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When Should You Replace an Older Toilet

The following is an actual support email that was sent in to our staff. If you have a toilet repair question, please feel free to ask ...

Merle asked: Great site for the trouble shooting mechanics of fixing a toilet! Is it ever time, after continued difficulties, to replace the toilet? We have a toilet that has NEVER clogged or overflowed when I have used it yet my spouse has clogged the toilet with solids numerous times.

Sometimes my spouse will build up 2-3 days worth of solids so I am thinking that places more strain on the system but nonetheless, it gets clogged (my spouse also uses quite a bit of toilet paper too!).

We can unplug the toilet with a plunger but just this morning the toilet overflowed, which is more rare than a clogging. What to do? Our home and toilet/plumbing system was built in 1930. Only one Holly tree about ten yards away from the sewer line.

Thanks for your response.

Our team responded: Merle,

Thank you for contacting us today! Toilets do, in fact, wear out over time. The average life span of a toilet is around 10 to 15 years, so yours is a bit past its prime.

With the age of your toilet, there are a couple of potential problems here. It is very possible that there is a calcium build up within the toilet itself, this often happens over time and can depend on where you live and what type of water you have coming into the house. I believe they do make a couple products that are designed to rid calcium deposits but in reality, it is usually best to just replace the toilet.

Another thought is that with a toilet of this age, the inner drain could be worn from water flowing through over time. This can cause minor erosion, rough edges, irregular paths of travel, all of which can cause the toilet to loose efficiency and become clogged more often. Again, the solution here is to replace the toilet.

There are other potential concerns here, older houses often have smaller waste lines because building codes were different years ago and in some cases these codes were non-existent. It is common for root systems to overtake waste lines, but with the limited trees, I doubt this is the case. Were it me, I would replace the toilet with a new one and then go from there. You may want to look into one of the power flush options. Yes, they do typically use more water, but if large solids are an issue you may need to go this route.

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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.

If you have room in the bowl of your toilet you might try pouring a bucket of water into it to see if the pressure from the water makes the toilet unstop.

This should solve your problem and save you a lot of money on toilet repair.

If you have water coming from a crack in the tank you may have to replace your entire toilet.