Does your toilet keep running? Weird gurgling noise arising from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to peculiar noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
Fortunately, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet problems you can solve by yourself. Here, the professionals at Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling will go over some of the most common toilet problems, what they mean and whether it’s a plumbing issue 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 a situation you should correct 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 removes extra water 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 issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube has become detached. If that’s the case, you most likely can just reach into the tank and reattach them. It also could 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 correct height.
Another factor causing 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 flow out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a running toilet is caused by something awry 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 lets 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 Make a Gurgling Sound?
A gurgling toilet is usually caused by a partial blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or an obstruction in your sewage vent. If the reason for the noise is a clog in your toilet, you can try fixing 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 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 call a professional such an expert from Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling to evaluate the problem. As the trusted 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 takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Is It Hard to Flush My Toilet?
If it's difficult to flush your toilet, it's probable that the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain within a toilet tank that is hooked to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is connected to the flapper, which acts 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 lift up the lid, look 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 allows the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet won’t flush because the chain is stuck 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 becomes detached from either the handle or the flapper. If this happens, unhook the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
Sometimes flappers can get stuck as they age or become worn out. There also could be something wrong with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A dripping 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 malfunction 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 sits on the floor. The majority of these issues are best fixed by a professional plumber.
6. Why Is My Toilet Not Filling with Water?
A toilet that won't fill 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 broken or is clogged 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 amiss with the float, which is a device that triggers the fill valve to stop bringing water into the tank when the water has risen to the correct level. The fill valve performs this function 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 rises to the appropriate level. Or, fixing a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or changing the fill valve.