Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Creepy gurgling noise coming from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
Thankfully, with a little troubleshooting, there are numerous toilet issues you can fix yourself. Here, the professionals at J.L. Brady Company LLC will go over some of the most frequent 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 an issue you should fix 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. Positioned 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. Occasionally, the problem is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the case, you most likely can just reach into the tank and reattach them. It also might 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 taller height.
Another reason for a toilet to run could be the flapper--which functions as a plug in the bottom of your tank—has malfunctioned and no longer forms the tight seal required to hold water in the tank. Not having a good seal allows water to escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a running toilet is caused by something amiss with your toilet float, which is a floating device that maintains the water level in your tank. It accomplishes this by shutting off your fill valve when the water level raises the float to the appropriate height. If your float is set too high, this permits the water level to rise too high, and the extra water will spill 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 obstruction 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 to fix this by using a plunger or drain snake to remove the clog. If this doesn’t work, you can check 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 call a professional such an expert from J.L. Brady Company LLC to evaluate the problem. As the trusted plumber in Moline, J.L. Brady Company LLC 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 Is It Hard to Flush My Toilet?
If you can’t flush your toilet, it's likely the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain inside your toilet tank that is hooked 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 get to the bottom of why your toilet is difficult to flush is to take off the lid, peek inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process is supposed to 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 enables the water to drain out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet doesn't flush because the chain is snagged on something in the tank, which prevents the chain from pulling 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, release the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
Sometimes flappers can get stuck as they get older or become worn out. Or, there might be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaky toilet can be a costly problem, potentially causing 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 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 attaches to the floor. Most of these issues are best fixed by an expert plumber.
6. Why Is My Toilet Not Filling with Water?
A toilet that isn't filling with water in many cases traces back to a problem with the fill valve, which is the valve that lets water into your toilet tank. If the tube is broken or is blocked 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 signals 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 set height. It might be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water can attain the proper level. Or, correcting a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or replacing the fill valve.
