Four Easy Toilet Fixes You Can Do Yourself. 

Here are four easy fixes to common toilet problems that you should be able to do yourself (even if you don’t know what you are doing).  These four fixes are generally quick and shouldn’t take too much time out of your day. 

The Parts of a Toilet

First, the parts of the toilet you might come across during your fixing:

• Tank: holds the water to flush everything out
• Trap: located under the bowl, has a curve so all the water doesn’t just drain out 
• Flapper: a seal between the tank & bowl, it lifts to allow more water into the bowl
• Float: a lightweight component that rises with the water level and will shut it off when it gets too high
• Handle: what we push to flush the toilet 
• Bowl to floor seal: a seal that fits between the floor and bottom of the toilet to keep water from leaking out. 

Toilet is Overflowing 

The problem: The toilet is overflowing with water. 

The fix: The toilet is usually overflowing when it is clogged. The best way to get the clog out of the toilet is to plunge it. Here is a helpful guide from us on how to plunge a toilet. 

Toilet Doesn’t Flush

The problem: The handle wiggles but it doesn’t flush. 

The fix: When you go to flush but nothing happens, it usually means the chain has moved out of place. The first step is to turn the water valve off, this is typically located behind the toilet towards the floor. Once the water is off, open the tank and find where the chain is connected to the flapper. Pull the chain up and the water should drain out. You should see a notch or hook to put the chain in to reconnect it. Before putting the lid to the tank back on, turn the water valve back on and flush the toilet. 

Water Keeps Refilling

The Problem: Water keeps coming into the bowl after the tank has refilled. 

The fix:  Try to jiggle the handle if you flush and keep hearing the water running in your toilet. If it stops, that generally means you need to install a new flapper. Here are six steps to adjusting the flapper.

Toilet Doesn’t Fully Flush

The problem: If the toilet doesn’t fully flush (aka you have to hold the handle down the whole time it is flushing).

The fix: First remove the tank lid and take note of the starting place of the flapper, then flush the flapper. If the flapper goes back to the starting place, then it needs adjusting. To adjust it, remove some of the slack by bringing it up a link or two on the lift bar. 

If that doesn’t work, find the overflow tube; if the water doesn’t come up to half an inch from the top of the tube, then there isn’t enough water to flush. Next, find the fill valve, (it should have the float attached to it), there will be a screw near the top. That screw controls the water flow, in order to adjust the flow turn the screw. You may need to try it a few times to get the correct amount of flow.

Final Thoughts

A broken toilet, it can be so frustrating to try to fix. These toilet fixes can make a stressful situation a lot less frustrating.

Call 1-Tom-Plumber 

Don’t hesitate to contact us or call us at 1-Tom-Plumber (1-866-758-6237) if you need more help fixing your toilet. We will immediately handle any emergency plumbing, drain, and water damage problem, including excavation of underground water lines and sewer main lines