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Triple master contractor Ed Del Grande
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By Ed Del Grande
Last week we addressed a question from Huey who found a frog in his hotel toilet. He wanted to know if it was possible for a frog to come up the sewer lines or if someone playing a joke on him.
I explained that it is possible for critters to make their way up drain lines and into toilets, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I addressed this topic. The response has been incredible! Letters are coming in nonstop about how frogs, rats, snakes, snails, toads and even a lot of squirrels are showing up uninvited and crashing our private potties. Here are three funny and informative examples of the hundreds of letters I have received on this strange but popular topic:
- Hi, Ed. Yes, it is very possible for creatures to climb up a drain or down roof vent lines and end up in your toilet. One evening my son and his roommate heard a shrieking noise coming from the bathroom toilet. When they checked out the noise, to their surprise, a soaking wet squirrel had jumped up from the toilet and was frantically running around the bathroom! I guess catching a frog is one thing, but trying to catch a frantic squirrel? Well, all three of them had a stressful time. The good news is that no one was hurt, and the squirrel was released back into the wild. Valerie (Texas)
- Ed, one night my wife asked me to investigate a splashing sound in our upstairs toilet. When I lifted the lid I discovered a squirrel going nuts trying to climb out of the slippery bowl. I put on some leather gloves and removed the squirrel from the toilet. The gloves were a good idea, because the crazy squirrel bit me! I took it outside and placed it under a tree to recover from the ordeal. Later it scampered up the tree and was gone. We think he slipped into the four inch roof vent that was directly above our toilet. Louis (Florida)
- Ed, we know of a few cases of frogs getting into toilets. Once we returned from vacation and found one frog in our toilet and one on the bathroom floor. Another time we found a frog hopping out of the master bathroom into our bedroom! The frogs will make a real mess if you don't catch them quickly. We have determined that they are tree frogs and they climb down the plumbing vent lines, not up the sewer drains. Most people around here put pine oil or bleach in their toilets before going on vacation. A permanent fix is to use a heavy-duty screen and clamp it over the roof vent pipes. Henry (Florida)
Thanks Valerie, Louis and Henry! I picked these three to show that the roof vent pipes can also be another place of entry for critters. Putting screening over the vent is great advice for problems like tree frogs and squirrels. But, as you will see in next week's column, some very scary creatures are coming in from the deep. Stay tuned for our last follow up installment of "Always Look Before You Sit Down."
Ed Del Grande was born and raised in a family-owned plumbing business. With more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of construction, he holds current Master licenses in pipefitting, fire protection and plumbing. If you have a question for Ed, send him an e-mail at eddelgrande@hgtvpro.com.
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