Questions · Fixtures
Running toilet: repair or replace?
Most running toilets are a worn flapper or a tired fill valve, and those are repairs. Replace instead when the tank or bowl is cracked, when the flange underneath has failed, when it rocks or leaks at the base, or when a very old low performing toilet needs two flushes anyway.
Repair covers most of them
- Water trickling into the bowl between flushes: the flapper or its seat
- The fill valve running on and off by itself: the fill valve
- A tank that never quite stops filling: the float setting or the fill valve
- A handle that has to be held down: the chain or the flush lever
- A slow fill: the supply stop, the fill valve or a restricted line
Replace when
- Water is appearing at the base, which usually means the wax seal or the flange
- The toilet rocks, because that is what breaks seals in the first place
- There is a crack in the tank or the bowl
- It needs two flushes every time, so the repair does not solve the complaint
- The bathroom is being redone anyway and the flange should be looked at
The quiet cost of leaving it
A toilet that leaks past the flapper makes no noise at all and can run for months. It is the single most common reason a water bill climbs with nothing visible in the house, and it is the first thing to rule out before anyone worries about a slab leak.
A few drops of food coloring in the tank will tell you: if color reaches the bowl without a flush, the flapper is passing water.
From the job log
Work we’ve done
Answers
How do I know if my toilet is leaking?
Put a little food coloring in the tank and leave it an hour without flushing. Color in the bowl means water is passing the flapper. It is the cheapest test in plumbing.
Why does my toilet run for a few seconds at random?
That is a phantom flush: water is leaking out of the tank slowly, and the fill valve refills it. It is almost always the flapper or its seat.
Is it worth replacing an old toilet for water use?
It can be, and it depends on how many people use it and how it performs now. A toilet that already needs two flushes is not saving anything.
If you need this done
- Toilet repair and replacementRunning, weak-flushing, clogged or leaking at the base: repaired, or replaced with an efficient new toilet.
- Valves, hose bibs and water hammerShutoffs that won't turn, washer valves, outdoor hose bibs, and arrestors for pipes that bang when a valve closes.
- Where we workEvery town and ZIP across the Valley we cover.
In-home estimate
Rather have someone look at it? Tell us what's going on
We come out, look at the problem and explain what it needs before any work starts. For something urgent, calling is fastest.
Rather talk? Call or text (602) 833-4133.