Toilet Repair Tips for Homeowners

Are you having trouble with one of your toilets? You may be tempted to ignore the problem and just hope that it will go away, but you shouldn’t rely on this as a repair strategy. The problem with this is that ignoring it will probably just make it worse. Toilet repair issues tend to waste a lot of water. The longer this goes on, the more water will be wasted. Fixing the toilet may seem intimidating, but actually, most toilet repairs are cheap and easy to do. Use these toilet repair tips for homeowners to help you figure out the problem.

1. 1. Your toilet makes strange, moaning sounds at night. Before you jump to the conclusion that your house is haunted, let’s look at a plumbing explanation. There is actually a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the toilet makes noises at night, but not during the day. Across the municipal water supply, the water pressure increases during the evening hours. As a result, there is more pressure than usual on the water system in the evening. The extra pressure can cause a worn out ball cock valve to vibrate, which creates the moaning sound that you are hearing. A plumber can easily replace the ball cock valve for you and get rid of those creepy noises.
2. 2. Your toilet runs endlessly. There are a couple of things that can make the toilet run. It could be that your flapper is leaky or doesn’t fit correctly, or your refill tube could be too long. A worn flapper can cause water to leak from the tank into the toilet bowl. If the toilet sits for a while without being flushed, that leaking will allow the tank to empty to the point that the fill valve reacts. The same thing can happen when the refill tube is too long. A plumber can fix either of these problems quickly and easily.
3. 3. Your toilet double-flushes. When this happens, it is often because the tank’s water level is too high. You can adjust the float on the fill valve to lower the water level, which should resolve the problem.
4. 4. Your toilet flushes incompletely. This can be caused by the flapper closing too quickly. Check the chain that connects the flapper to the handle. If it’s too short, the flapper will close before the toilet has flushed completely. Adjust the links on the chain to make it longer.
5. 5. The toilet moves when you sit down on it. Don’t worry, this isn’t a sign that it’s time to go on Weight Watchers. The grout that seals the toilet to the floor has probably worn away and should be replaced.
6. 6. There is water leaking from the base of the toilet. This is a sign that the wax seal under the toilet and the drain pipe flange should be replaced.
7. 7. The toilet is flushing with less water pressure than normal. The water release holes inside the toilet bowl are probably clogged. Look down inside the rim of the toilet bowl. There are tiny holes there that release water into the bowl from the tank. Over time, those holes can get clogged up with mineral deposits from water. You can clean the water release holes out by pouring muriatic acid down the overflow tube in the toilet tank or by poking a toothpick into each hole to clear it out.

If you are having toilet repair issues, call Scott English Plumbing. We are here for you 24/7 to address any plumbing emergency. Call Scott English Plumbing to handle your toilet repair issues today.