Is your toilet running? Strange gurgling noise emitting from your toilet bowl? From water leakages to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of frustrating things.
Fortunately, with a little troubleshooting, there are lots of toilet issues you can solve yourself. Here, the experts at Fire & Ice HVAC will go over some of the most frequent 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 Is My Toilet Running?
If your toilet keeps running all the time, it is a situation you should correct 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 allows extra water to drain 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. Occasionally, the problem is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube has become 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 simply 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 factor causing a toilet to run could be the flapper–which acts as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is damaged and no longer forms the tight seal needed to hold water in the tank. Not having a good seal allows water to 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 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 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 Is My Toilet Bubbling?
A gurgling toilet is commonly 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 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 restrict air flow.
If you’ve done these two trouble shooting tasks and the toilet is still gurgling or bubbling, you should phone a professional such an expert from Fire & Ice HVAC to evaluate the problem. As the go-to plumber in Manassas, Fire & Ice HVAC will check to see if the sound is due to a blockage in one of the drain lines directing toilet water out of your home or the mainline that takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.
4. Why Is It Hard to Flush My Toilet?
If your toilet is hard to flush, there’s a good chance the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain inside a toilet tank that is hooked to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is attached to the flapper, which functions as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The quickest way to find out why your toilet is challenging to flush is to take off 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 drain out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.
Sometimes a toilet will never flush because the chain is caught on something inside the tank, which keeps 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 age or become worn out. It’s also possible there might be something amiss with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaky toilet can be a costly problem, potentially leading to water damage in and around your bathroom. Often, 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 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 attaches to the floor. Often, 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 indicates 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 plugged 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 prompts the fill valve to stop allowing 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 preset height. It may be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the correct level. Or, fixing a toilet not filling with water may require adjusting or replacing the fill valve.
