What to Do About a Leaky Toilet

Toilet leaks left untreated can cause serious damage to your home. Your Brooklyn plumbing experts at Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning can help you better understand what that small toilet leak may mean for your home.

Some water leaks from a toilet will waste water and your money. Other types of leaks threaten to flood your house. Below are some of the types of leaks you should look out for, what to do about them, and when to call for toilet repair.

Slow Leaks

The first is the most common, a slow leak between the tank and the bowl. If your toilet sounds like it’s running either periodically or all the time, but you can’t really tell for sure, put some food coloring in the tank. If you see the food coloring in the bowl, the tank is leaking. This kind of leak is caused by a faulty flush valve, especially the flapper. The flapper may be damaged so that it doesn’t seal the outlet of the tank, or it may be stuck because of a problem with the mechanism that opens and closes the flapper.

Toilet Flapper Not Working

This is something you can investigate yourself. Take the lid off the tank, flush the toilet and watch what happens. For most toilets, the handle is connected to a lever inside the tank, and a chain attached to the lever lifts the flush valve when you flush the toilet. The flapper automatically reseats itself after the water runs out. Sometimes the chain gets snagged on something or it gets broken or disconnected. You can replace the flapper by itself or the entire flush valve. If you’re not comfortable doing this, give us a call.

Broken Fill Valve

While you have the top off the tank, watch what the fill valve does as water refills the tank. There are a number of styles of fill valves, but they all use some kind of air-filled float that rises up along with the water and that shuts off the flow of water when it reaches a certain level. If the float isn’t working properly or if the fill valve won’t shut off when the tank is full, it can cause the water in the tank to overflow onto the floor. Fill valves can rust or get damaged. Call us to take a look!

Damaged Water Supply Line

The water supply line between the wall and the tank may be damaged and leaking. Look for water dripping near the connections to the valve at the wall and where the line is connected to the tank. Check the line itself for cracks.

Cracked Tank or Bowl

The porcelain in the tank or bowl may be cracked. If the tank or bowl has structural damage, it can cause a huge leak or spill wastewater onto your floor. You’ll need to replace the toilet.

Brooklyn Toilet Experts

But never fear, Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning is always here, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Call our experts the next time you’re having issues with a leaky toilet or any other plumbing issues!