Leaking Toilet
A leaking toilet can be a real headache, for anyone. Anytime something has water running through it you have a chance of leaks, some leak right away, some start to leak over time and some just don't seem to stop leaking no matter what you do, its the nature of plumbing. However, most toilet leaks can be fixed rather easily with a quick tightening of a bolt or replacing a wax seal.
One of the hardest aspects of repairing a leaking toilet is finding the cause of the leak. Sometimes the leak is very apparent and others you will have to do a little hunting and rule different items out. The first thing you will want to do is look for a point where the water is coming from, there are a number of different, yet common places for leaks to spring up and we will go over each of those in detail below.
Diagnosing and Repairing a Leaking Toilet
Water on the floor but no signs of dripping - There are a couple potential scenarios here that you should look for. First, if no dripping is noticed you may have a leaky wax gasket. The wax gasket forms a seal between the floor and the toilet, over time they can begin to leak due to the toilet shifting or just having a bad seal and it gets worse over time.
Faulty wax seals can usually be diagnosed fairly easily. Try flushing the toilet and watching the base very closely. In many cases you will see water kind of "wash out" from under the toilet after flushing, this may take a minute or two after flushing to see it. You should also try wobbling the toilet bowl to see if there is any movement at all. If there is some movement in the toilet when you wiggle it around, you may just need to tighten the flange bolts. There is one bolt located on each side of the toilet base, usually under a white cap. The cap should just pop off with a screwdriver or your hands.
If tightening the bolts has not made a difference, or if there was no movement in the toilet, the gasket may need to be replaced. You can replace a gasket by removing the toilet. Read our page on on how to replace a toilet to get started. However, sometimes the water can be a little trickier. It may not be dripping but rather, running down the side of the toilet, giving the appearance that a wax seal is leaking. Run your hand all around the sides of the toilet bowl feeling for water. Try flushing the toilet again and continue feeling for water on the side of the toilet. If water is felt, follow it up to the root of the leak, if not, you will most likely need to change out the gasket.
I see water dripping onto the floor - If you can see water dripping onto the floor, you are in luck. This will most likely be a much easier fix than the above. Begin by identifying the point where the water is leaking from, there are some common spots. Many of these cases you will find water leaking from the base of the tank where the bolts go through the tank and the toilet bowl. If this is the case, you simply need to open the tank lid and tighten the bolts until the leak stops, they can become loose over time.
If you find water leaking from where the water supply line connects to the bottom of the toilet tank, try tightening the connection on the supply line. Inside the fitting on the water supply line there is a small rubber washer. They can become damaged and start to leak and the supply line may need to be replaced. You can purchase a new one at your local home improvement store for a few dollars. Make sure you turn off the water valve and flush the toilet before removing. Any water inside the tank will run onto the floor when you remove the line, you can sop it up with a towel inside the tank or place a small waste basket under the connection before you loosen it.
If you can wiggle the toilet tank at all, chances are your leak is coming from around the tank. Just try to tighten the two connections and see if the leaking stops. Usually this will take care of the problem.
Well folks, that is really about all you need to know about toilet repair in regards to leaks. A leaking toilet is nothing to worry too much about, as you have seen above, they are usually an easy fix and you will be back up and flushing in no time at all.
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TOILET REPAIR HIGHLIGHTS
You may enjoy these random highlights from advice and information found right here on the My Clogged Toilet website.
Good tips and advice on toilet repair can prevent you from removing the wrong part or breaking something that could be costly to replace.
A professional that is trained in repairing a clogged toilet will be able to unstop your toilet in a very fast amount of time.
You want to make sure that there is no tubing that interferes with the fill valve, and if you thing that the tube may be a little too long you may have to cut some off.
Toilet repair is one of those things that isn't hard to do if something simple goes wrong such as a seal that goes bad or a supply line needs to be replaced.