Does your toilet keep running? Creepy gurgling noise arising from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to unusual noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
Fortunately, with a little troubleshooting, there are lots of toilet problems you can solve by yourself. Here, the specialists at TopTec will go over some of the most frequent 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 keeps running all the time, it is an issue you should correct because it's in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.
A common reason for a running toilet is something wrong with the overflow tube. Positioned 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 won't get too high and leak all over your floor. Occasionally, the problem is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the scenario, you should be able to reach into the tank and reattach them. It also may be your toilet is running due to the fact the overflow tube is is not tall enough to maintain the correct water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the correct height.
Another thing that could cause a toilet to run could be the flapper--which serves as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is malfunctioning and no longer forms the tight seal necessary to hold water in the tank. Not having a good seal allows water to leak out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
At times, a running toilet is caused by something awry with your toilet float, which is a floating device that maintains the water level in your tank. It does this by shutting off your fill valve when the water level raises the float to a predetermined height. If your float is set too high, this lets the water level to rise too high, and the excess water will flow into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Does My Toilet Make a Gurgling Sound?
A gurgling toilet is often caused by a partial blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or something blocking your sewage vent. If the cause of the issue is a clog in your toilet, you can try to fix this by using a plunger or drain snake to release the clog. If this doesn’t work, you can examine where your sewage vent exits your home to make sure it is not blocked by debris that would restrict air flow.
If these efforts don’t fix your gurgling toilet, it would be a good idea to call a professional such an expert from TopTec to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in Libertyville, TopTec will find out if the issue was caused by a blockage in one of the drain lines carrying toilet water out of your home or the mainline that takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Won't My Toilet Flush?
If it's difficult to flush your toilet, it's likely the problem can be found in 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 serves 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 doesn't flush because the chain is stuck on something inside the tank, which prevents the chain from pulling 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 as they age or become worn out. Or, there may be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A dripping toilet can be a costly situation, potentially causing water damage in and around your bathroom. Usually, 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 malfunction in the toilet float.
Cracked gaskets around the connections on the underside of the tank also can permit water to leak out of the toilet, as can a damaged toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it connects to the floor. Often, these issues are best fixed by a certified plumber.
6. Why Is My Toilet Not Filling with Water?
A toilet that isn't filling with water in many cases 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 may not be allowing water into the tank.
Another typical cause for your toilet not filling with water is something wrong with the float, which is a device that prompts the fill valve to stop allowing water into the tank when the water has risen to the correct level. The fill valve does this when the water level lifts the float to a predetermined height. It may be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the proper level. Or, fixing a toilet not filling with water could require adjusting or changing the fill valve.