Does your toilet keep running? Weird gurgling noise emitting from your toilet bowl? From water leakages to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are numerous toilet issues you can correct yourself. Here, the professionals at Bishop’s HVAC will go over some of the most common 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 something you should correct because it’s in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.
A frequent cause of a running toilet is something incorrect with the overflow tube. Found 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 won’t get too high and spill over the top of the tank. Occasionally, the trouble is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube got detached. If that’s the case, you can reach into the tank and reattach them. It also may 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 acts 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 enables water to seep through or around the damaged flapper and escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
At times, a running toilet is caused by something awry with your toilet float, which is a floating device that determines 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 unwanted water will spill into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Does My Toilet Make a Gurgling Sound?
A gurgling toilet is usually caused by a partial clog in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or a blockage in 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 release the clog. If this rectify the issue, you can check where your sewage vent exits your home to confirm it is not blocked by debris that would restrict air flow.
If these efforts don’t fix your gurgling toilet, you will probably want to call a professional such an expert from Bishop’s HVAC to evaluate the problem. As the trusted plumber in Sacramento, Bishop’s HVAC will check to see if the sound is due to 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 Won’t My Toilet Flush?
If you can’t flush your toilet, it’s probable that the problem can be found in the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain in a toilet tank that is hooked to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is connected to the flapper, which serves as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The best way to figure out why your toilet is challenging to flush is to lift up 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 permits the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet will never flush because the chain is caught on something in the tank, which prevents 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, 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. It’s also possible there may be something wrong with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A leaky toilet can be a costly problem, potentially producing water damage in and around your bathroom. Many times, 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 a failure 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 weakened 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 My Toilet Not Filling with Water?
A toilet that won’t fill with water often traces back to a problem with the fill valve, which is the valve that lets water into your toilet tank. If the tube is damaged or is blocked by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it potentially could not be allowing water into the tank.
Another typical 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 letting 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 may be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water rises to the appropriate level. Or, solving the problem of a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or replacing the fill valve.