A tenant in a Minnesota home was alarmed to discover that a maintenance worker had been disposing of non-flushable debris in the toilet. While recaulking the shower, the worker reportedly tossed the old caulk pieces into the toilet bowl as if it were a trash can. Tens of thousands of users criticized him for being lazy and irresponsible, warning that his actions could cause even bigger problems than the ones he had been called to repair.
“We’ve been having plumbing issues in our building for months; [I’m] pretty sure I know why now,” sighed Reddit user Hour-Bee9396, who shared a photo of their caulk-filled toilet on r/mildlyinfuriating. Fortunately, they had cleaning gloves on hand and were able to remove the pieces themselves.
Still, they were understandably frustrated that a maintenance worker would do something so careless. In the comments, countless users chimed in with their own stories of incompetent maintenance workers who, ironically, only made their problems worse.
Redditors Believe the Caulk May Have Seriously Damaged the Plumbing to the Minnesota Residence
“Just take this picture and bring it to the front office,” one Redditor advised. “This is unacceptable and could potentially cause thousands of dollars in damage.” Hour-Bee9396 said they had already reported the worker, noting the serious trouble his actions could have caused them. “That person shouldn’t be working inside people’s homes,” another commenter remarked.
What many found especially infuriating was that a trash bin was clearly visible to the right of the toilet. Nevertheless, the maintenance worker chose to use the toilet instead, raising questions about his professionalism and basic judgment. “He’s sure doing his part to keep himself employed and busy, huh? He just forgot to flush this time,” one commenter joked.
A particularly unfortunate detail in this story is that the tenant said they had gone out of their way to be kind to him when he came over to recaulk the shower. “I even baked cookies the night before and gave him one. I’m so annoyed,” they said with regret.
Caulk is commonly used to protect bathroom fixtures, such as showers and toilets, from moisture. However, applying water-resistant sealant inside a toilet—especially if it is old and dried out—is not recommended and can cause problems for a building’s plumbing system.
