usable or not. This is your bill to sort.

Your living on the house you should pay. Would u expect to go half if his toilet blocked?

Use a plastic dog ball-thrower. They are bendy plastic and will go round the whole U shape. Excellent unblockers.

If you are living there you ought to pay to clear a simple blockage.

If it turns out to be something more structural...for example my son's rental regular toilet blockage turned out in the end to be a pipe outside restricted by growing tree roots. Then that's a bigger issue that I might argue should be covered by the owners rather than you only as occupier.

You'll need to work out what the problem is first.

I agree he shouldn’t pay if not living there

Would you pay half if his toilet was blocked?
Probably not, so why expect vice versa

I would pay for it myself or fix it myself

Kettles of boiling water... Lots.

As you're on the market, I would tell him I can't afford to get it fixed and that buyers might factor that in for any offers they make.

Hopefully you have another toilet you can use?

I'd you can't afford it, there's not much else you can do.

I’d unblock it myself but I would pay myself if it was beyond my frankly epic unblocking skills.

Washing up liquid down the toilet, leave for about an hour then pour lots of hot water in. That tends to work. Alternatively the old bin bag round your arm and have a rummage. It’s horrible but needs to be done sometimes.

nah you should pay this yourself. You might want to look at the toilet pipes, if they aren't installed properly then the toilet will keep getting blocked, if they are not at that right angle, sloping away properly, or too long, then it won't be enough to carry toilet water etc away. You need a plumber.

Is it draining at all?

YOUR toilet has been blocked since November (for 4 months) and you think your EH who doesn’t live there or get the benefit of living there should pay half for the fix?

You are shitting me….

Why do you think he should pay for something when he has t caused the problem.

Just pay for it. It’s your responsibility.

Haha you live in the house your ex doesn’t. You pay. He didn’t block it. Even if it’s only pee poo and paper. You still blocked it.

Plunge it with an old mop that worked for for me all the time . There has been a couple of times of times I have opened the inspection chamber in my garden and that's Been blocked with tissues and s#*t 🤮 I unblock it myself then it's all fine.

A long handled plunger should do the job. I bought one for £3 from the Range and it did the trick. We tried all the tricks and only this worked. Not sure why the ex should pay if he’s not living there. Be glad he’s gone, you’ll have to sort these problems on your own now and it’ll be a little run if you sort it.

Of course he does not need to go halves on this!

If you had tenants living there or he was still residing there then yes, he should pay half. On this occasion I think the bill is yours to cover.

I can’t believe you even told him! If I was broken up from someone I wouldn’t be contacting them to say that I blocked a toilet.

I have done everything I can to try to unblock it. Done washing up liquid and boiling water to death but it won’t unblock. We have always had these problems with the toilet. I feel it’s a problem we had before he even left.

You need to get a good plunger and give it a good pump

I have bought three plungers/unblocking things and my dad had an extender thing. It won’t unblock.

Your toilet your bill I’m afraid. Have you tried disconnecting the pipes to find the source of the block?

Have you tried one of those gas canister ones? But if it’s a long problem you should have had a plumber out to fix it long ago properly. As if neither of you when together wanted that outlay cost wise.