As you can likely guess, the actual severity of various plumbing issues can vary significantly. For example, you could have a slow-moving drain that’s fixed relatively quickly by an experienced plumber. In no time, your drain will be back to running at normal speeds and the plumbing problem will be a thing of the past. On the flip side, you could also experience frequent back-up’s throughout the house and come to realize there is a crack or break in the sewer line. This would be an example of a major problem!
In this week’s blog, we’ll take a look at both ends of the spectrum for toilet-related troubles. While there aren’t any toilet projects that will compare to a sewer line replacement (from a financial perspective), there are certainly particular toilet repairs that can be fixed easier than others. We’ll take a look at several of these today! Before diving into that though, we would like to give a warm welcome to any first-time blog visitors. Welcome to Stine-Nichols Plumbing! As a company offering residential, commercial and new construction plumbing services, our blog is the perfect resource for tips on everything from purchasing new faucets, maintaining various plumbing fixtures and more! To check out our previous plumbing blog posts, feel free to click the link HERE. With that all being said, let’s now take a look at the various toilet problems homeowners may be faced with!
Easy Fixes
If you’re familiar with the inner-workings of a toilet, you’ll likely find that several toilet-related problems can be fixed fairly inexpensively. Furthermore, if you hire an experienced plumbing technician, chances are they can get these issues resolved quite quickly as well! Here are a few that we would classify as “small” toilet problems.
Running Toilet
When it comes to common toilet problems, one of the most well-known issues that homeowners deal with is the running toilet. It’s the perfect example of a plumbing problem that isn’t too severe, thus is easy to procrastinate on getting it fixed. Nonetheless, a running toilet is wasting water and it can easily result in a higher-than-normal monthly water bill. As such, rather than continuously putting it off, it would likely make most sense to just get it fixed. The most important aspect of the repair process is going to revolve around figuring out what the cause is. In many cases, a faulty flapper is to blame for the constant running. The flapper acts as a seal separating the toilet’s tank and bowl. It only lifts up when a flush actually occurs. If there’s an issue with the flapper itself and it’s not sealing properly, then replacing the flapper may be the answer to your troubles! Fortunately, flappers are pretty inexpensive, so this would definitely be considered an easy fix.
If the flapper is in working order, another area to evaluate would be the float. Also located inside the toilet tank, the float serves a relatively straightforward purpose as well. As water goes from the tank into the bowl, your tank has to refill with water too, right? While this new water is refilling the tank, the float is gradually rising. Once the float hits a certain level, it will stop the refilling process. Well…if your float is too high in the tank, it could be the cause for this constant running. Assuming the float is still in good condition and the problem isn’t a result of a break there, you’ll want to adjust the float down to prevent the running toilet.
While there are a number of other small things capable of causing a running toilet, these are two of the more common miscues!
Toilet That Moves a Little
Before we move on to some toilet troubles that likely require a new installation, one final toilet problem for here is the toilet that seems to move a little or is not completely secure when using it. By the way, it is important to note that this one can occasionally be the sign of a more serious underlying issue, including issues with the flooring. Nonetheless, for this blog post, we would like to note that a toilet which doesn’t seem completely secure could be due to the flange bolts going bad or the bolts just needing to be tightened. These could be fixed fairly easily. To sum it up, if you notice the toilet feels a little loose, go ahead and look into the issue to avoid it becoming a potential safety hazard or leading to potential water damage.
More Serious Problems
Like I mentioned in the opening paragraphs, there’s likely not going to be a toilet problem that’s the equivalent of something like a sewer line replacement or major interior re-piping project. Nonetheless, there are some that may be a little more costly than simply replacing a toilet flapper. And in most of these more serious situations (assuming the problem resides with the toilet itself), the solution is going to involve having a new toilet installed.
Age of Toilet
You can say the same thing about several other plumbing fixtures, but it’s still important to note that the everyday wear and tear can result in plumbing problems. Similarly, even when you purchase fixtures made by reputable brands, the consistent usage will eventually take its toll and force a replacement. While an older toilet isn’t a specific time-sensitive problem, it is important to note that most older toilets aren’t nearly as efficient as modern day options, so you may even be able to save a little money on your water bill by updating your home’s toilets.
Cracked Toilet
While this isn’t always the case with all plumbing issues, one easy problem to spot in relation to toilets is when there’s a crack in the bowl or tank. It’s not hard to see how this could instantly waste water and it’s also something that won’t resolve itself. So…if you notice a crack anywhere on the toilet, your best plan of attack will likely be to get it replaced!
Repair or Replace?
On a similar note to what we discussed above about older toilets, another question that homeowners may find themselves asking is, “does it make more sense to repair the existing fixture or just replace it altogether?” This is a frequent topic of discussion with faucets and water heaters, in particular. Nonetheless, when you find yourself repeatedly having issues with a specific fixture, it might just make the most sense to replace it. Maybe it’s constantly getting clogged or parts inside the tank keep on needing to be replaced. In any case, sometimes the best way to know there is a serious problem is a result of frequent smaller problems!
Toilet Repair and Installation Services in Kansas City
Unsurprisingly, toilets are one of many plumbing components that our team works on frequently throughout the year. We hope you learned a few new things in this blog post about the difference between small toilet problems that can be easily repaired and those more significant issues that will likely require a new toilet to be installed. As we mentioned above, there is certainly some value to having a new toilet installed, especially if your existing toilet is quite old. The efficiency of toilets have improved substantially over the years, so there’s definitely some savings to be had there too. Not to mention, if you’re looking to invest in the latest and greatest in modern toilet technology, take a look at some of the smart toilets as well! Trust us, you’ll be amazed by several of their cool features!
Need help with an upcoming toilet project? Our team at Stine-Nichols Plumbing would be happy to help. To request a free estimate, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (816) 348-3481 or fill out the form HERE.