Is your toilet running? Weird gurgling noise arising from your toilet bowl? From water leakages to peculiar noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are numerous toilet problems you can solve on your own. Here, the professionals at Marios Air Conditioning will go over some of the most prevalent 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 keeps running all the time, it is a situation you should fix because it's in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.
A frequent 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 removes extra water from the tank into your toilet bowl so the water level in your tank won't get too high and leak all over your floor. Occasionally, the problem is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube has become detached. If that’s the scenario, 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 isn't tall enough for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the correct height.
Another reason for a toilet to run could be the flapper--which serves as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is malfunctioning and no longer forms the tight seal required 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 wrong with your toilet float, which is a floating device that maintains the water level in your tank. It achieves 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 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 Does My Toilet Keep Gurgling?
A gurgling toilet is usually caused by a partial clog in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or an obstruction 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 loosen 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 prevent air flow.
If you've done these two trouble shooting tasks and the toilet is still gurgling or bubbling, it would be a good idea to contact a professional such an expert from Marios Air Conditioning to evaluate the problem. As the trusted plumber in Thousand Palms, Marios Air Conditioning 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 carries 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, there’s a good chance the problem lies the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain in your 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 best way to find out why your toilet is hard to flush is to remove the lid, look inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process ought 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 allows the water to flow 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 yanking up the flapper to let out the water. Or, the chain is too long or gets disconnected 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 when they get old or become worn out. Or, there could be something amiss with the handle.
5. What Is Causing My Toilet To Leak?
A dripping toilet can be a costly scenario, potentially producing water damage in and around your bathroom. Often, 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 attaches to the floor. The majority of these issues are best fixed by a certified plumber.
6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?
A toilet not filling with water frequently suggests a problem with the fill valve, which is the valve that lets water into your toilet tank. If the tube has failed or is blocked by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it may not be allowing water into the tank.
Another likely cause for your toilet not filling with water is something amiss with the float, which is a device that prompts the fill valve to stop letting water into the tank when the water has gotten to 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 replacing the fill valve.