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 frustrating things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet problems you can fix by yourself. Here, the professionals at I-Deal HVAC will go over some of the most prevalent 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 Is My Toilet 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 typical reason for 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 does not get too high and leak all over your floor. At times, the issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the scenario, you most likely can just reach into the tank and reattach them. It also may be your toilet is running due to the fact the overflow tube is is not tall enough to maintain the correct water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the appropriate height.
Another thing that could cause a toilet to run could be the flapper--which serves as a plug in the bottom of your tank—has malfunctioned and no longer forms the tight seal necessary to hold water in the tank. This causes water to escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
At times, 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 lets the water level to rise too high, and the excess water will go in your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?
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 attempt to correct this by using a plunger or drain snake to release the clog. If this does not have any effect, you can look at where your sewage vent exits your home to make sure it is not blocked by debris that would restrict air flow.
If you've confirmed the problem isn't a clog in the toilet or a vent obstruction, it would be a good idea to phone a professional such an expert from I-Deal HVAC to evaluate the problem. As the experienced plumber in Albuquerque, I-Deal HVAC 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 Is My Toilet Hard to Flush?
If your toilet is hard to flush, 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 attached 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 find 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 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 enables the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet won’t flush because the chain is snagged on something within 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, unhook 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. There also could be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaking toilet can be a costly situation, potentially causing water damage in and around your bathroom. Many times, a leaky toilet is due to a cracked supply line or a crack in the toilet tank. If your toilet tank is overflowing, it could 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 connects to the floor. The majority of these issues are best fixed by an expert plumber.
6. Why Won't My Toilet Fill With Water?
A toilet not filling with water in many cases 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 might not be allowing water into the tank.
Another common cause for your toilet not filling with water is something amiss with the float, which is a device that signals the fill valve to stop allowing water into the tank when the water has reached 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 can attain the proper level. Or, solving the problem of a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.