Resident Reports a Clogged Drain or Toilet

TODAY if several fixtures back up

Or start with a sentence

Set up your buildings

AR Logic LLC · Privacy

One slow drain or one clogged toilet is usually a local clog the resident can plunge.

Several fixtures backing up at once —

  • Murky water rising up out of a bathtub drainwater rising in a tub when the toilet flushes,
  • A basement floor drain with water around itor sewage in a floor drain —

is a main-line blockage and the same day at least: ask the resident to stop using water in the whole unit and send a plumber with a drain machine.

Your First Message to the Resident

  1. A toilet with water close to the rim, a plunger held to the side

    Stop flushing and stop running water in that fixture.

  2. Murky water rising up out of a bathtub drain

    Is it one fixture or several? Ask whether the tub or floor drain rises when the toilet flushes or the washer drains.

  3. A hand pressing a flange plunger into a toilet bowl

    A single toilet: a flange plunger, not chemicals. A single sink: plunger or clearing the trap.

  4. A basement floor drain with water around it

    Sewage anywhere: keep people and pets away, no bare-hand cleanup.

  5. A resident’s photo of a sink full of standing water

    One photo of the fixture and any water on the floor.

How Urgent Is It?

  • A hand pressing a flange plunger into a toilet bowl
    WHENEVER

    One Fixture, Plunging Clears It

    WHENEVER — log it; repeated clogs on the same toilet point at the toilet or the line.

  • Murky water rising up out of a bathtub drain
    TODAY

    Several Fixtures, or Backs Up Into a Tub or Floor Drain

    Main-line blockage: plumber with a drain machine today; camera the line if it repeats.

  • A basement floor drain with water spreading around it

    Sewage on the Floor

    Plumber now, and a professional cleanup: EPA advises calling in a professional when the damage comes from sewage or other contaminated water [1].

Who to Send

A plumber feeding a drain machine cable into a cleanout in a basement
Plumber (drain cleaning).

What to Say to the Resident

A manager in a building laundry room in the morning, typing a reply on a phone

“Thanks for letting me know. Please don’t use the water in the unit for now, so nothing backs up further. I’ll book a plumber for today and send you the time once it’s set.”

The Triage Profile writes this line for every photo, matched to how urgent it is.

What to Record

  1. Hands taking apart the trap under a sink full of water

    Which fixtures backed up and when.

  2. A camera monitor showing tree roots inside a sewer pipe

    What the plumber found in the line (roots, grease, wipes) — it decides who pays and what to do next.

Sources

  1. US EPA — A brief guide to mold, moisture and your home

Updated 30 Sep 2026 · AR Logic LLC

fixRAgent

Got the Resident’s Photo?

Drop it here. The Triage Profile says what it is, how urgent it is, who to send, and what to tell the resident.

Set up your buildings