Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Strange gurgling noise emitting from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to unusual noises, toilets can do all sorts of bizarre things.
Thankfully, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet issues you can correct on your own. Here, the specialists at Central Heating & Plumbing 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 won't stop running, it is something you should correct because it's in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.
A common reason for a running toilet is something wrong 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 issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the scenario, you should be able to reach into the tank and reattach them. It also could be your toilet is running simply because the overflow tube is too short for the 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 acts 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 enables water to seep through or around the damaged flapper and escape out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes 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 does 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 will allow 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 Make a Gurgling Sound?
A gurgling toilet is commonly caused by a partial blockage in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or a blockage 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 remove the clog. If this rectify the issue, you can examine 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 contact a professional such an expert from Central Heating & Plumbing to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in New Castle, Central Heating & Plumbing will investigate whether the noise is 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 Won't My Toilet Flush?
If your toilet is hard to flush, it's likely the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain within the toilet tank that is attached to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is attached to the flapper, which serves as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The quickest way to figure out why your toilet is difficult to flush is to take off the lid, peek inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process should 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 will never 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 somehow comes unhooked from either the handle or the flapper. If this happens, unhook the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.
Occasionally flappers can get stuck as they get older or become worn out. It's also possible there may be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is There a Leak in My Toilet?
A dripping toilet can be a costly situation, potentially leading to 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 could 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 broken toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it sits on the floor. Most of these issues are best fixed by a professional plumber.
6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?
A toilet that isn't filling 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 has failed or is plugged 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 amiss with the float, which is a device that prompts the fill valve to stop letting water into the tank when the water has risen to the correct level. The fill valve gives the signal to stop when the water level lifts the float to a preset height. It could be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water rises to the proper level. Or, correcting a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or replacing the fill valve.