Is your toilet running? Weird gurgling noise emitting from your toilet bowl? From water leakage to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
Thankfully, with a little troubleshooting, there are lots of toilet dilemmas you can fix yourself. Here, the specialists at Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating will go over some of the most prevalent 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 Won't My Toilet Stop Running?
If your toilet won't stop running, it is a situation you should repair because it's in all likelihood also costing you money on your water bill.
A frequent cause of 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 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 has become detached. If that’s the case, you should be able to reach into the tank and reattach them. It also could be your toilet is running simply because the overflow tube is isn't tall enough for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is taller height.
Another factor causing a toilet to run could be the flapper--which functions 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 escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a running toilet is caused by something wrong 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 predetermined height. If your float is set too high, this will allow the water level to rise too high, and the extra water will flow 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 blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or something blocking your sewage vent. If the problem is a clog in your toilet, you can try fixing this by using a plunger or drain snake to release the clog. If this rectify the issue, you can examine where your sewage vent exits your home to make sure it is not blocked by debris that would block air flow.
If you've confirmed the problem isn't a clog in the toilet or a vent obstruction, you will probably want to contact a professional such an expert from Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating to evaluate the problem. As the experienced plumber in Pella, Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating 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 removes 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 within the toilet tank that is attached to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is linked to the flapper, which functions as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The quickest way to figure out why your toilet is hard to flush is to take off the lid, peer inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process should work when 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 whoosh out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet doesn't flush because the chain is caught on something inside the tank, which stops 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, free the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
Sometimes flappers can get stuck when they get old or become worn out. There also may be something awry with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaking toilet can be a costly situation, potentially leading to water damage in and around your bathroom. Usually, a leaky toilet is caused by a cracked supply line or a crack in the toilet tank. If your toilet tank is overflowing, it may 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 damaged toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it sits on the floor. Most of these issues are best fixed by a professional plumber.
6. Why Won't My Toilet Fill With Water?
A toilet that won't fill with water often indicates a problem with the fill valve, which is the valve that lets water into your toilet tank. If the tube has failed or is blocked by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it might not be allowing water into the tank.
Another likely cause for your toilet not filling with water is something wrong with the float, which is a device that triggers the fill valve to stop letting water into the tank when the water has gotten to the correct level. The fill valve does this when the water level lifts the float to a preset height. It may be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water rises to the appropriate level. Or, correcting a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or changing the fill valve.
