Toilet Repair Guide - How to Diagnose & Repair Toilets InspectAPedia® -
How to diagnose & fix a slow-flushing toilet
How to diagnose and fix a clogged toilet drain
How to fix a toilet that is overflowing when flushed - in an emergency
How to diagnose and correct drain noises occurring when the toilet flushes
Slow toilet tank fill problems
Toilets that keep running - fill valve does not shut off the toilet tank fill valve?
Toilet flush valve or flapper valve problems
Toilet tank fill valves and water sanitation
Sewer gas odors in buildings traced to loose or leaky toilet drains
How to repair problems causing plumbing drain sounds
Questions & answers about fixing toilets: clogged toilet repair, overflowing toilet repair, running toilets, leaky toilets, etc.
How to diagnose and fix a toilet: this article series TOILET REPAIR GUIDE discusses the cause, diagnosis, and repair of toilet problems (water closet problems) such as a toilet that does not flush well, clogged toilets, slow-filling toilets, running toilets, loose wobbly toilets, and odors at leaky toilets.
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Here we explain how to diagnose and repair problems with toilets, leaks, flushes, odors, noises, running and wasted water. Our page top photo shows ugly staining in a toilet bowl - strong evidence that this toilet has been running, wasting water, possibly flooding the septic system, and sometimes giving bad flush performance as well. Details are below.
Readers should also see TOILET ALTERNATIVES for a discussion of camping toilets, chemical toilets, emergency-use toilets, waterless toilets, graywater systems, composting toilets, home health care toilets, incinerating toilets, outhouses, and latrines. For toilets (and urinals) that are operated by building water pressure alone and without a reservoir tank, see FLUSHOMETER VALVES for TOILETS URINALS. Also see WHAT CAN GO INTO TOILETS & DRAINS?.
Citation of this article by reference to this website and brief quotation for the sole purpose of review are permitted. Use of this information at other websites, in books or pamphlets for sale is reserved to the author. Technical reviewers are welcome and are listed at References.
List of Toilet Fill, Flush, Drain, Odor, Noise, Problems & Solutions
All modern toilets receive human waste, urine, feces, and are intended to dispose of that matter in a sanitary fashion.
By the late 1800's the development of the modern flush-toilet, replacing chamber pots and outhouses,
toilets have relied on a dose of water to flush waste out of the toilet bowl into sewage piping or into a private septic system for wastewater treatment and disposal.
Some sources refer to a toilet as a water closet. Thomas Crapper & Co. (London) called their scary-looking toilet contraption an "Elastic Valve Closet".
Early flush toilets like this 1890 model used a high wall-mounted reservoir tank, typically wooden, to provide adequate pressure and flow rate to clean and empty the toilet bowl.
Contemporary toilets use a tank attached to the toilet bowl itself, relying on improved flush valve controls to provide the water flow rate into the bowl to empty it and clean the bowl sides.
Before launching into our series of articles on diagnosing and repairing toilet problems such as clogged toilets, toilets that don't flush properly, running or leaky or noisy toilets, toilet odors, and loose toilets, take a look at the simple connection between a typical reservoir-tank toilet and the soil stack (waste piping) in the Carson Dunlop Associates sketch (above left), and review our description of basic types of toilets at TOILET TYPES.
Here is our list of toilet trouble diagnosis and repair articles. You will see that some toilet problems are fixed easily and right at the toilet by a simple adjustment, while others may not be the toilet's fault at all, and may need more thoughtful diagnosis and repair.
Taking off the toilet tank top: Some of these simple toilet diagnosis steps require that you look into the toilet flush tank on the back of the toilet.
Just lift the top off of the toilet tank and set it carefully aside on the floor where you won't break it or trip over it.
If you leave the tank top on the toilet seat (as we did for this photo) you're asking for trouble, and also, it's a bit in the way.
Our sketch below shows the parts you'll see inside the toilet tank. You may want to refer back to this drawing while reading the details of each class if individual toilet problems listed above and how they are detected, diagnosed, and repaired.
Tank reservoir toilets like the toilet in the sketch at left and in our photo just below, have been in wide use in North America since the 1940's.
While there have been improvements in toilet tank fill valves, flush valves, floats, and water savings, the design has remained about the same.
A flush lever moves an arm to lift a flapper valve or tank ball to permit water to rush into the toilet bowl below, washing away waste into the sewer pipe.
At the end of the flush cycle, a float arm, or a float moving on a vertical stalk (newer valves) drops to open a valve permitting the toilet tank to refill with water.
When the toilet tank water level reaches the proper level, the float closes the toilet tank fill valve.
Toilet Won't Flush at All - Tank Water, Disconnected Flush Controls?
If the toilet won't flush at all, what happened when you pushed the flush lever ?
Nothing happened when we tried to flush the toilet:
See if there was water in the toilet tank - if not water has been turned off or water pressure is lost, or a valve supplying water to the toilet has been closed.
See if the flush lever is connected to the toilet tank flapper valve in the bottom center of the tank. In a proper setup, pushing the toilet flush lever down or to one side will move an arm inside the toilet tank.
At the end of the arm is a chain, string, plastic strip, or wire that goes descends in the toilet tank to a connection at one edge of the tank flush valve or flapper valve.
Moving the toilet flush lever should pull up the flapper valve to let water rush out of the toilet tank into the bowl below to flush the toilet. Make sure these connections are in place and that the toilet flapper is lifted when you push the toilet flush lever. Reconnect the chain or plastic strip if necessary.
The toilet tank flapper opened, water ran into the toilet bowl below, but the bowl didn't drain.
If the toilet is about to overflow you can stop it before waste and water run onto the floor, using the procedure at TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY - obviously you'll want to have looked at that procedure in advance.
Basically, just reach into the toilet tank and push the flapper valve shut so you stop sending water into the toilet bowl. But to be prepared, read the details at TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY.
Toilet Flushes Slowly or Backs Up - Clogged Toilet or Sewer Drain?
Is the sewer line or soil stack clogged? Our grandson, learning toilet training, flushed his peed-in underpants down the toilet. We have also found child's toys, and once, a dog's bone clogging the waste line just below the toilet.
If other building drains are working fine, but one toilet is flushing poorly, it is possible that there is a local blockage close to the toilet itself.
Brian found this drain clog by asking Chase what happened to the missing underpants. He then removed the toilet from the floor, and by luck, the underpants were able to be easily retrieved - unblocking the clogged toilet drain before a backup and toilet overflow catastrophe had occurred.
See Toilet Drain Clogged to continue with blocked or clogged toilet diagnosis and repair.
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Thanks to reader J.D. for discussing troubles getting a toilet to flush properly. The supposition that the toilet flushing problem was due to a defective toilet bowl, versus due to improper fill and flush control setup, was tested ad nauseam by this homeowner, her son, plumbers, and plumbing suppliers. 05/29/2010
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop. The Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
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