Does your toilet refuse to stop running? Weird gurgling noise coming from your toilet bowl? From water leakage to unusual noises, toilets can do all sorts of strange things.
The good thing is, with a little troubleshooting, there are many toilet issues you can solve by yourself. Here, the professionals at Northern Comfort Inc will go over some of the most frequent 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 Does My Toilet Always Run?
If your toilet won't stop running, it is an issue you should fix because it's in all likelihood also costing you money on your water bill.
A typical cause of a running toilet is something amiss with the overflow tube. Positioned 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 doesn't get too high and spill over the top of the tank. Sometimes, the issue is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube got detached. If that’s the situation, 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 is not tall enough to maintain the correct 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 serves as a plug in the bottom of your tank—is damaged and no longer forms the tight seal required 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.
Occasionally 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 predetermined height. If your float is set too high, this lets the water level to rise too high, and the excess water will spill into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.
2. Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?
A gurgling toilet is often caused by a partial clog 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 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 ensure 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 Northern Comfort Inc to evaluate the problem. As the trusted plumber in Mankato area, Northern Comfort Inc will investigate whether the noise is caused by a blockage in one of the drain lines directing 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 It Hard to Flush My Toilet?
If it's difficult to flush your toilet, it's likely the problem can be found in the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain within your toilet tank that is hooked to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is attached to the flapper, which acts as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.
The easiest way to find out why your toilet is difficult to flush is to remove the lid, peer inside the tank and investigate.
Here’s how the process ought 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 flow 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 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.
At times flappers can get stuck as they age or become worn out. It's also possible there may be something wrong with the handle.
5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?
A leaky toilet can be a costly situation, potentially causing 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 something wrong with the toilet float.
Cracked gaskets around the connections on the underside of the tank also can permit 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 an expert plumber.
6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?
A toilet that isn't filling with water frequently suggests 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 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 signals the fill valve to stop bringing 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 predetermined height. It might be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the appropriate level. Or, repairing a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.
