Is your toilet running? Strange gurgling noise coming from your toilet bowl? From water leakages to peculiar noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
Fortunately, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet issues you can solve by yourself. Here, the professionals at Walter's-Eaton's Electric, Plumbing, Heating & AC 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 Won't My Toilet Stop Running?
If your toilet keeps running all the time, it is something you should correct because it's in all likelihood also costing you money on your water bill.
A frequent reason for a running toilet is something amiss with the overflow tube. Found 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 does not get too high and spill over the top of the tank. At times, the issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube has become detached. If that’s the situation, you can reach into the tank and reattach them. It also might be your toilet is running simply because the overflow tube is too short for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the correct 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 required 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.
Occasionally 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 accomplishes 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 permits 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 Is My Toilet Bubbling?
A gurgling toilet is often caused by a partial blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or something blocking your sewage vent. If the reason for the noise 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 rectify the issue, you can check where your sewage vent exits your home to confirm 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 Walter's-Eaton's Electric, Plumbing, Heating & AC to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in Ellsworth, Walter's-Eaton's Electric, Plumbing, Heating & AC 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 carries waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Is My Toilet Hard to Flush?
If it's difficult to flush your toilet, there’s a good chance the problem can be found in the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain within your 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 best way to figure out why your toilet is challenging to flush is to remove the lid, peek inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process ought to work anytime 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 will never flush because the chain is caught on something inside the tank, which stops 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, unhook the caught chain or reach in and shorten it to the appropriate length.
Occasionally flappers can get stuck when they get old or become worn out. It's also possible there may be something amiss with the handle.
5. What Is Causing My Toilet To Leak?
A leaky toilet can be a costly situation, potentially leading to 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 may 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 damaged toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it connects to the floor. The majority of these issues are best fixed by a professional plumber.
6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?
A toilet not filling with water frequently traces back to a problem with the fill valve, which is what fills your toilet tank with water. If the tube is damaged or is blocked by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it might 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 gotten to the correct level. The fill valve does this when the water level lifts the float to a predetermined height. It might be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the correct level. Or, solving the problem of a toilet not filling with water may require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.
