Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Strange gurgling noise emitting from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to unusual noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
Thankfully, with a little troubleshooting, there are lots of toilet issues you can fix yourself. Here, the professionals at Northern Comfort Inc will go over some of the most common 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 Does My Toilet Always Run?
If your toilet is constantly running, it is a situation you should correct because it's in all likelihood also costing you money on your water bill.
A typical culprit that causes a running toilet is something amiss 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 does not get too high and overflow the top of the tank. Occasionally, the issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the situation, you most likely can just reach into the tank and reattach them. It also could be your toilet is running simply because the overflow tube is is not tall enough to maintain the correct water level and needs to be replaced by one that is taller 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. This enables water to seep through or around the damaged flapper and leak out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Occasionally a running toilet is caused by something amiss 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 permits the water level to rise too high, and the unwanted water will flow into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Does My Toilet Keep Gurgling?
A gurgling toilet is often caused by a partial blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or a blockage 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 release the clog. If this rectify the issue, you can examine where your sewage vent exits your home to confirm it is not blocked by debris that would prevent air flow.
If you've confirmed the problem isn't a clog in the toilet or a vent obstruction, you should phone a professional such an expert from Northern Comfort Inc to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in Mankato area, Northern Comfort Inc 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 takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Won't My Toilet Flush?
If you can’t flush your toilet, it's probable that the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain inside a toilet tank that is attached to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is attached to the flapper, which acts as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The easiest way to find out why your toilet is difficult to flush is to take off the lid, look 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 allows the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet won’t flush because the chain is caught on something in the tank, which stops the chain from lifting 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, free the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
Occasionally flappers can get stuck as they get older or become worn out. There also may be something wrong with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A leaking toilet can be a costly scenario, potentially producing water damage in and around your bathroom. Usually, a leaky toilet is due to 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 broken 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 an expert plumber.
6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?
A toilet that isn't filling with water frequently suggests a problem with the fill valve, which is what fills your toilet tank 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 typical cause for your toilet not filling with water is something faulty 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 gives the signal to stop when the water level lifts the float to a set height. It could be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water can attain the appropriate level. Or, repairing a toilet not filling with water may require adjusting or replacing the fill valve.
