Toilet Repair Guide:

How to diagnose and fix a toilet: this article series 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.

Here we explain how to diagnose and repair problems with toilets, leaks, flushes, odors, noises, running and wasted water.

Found here: How to diagnose & fix a slow-flushing toilet or a clogged toi8let drain. 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 & how to repair problems causing plumbing drain sounds. 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.

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.

List of Toilet Fill, Flush, Drain, Odor, Noise, Problems & Solutions

If your toilet is overflowing or about-to

see TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY

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" [image].

Early flush toilets like this 1890 model [image] 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.

We discuss onsite waste disposal systems - septic tanks, drainfields, separately

at SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECT DIAGNOSE REPAIR

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).

At the end of this page please see 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.

Warning about Taking off the Toilet Tank Top

Some of the simple toilet diagnosis and repair steps in our articles beginning at TOILETS, INSPECT, INSTALL, REPAIR 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.

Watch out: 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.

And if you break the toilet tank (cistern) lid and need a replacement, you'll need the four measurements:

described in detail

at TOILET CISTERN / TANK LID REPLACEMENTS 

Summary of Parts Found Inside the Toilet Flush Tank

Our sketch below shows the parts you'll see inside the toilet tank.

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 handle down or to one side will lift the flush lever - 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 handle down should pull up a chain connected to and thus lifting the flush valve or 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 or adjust the length of the chain or plastic strip if necessary.
    
    If the flush lever or flush handle is broken and needs replacement
    
    see TOILET FLUSH HANDLE LEVER REPLACEMENT

• The toilet tank flapper opened, water ran into the toilet bowl below, but the bowl didn't drain.
  
  The toilet drain is probably blocked.
  
  See CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
  
  and BLOCKED DRAIN REPAIR METHODS
  
  Watch Out: If the toilet is about to overflow  you can stop it before waste and water run onto the floor, using the procedure - 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 Chase Patrick Gilligan, 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 [image], 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.

1. See TOILET CLOG REPAIR, UN-BLOCK to diagnose and fix a blocked or clogged toilet
2. See TOILET FLUSHES POORLY to diagnose and fix slow-flushing toilets caused by inadequate water volume in the toilet bowl or in the toilet tank or cistern, or caused by a partly-blocked drain, defective vent.
3. For toilets (and urinals) that are operated by building water pressure alone and without a reservoir tank,
   
   see FLUSHOMETER VALVES for TOILETS URINALS.

Stains in Toilets

Why am I seeing pink or black algae in the toilet bowl?

My toilet bowls develop a pink and / or black algae (?) after only a week of non-use (or use, for that matter). Is there something I can safely add to the tank water (I have a septic system) to prevent this? Why does it happen? - Anon 6/7/12

Reply:

Anon, indeed I occasionally find both mold growth and algal growth in toilet bowls, usually when a toilet has been left un-used for a time (not flushed often enough to wash contaminants down the drain).

Try cleaning the toilet bowl thorougly with any toilet cleaning product. While you're at it, if your water is supplied from a private well or cistern, you might have your drinking water tested for contaminants as well.

Also check to be sure that the toilet is not running constantly like the one shown in our photo just above.

Disaster zone toilet guide - emergency toilet flushing procedure & alternatives - can I use lake water to flush toilets?

Post hurricane sandy question from one of our readers:

Can I use lake water to flush my toilets. We still have no power, heat or water in Stamford, Connecticut - S.D., Stamford CT 11/5/2012

Reply: Suggestions for emergency flush procedures for conventional toilets when heat, electricity, or water are not available

Here are some suggestions for & warnings about using lake water or other reasonably-clean water from other sources to flush toilets in an emergency. Details about various options for flushing toilets in a disaster zone or ways to come up with emergency toilets are

at DISASTER ZONE TOILET GUIDE

In short, yes. