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I've got a standard American toilet with a tank above & behind the spot you sit on. Some time ago I replaced the flapper valve because its predecessor (made in two pieces) managed to drop the inner soft-rubber part into the drain hole. Ever since then, the toilet doesn't flush terribly well because that inner piece is partially blocking the flow.

Anyone have ideas for how to fish the thing out? I've felt around with my fingers and with an unbent wire hanger, nothing.

Is it stuck between the tank and the bowl, or below the bowl?

Assuming it is stuck between the tank and bowl, have you tried using a toilet plunger in the tank?

Failing that, unmounting the toilet and flipping it over may be your best bet.

Maybe a flexible pick-up tool. Better picture here.

Turn off the water and flush the toilet. Use whatever method you prefer to remove the last 1/2" of standing water in the tank, and take the tank off the bowl. You'll have a lot more room to fish around.

It is stuck between the tank and the bowl, yes. I have not tried to use a plunger inside the tank, but I'm dubious that a plunger will successfully push the thing out through those little holes in the bowl's rim.

Draining and unmounting the tank sounds like a good thing to try. It's about time to replace the hardware inside the tank anyway; it's a cheap contractor-type toilet and the metal stuff in there is getting pretty corroded.

Just be careful not to overtighten the tank bolts when you put it back together. BTDT, and it means a trip to the nearest Lowes/Home Depot/insert name here for a whole new toilet, as no one sells just the tank.

Wilco. If it comes to that, I've been thinking about a fancy throne with a bidet anyway.

No joke read the title as "Toilet paper" and read the whole thread thinking, what the HELL are these guys talking about?

don't @ me

Taking a toilet off and replacing it is something that I've gotten skilled out since having kids. It's surprisingly fast.

Captain Ned wrote:

Just be careful not to overtighten the tank bolts when you put it back together. BTDT, and it means a trip to the nearest Lowes/Home Depot/insert name here for a whole new toilet, as no one sells just the tank.

...and then you have the previous owners of my house, who installed the tank bolts incorrectly, and attempted to fix the resulting leaks with copious quantities of silicone sealant.

Sounds like the landlord at the previous house we lived in. We complained of a foul smell from the bathtub, it turned out the drain pipe had rotted through, and instead of replacing it he just put some sealant and a patch on it. It improved matters, but how expensive and difficult could it have been to put a new PVC drain pipe in to replace the iron one?

bthylafh wrote:

It is stuck between the tank and the bowl, yes. I have not tried to use a plunger inside the tank, but I'm dubious that a plunger will successfully push the thing out through those little holes in the bowl's rim.

Please tell me this is sarcasm. At any rate, a plunger is unlikely to be effective in sucking the rubber back out since you're only pulling with air at that point. The rubber doesn't sound to be completely air-locked into the toilet, so it's unlikely to come out. Removing the tank is your best bet. If not, full-on toilets aren't terribly expensive.

I've never had the tank off a toilet (wood->knock), but if the opening is large enough you might have luck sticking a shop vac down there to try and get the flapper bits out. I doubt it's small enough to go through the holes in the tank rim, and you probably weren't lucky enough for it to get down towards the port near the drain (assuming it has one).

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Taking a toilet off and replacing it is something that I've gotten skilled out since having kids. It's surprisingly fast.

Yep, with kids around your plumbing skills must develop fast if you prefer to DIY. Some days I feel like Gru when he changed from his former skills