How to Repair Leaky Toilet
When your toilet is leaking, you’re losing precious water and compromising the efficiency of your toilet. Learn to repair a leaky toilet by yourself, saving money and the trouble of calling a plumber. Here’s how.
To determine where the leak is coming from, drop a few dye pills inside the water tank. Wait 30 minutes. If the color leaks into the toilet bowl, you have a leak. Alternatively, puddles forming below the toilet bowl are also evidence of a leak.
Check the bolts that connect the toilet to the floor. If one or both bolts are loose, tighten them, but not too much. Overtightened bolts can cause cracks in the ceramic.
If you’re still having a leak, check the tank. Remove the lid and lift up the float arm. If the water stops running, you know you have a problem. Drain the tank and adjust the bolts and screws to the inlet float valve. The water should stop flowing afterward.
Check the supply line by making sure that all the connections are tight. If you see the leak, shut off the valve, flush the toilet and disconnect the line. Replace it with a new line and tighten everything.
Check the diaphragm in your toilet tank to see if it’s still working properly. To do this, turn off the water supply, flush the toilet and examine the inlet float valve. Remove the bolts and take off the lid. Check the diaphragm, and if it’s worn out, replace it with a new one.
If the toilet is still leaking, check the wax ring, which is the gasket between the drain pipe and the toilet. Turn off the supply line, flush the toilet and disconnect the supply line. Remove thew nuts from the floor bolts, lift the toilet and set it aside. Use a brush to scrape away the remains of the old wax ring. Replace with a new wax ring. Reattach the bolts again.
Another cause of toilet leaks is when the toilet refills without flushing. To fix this, examine the ball stopper. It should be sitting perfectly in its seat. To adjust, guide the rods that work the ball stopper to make sure it fits snugly in its seat. If the ball stopper is worn out, replace it. You should also check for corrosion or sediment deposits, to be removed using steel wool.