Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Strange gurgling noise arising from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to peculiar noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet issues you can correct on your own. Here, the experts at Home Furniture, Plumbing & Heating 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 is constantly running, it is a situation you should fix because it's in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.
A typical culprit that causes a running toilet is something amiss with the overflow tube. Found in the tank in the back of your toilet, an overflow tube directs excess 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. Sometimes, the trouble is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the case, you should be able to reach into the tank and reattach them. It also may be your toilet is running because the overflow tube is too short for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the appropriate height.
Another reason for a toilet to run could be the flapper--which functions as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is malfunctioning and no longer forms the tight seal needed to hold water in the tank. This causes water to flow 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 maintains 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 lets the water level to rise too high, and the extra water will go in your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Does My Toilet Make a Gurgling Sound?
A gurgling toilet is commonly caused by a partial obstruction in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or something blocking your sewage vent. If the problem 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 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 call a professional such an expert from Home Furniture, Plumbing & Heating to evaluate the problem. As the experienced plumber in Kankakee, Home Furniture, Plumbing & Heating 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 removes 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 lies the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain in the toilet tank that is affixed 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 figure out why your toilet is hard to flush is to lift up the lid, look inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process is supposed 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 drain out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet doesn't flush because the chain is stuck 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 shorten it to the appropriate length.
Occasionally flappers can get stuck when they get old or become worn out. It's also possible there could be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A dripping toilet can be a costly problem, potentially causing water damage in and around your bathroom. Usually, 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 allow 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. Often, 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 in many cases traces back to a problem with the fill valve, which fills the tank in the back of your toilet 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 common 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 letting water into the tank when the water has reached the correct level. The fill valve gives the signal to stop when the water level lifts the float to a set height. It may be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the appropriate level. Or, correcting a toilet not filling with water could require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.