How do you know if your toilet is leaking?

Are you flushing your money down the drain.  Maybe your toilet is running constantly and water is escaping without you knowing it.  There are stats that show up to twenty percent of toilets leak in North America. 

In order to fix a running toilet, you need to first understand how the basic mechanism works. The repair of the flush part of a toilet is one of the most basic plumbing jobs. It requires no special plumber  tools and can normally be done by you  without professional help.

You don’t need to call in a professional plumber to diagnose the problem, you can do it your self by following these easy steps:  Put drops of food colouring in the  toilet tank.  If you see the food colouring dye in the bowl, the problem will lie in the valve seal ball or the rubber flapper at the bootom of the toilet tank.  Replace the flappers and and you should not have any problems for the next couple of years or at this point call in a local (Burlington) plumber to assist in the plumbing repair.

You may also want to watch out for the following problems :

Is the chain catching on something or is the flapper catching on the chain?

 Is the flapper wedged open on its hinge and is the flapper simply just old and stiff.?

If the float is a ball on an arm, try turning the small screws on top of the valve. Sometimes, you can also bend the arm further down. If the toilet stops filling and then starts again intermittently, you have a slow leak.

A damaged  flush valve  seat is the rim of the large hole in the bottom of the tank is rough or pitted.

 A split or hole in the overflow pipe or a  damaged gasket under the flush valve.

 The wrong type of flapper is being used. For example, some Kohler toilets require a particular flapper, the one size fits all type often will usually not work.

We do not suggest using  chlorine tablets or any other chemical cleaner in the toilet tank. Chemicals corrode the metals and can break down the rubber seals. It may also kill the active bacteria that keep the septic tank working efficiently.

Caution : It's easy to crack porcelain when tightening lock nuts so be extra careful when using a wrench..

If you need help we suggest calling in a qualified plumber in the Burlington Ontario  area and they will be able to assist you and get your water troubles back on track.