Toilet

Leaking Toilet

Toilet leaks can only come from a few places on the toilet, but because they aren't always easy to take apart and work with you have to allow some time to do the job right so you don't have to do it over.

If you have to work on a toilet it is a good idea to get the parts you will need first so you don't have to leave in the middle of the job to go to the plumbing store. Toilets, like anything else, has a manufacturer name and parts correspond to the manufacturer so copy the name of the manufacturer and look for parts made specifically for that brand of toilet.

If you aren't sure about what you will need to fix the leak just buy extra parts and bring back what you don't use. Most hardware or home supply stores will allow you to return parts that you don't use so don't be afraid to over buy to get the job done.

If you have a leak coming from the tank and dripping on the floor of the bathroom, while the toilet is just sitting there and not being flushed, the leak is most likely coming from the bolts that hold the tank to the toilet.

At worse, it could be a crack in the tank, but I have never experienced that. I have only found water coming from the bolts holding the tank on to the toilet. To repair the leak you have to shut off the water supply to the toilet and flush it until all of the water is gone from the tank. There may be some water left in the tank when it stops going down as you flush that will need to be sopped up with a sponge.

Once you have all of the water out of the tank you will have to remove the bolts holding the tank on to the toilet. When you have one of the bolts removed you will need to put a new washer on it along with some caulk. I have never had a new washer seal completely with out using some caulk. Put caulk on both sides of the washer and re-install the bolt and washer into the tank.

Repeat the same steps on the other bolt. If you carefully remove one bolt at a time and replace the washer then put the bolt back before you remove the other bolt you may be able to get away without removing the water supply line. If you find that this is not the case you will have to remove the water supply line also.

After you replace both washers and caulk them you can re-install the water supply line and fill the tank and check for leaks. If you had to remove the tank you will have to flush a couple of times and watch for leaks from the gasket that connects the toilet tank to the toilet itself. The only time water passes through there is while the toilet is flushing. If you notice a leak coming from there you will have to re-seat the gasket between the bowl and tank.

Toilet Tank Crack And Leaking

Ok, so you just moved into your "new" house and learned that the people who owned the house before you added a bathroom on to the children's bedroom themselves and when they put the toilet in they set it too far from the wall so now the toilet tank has no support behind it causing it to flex when someone sits on the toilet bowl.

Sometimes you have to place a support behind the toilet tank to support it if it tends to move when someone sits on the bowl. If the tank moves it is possible that the gasket that goes between the tank and the bowl is too fat preventing the tank from resting on the toilet bowl itself. The toilet tank if installed correctly should sit perfectly on the toilet bowl and not move when it is touched. If it moves too much the bolts that hold the tank to the toilet will cause the tank to crack underneath since the tank was never meant to withstand that type of stress. There are only two bolts holding the tank to the toilet and they were only meant to hold it in place.

If you find that you have a toilet that gets a lot of pushing around, either from someone sitting on it hard or holding onto it for balance you may need to support the tank from behind. You will need to put a board or two by four, whatever takes up the space, between the wall and the toilet tank. That way the tank won't be able to move around and break. It would look better if you could take the tank off completely and install the board but if you cannot do that having the wood show on the sides can be covered up so it doesn't stand out too much.

Toilet Bolts-Spinning Without Tightening

A problem with the bolts that hold the toilet bowl to the floor is that sometimes they work themselves loose if they weren't tightened properly after the toilet bowl was installed. When you first install a new toilet you have what is called a wax gasket that goes between the toilet bowl and the floor. The gasket is really made of wax so it needs to compress fully before the floor bolts on the toilet will stay tight. If you tighten the bolts and someone sits on the toilet and compresses the wax gasket further than it had been originally the bolts will appear to come loose. It is not the bolts coming loose, but instead it is the toilet sinking into the wax gasket and ending up lower that it had been before so the bolts will stick up and no longer be tight. Just re-tighten the bolts and that should correct the problem, but only if the toilet has compressed the wax gasket fully so it cannot sink to the floor any more.

If you have a problem where the bolts have been loose for quite a while they may not be so easy to turn, in that case you will need to spray them with WD-40 and hold them lightly at the bottom with a pair of needle nose pliers with tape or some sort of cushion on the ends so you don't damage the threads of the nut while you screw the nut up to the pliers, then move the pliers to the top of the bolt and continue tightening until the nut just makes contact with the porcelain of the toilet. Then put the decorative cover back over the bolt.

Toilet Leak – Fix A Leak Coming From Under The Toilet

Most toilets are constructed to have two joints where a leak may occur during a flush. After a toilet talk fills the only thing preventing the water from flowing out is a rubber flapper covering the water exit in the bottom of the toilet tank. The water is released when the flush lever is pressed. Once the flush lever is pressed the water begins to flow out of the tank and into the bowl where it washes away whatever is in the bowl at the time. As the water is flowing out of the tank it passes a gasket between the toilet tank and the toilet bowl, and then it passed the wax gasket that is between the toilet bowl and the drain pipe. Water rushing past either of these gaskets can leak out if the gaskets have deteriorated enough to create a seem for the water escape through.

