How to Fix Your Running Toilet Yourself

Is your pesky toilet running water again? Worried about what that leak will do to your water bill? Don’t panic – you might be able to fix it yourself. If you’re still having trouble, give us a call on 0400 386 991.

Determine why it is running

First things first – it’s essential to know why your toilet is running. To test if it’s a leak, add a few drops of food dye into the tank. Wait 15 to 20 minutes, then flush. If coloured water fills the bowl, then you know your toilet is dripping. But how to fix it?

The most common reason for a leaking toilet is a faulty toilet flapper. A flapper has a seal that keeps water in your toilet’s tank. If the seal isn’t working correctly, you will hear water running. You can check your flapper by looking inside the tank. If water is running off and on, but not flowing into the overflow tube, then your flapper will need to be replaced.

Follow these steps

Thankfully with a little know-how, you can do this yourself. Just follow these simple steps to fix your flapper and stop your toilet from running:

•   Turn off your house’s water supply and flush the toilet until it’s empty.
•   Take off the lid to the tank. Pull out the flapper by taking it off the studs on its side.
•   Remove the chain from the flush handle lever.
•   Pop in the new flapper by threading the holes on the side over the studs.
•   Reattach the chain back to the flush handle lever.
•   Turn your water back on and flush the toilet to see if the leak is fixed.
•   If the toilet is still running, the new flapper may not be closing properly. Simply adjust the length of the flapper chain until your toilet stops leaking.

Of course, if you’re not brave enough to do the repairs yourself, give us a call. You can rest easy in the knowledge that your toilet is being repaired properly. 

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