Is your toilet running? Strange gurgling noise coming from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of frustrating things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet issues you can correct by yourself. Here, the experts at Ameri-Tec will go over some of the most common toilet problems, what they mean and whether it’s something you can fix yourself—or, if it is better to call in an expert.
1. Why Does My Toilet Always Run?
If your toilet is constantly running, it is something you should fix because it's most likely also costing you money on your water bill.
A common cause of a running toilet is something incorrect with the overflow tube. Located in the tank in the back of your toilet, an overflow tube directs excess water from the tank into your toilet bowl so the water level in your tank does not get too high and spill over the top of the tank. Occasionally, the problem is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube got detached. If that’s the case, you most likely can just reach into the tank and reattach them. It also might be your toilet is running due to the fact the overflow tube is too short for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the appropriate height.
Another reason for a toilet to run could be the flapper--which serves as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is damaged and no longer forms the tight seal required to hold water in the tank. This enables water to seep through or around the damaged flapper and leak out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
At times, a running toilet is caused by something wrong with your toilet float, which is a floating device that determines the water level in your tank. It achieves this by shutting off your fill valve when the water level raises the float to a preset height. If your float is set too high, this will allow the water level to rise too high, and the unwanted water will spill into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Does My Toilet Keep Gurgling?
A gurgling toilet is commonly caused by a partial clog in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or a blockage in your sewage vent. If the reason for the noise is a clog in your toilet, you can attempt to correct this by using a plunger or drain snake to release the clog. If this doesn’t work, you can check where your sewage vent exits your home to make sure it is not blocked by debris that would restrict air flow.
If you've done these two trouble shooting tasks and the toilet is still gurgling or bubbling, it would be a good idea to call a professional such an expert from Ameri-Tec to evaluate the problem. As the experienced plumber in Narvon, Ameri-Tec will investigate whether the noise is caused by a blockage in one of the drain lines transporting toilet water out of your home or the mainline that takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Is My Toilet Hard to Flush?
If your toilet is hard to flush, there’s a good chance the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain in the toilet tank that is affixed to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is attached to the flapper, which acts as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The easiest way to get to the bottom of why your toilet is difficult to flush is to lift up the lid, peek inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process is supposed to work whenever you flush a toilet: you push down the handle, which pulls up the chain, then the chain pulls the flapper up and that permits the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet doesn't flush because the chain is stuck on something inside the tank, which prevents the chain from yanking up the flapper to let out the water. Or, the chain is too long or gets disconnected from either the handle or the flapper. If this happens, unhook the caught chain or reach in and shorten it to the appropriate length.
Sometimes flappers can get stuck as they age or become worn out. Or, there could be something awry with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaking toilet can be a costly scenario, potentially leading to water damage in and around your bathroom. Usually, a leaky toilet is due to a cracked supply line or a crack in the toilet tank. If your toilet tank is overflowing, it could be something wrong with the toilet float.
Cracked gaskets around the connections on the underside of the tank also can let water to leak out of the toilet, as can a broken toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it attaches to the floor. Most of these issues are best fixed by an expert plumber.
6. Why Won't My Toilet Fill With Water?
A toilet that won't fill with water often suggests a problem with the fill valve, which fills the tank in the back of your toilet with water. If the tube is broken or is plugged by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it potentially could not be allowing water into the tank.
Another typical cause for your toilet not filling with water is something faulty with the float, which is a device that signals the fill valve to stop bringing water into the tank when the water has reached the correct level. The fill valve performs this function when the water level lifts the float to a set height. It could be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water can attain the correct level. Or, correcting a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.