Sometimes the wax gasket under the toilet can develop a leak, especially if the floor that the toilet is sitting on isn't completely flat. If the floor has any give to it the toilet will move and eventually separate itself from the wax gasket. When that happens the only fix is to replace the wax gasket. To do that you will need to shut off the incoming water to the toilet and drain it completely. Once the tank is completely drained you can remove the tank with the two bolts under neath the tank. They will be the two bolts holding the toilet tank to the toilet. Remove the water supply line and the two bolts and remove the tank from the toilet. Once the tank is removed you will need to loosen the bolts on the bottom of the toilet bowl. Once the bolts are loose you can lift the toilet off of the floor and lay it on it's side so you can see the wax gasket. The wax gasket will be surrounding the outlet on the bottom of the toilet. There may also be some wax gasket stuck to the pipe flange that the toilet was bolted to. Use a narrow putty knife to scrape off the old wax gasket from both the bottom of the toilet and the pipe flange to prepare the surface for the new gasket.

When you unwrap the new wax gasket it will be sticky and will want to stick to anything it touches. You should hold it with the wax paper that it came in or get a piece of wax paper to hold the gasket with. Stick the new gasket to the bottom of the toilet where the old gasket came from and make sure it sticks and seals all the way around. Prepare the bolts on the flange where the toilet will attach and make sure they are straight and stay up straight as you slide the toilet down over them. It is important that you make sure the bolts will stay up as you put the toilet down because you don't want any interference when you are attaching the toilet to the floor. If you make contact with the new gasket and the flange you don't want to have to lift the toilet up again because that will ruin the new gasket. Wax gaskets are made to make contact once and stay in position to form a tight seal.

As you tighten the bolts that hold the toilet down do so gently as they are not meant to be made really tight. You may need to sit on the toilet to make sure the wax gasket compresses fully so the toilet doesn't move as it is being used or when water enters the tank. The toilet has to be flush with the floor then tighten the bolts just snug to keep it there. Once the toilet has been installed you can replace the toilet tank. You will notice a gasket between the toilet tank and the toilet bowl. If you haven't had a leak there just re-use the old gasket as it has formed to the toilet and the tank already. I was trying to be too much of a perfectionist once and replaced all of the gaskets, to be on the safe side, only to have the gasket between the tank and bowl leak. I replaced the new gasket with the old one and the leak stopped. The porcelain tan, on the toilet that I was working on wasn't formed square so the original gasket formed itself around the irregularities and created a tight seal. The new gasket was too hard to conform to the irregularities of the tank material.

To insure against the possibility of the toilet tank bolts leaking from the inside which would require you to remove them again to fix the leak, put some putty on the inside washers before you re-install the tank. The putty will fill in any void and help prevent any leaks.

Re-attach the water line and fill the tank checking for leaks as it fills. Once it fills flush a couple of times to check for leaks, if you don't find any leaks you are done.

Toilet Repair – Fixing A Leaky Tank

A leaky toilet can be a challenge to fix because they aren't always easy to take apart and work with. If you have to work on a toilet it is best if you have the parts you will need first so you don't have to leave the toilet all apart while you run for parts. Most hardware or home supply stores will allow you to return parts that you don't use so don't be afraid to over buy to get the job done.

If you have a leak coming from the tank and dripping on the floor of the bathroom, while the toilet is just sitting there and not being flushed, the leak is most likely coming from the bolts that hold the tank to the toilet. At worse, it could be a crack in the tank, but I have never experienced that. I have only found water coming from the bolts holding the tank on to the toilet. To repair the leak you have to shut off the water supply to the toilet and flush it until all of the water is gone from the tank. There may be some water left in the tank when it stops going down as you flush that will need to be sopped up with a sponge.

Once you have all of the water out of the tank you will have to remove the bolts holding the tank on to the toilet. When you have one of the bolts removed you will need to put a new washer on it along with some caulk. I have never had a new washer seal completely with out using some caulk. Put caulk on both sides of the washer and re-install the bolt and washer into the tank. Repeat the same steps on the other bolt. If you carefully remove one bolt at a time and replace the washer then put the bolt back before you remove the other bolt you may be able to get away without removing the water supply line. If you find that this is not the case you will have to remove the water supply line also.

After you replace both washers and caulk them you can re-install the water supply line and fill the tank and check for leaks. If you had to remove the tank you will have to flush a couple of times and watch for leaks from the gasket that connects the toilet tank to the toilet itself. The only time water passes through there is while the toilet is flushing. If you notice a leak coming from there you will have to re-seat the gasket between the bowl and tank.