Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Strange gurgling noise coming from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to unusual noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
Thankfully, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet problems you can solve by yourself. Here, the specialists at Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling will go over some of the most prevalent toilet problems, what they mean and whether it’s a situation 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 a situation you should fix because it's most likely also costing you money on your water bill.
A common culprit that causes a running toilet is something incorrect with the overflow tube. Located in the tank in the back of your toilet, an overflow tube allows extra water to drain from the tank into your toilet bowl so the water level in your tank doesn't get too high and spill over the top of the tank. At times, the trouble 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 may be your toilet is running because the overflow tube is is not tall enough to maintain the correct 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 acts as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is damaged and no longer forms the tight seal necessary to hold water in the tank. Not having a good seal allows water to escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a running toilet is caused by something amiss with your toilet float, which is a floating device that controls the water level in your tank. It does 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 lets the water level to rise too high, and the excess water will spill into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?
A gurgling toilet is usually caused by a partial clog in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or an obstruction in your sewage vent. If the cause of the issue is a clog in your toilet, you can try fixing this by using a plunger or drain snake to loosen the clog. If this rectify the issue, you can check where your sewage vent exits your home to ensure it is not blocked by debris that would block air flow.
If these efforts don’t fix your gurgling toilet, it would be a good idea to phone a professional such an expert from Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in Greater Richmond, Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling will check to see if the sound is due to a blockage in one of the drain lines transporting toilet water out of your home or the mainline that carries waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Is It Hard to Flush My Toilet?
If your toilet is hard to flush, there’s a good chance the problem lies 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 linked to the flapper, which acts as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The quickest way to get to the bottom of why your toilet is challenging to flush is to lift up the lid, peek inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process ought 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 enables the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet will never flush because the chain is caught on something within the tank, which prevents the chain from lifting 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, free the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
At times flappers can get stuck when they get old or become worn out. It's also possible there might be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaking toilet can be a costly problem, potentially producing water damage in and around your bathroom. Often, a leaky toilet is the result of a cracked supply line or a crack in the toilet tank. If your toilet tank is overflowing, it could be a failure in 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 weakened toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it connects to the floor. Most of these issues are best fixed by a professional plumber.
6. Why Is My Toilet Not Filling with Water?
A toilet that isn't filling with water frequently traces back to a problem with the fill valve, which fills the tank in the back of your toilet with water. If the tube has failed or is clogged by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it may not be allowing water into the tank.
Another common cause for your toilet not filling with water is something wrong with the float, which is a device that signals the fill valve to stop allowing water into the tank when the water has risen to the correct level. The fill valve gives the signal to stop when the water level lifts the float to a predetermined height. It could be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water rises to the proper level. Or, repairing a toilet not filling with water may require adjusting or changing the fill valve.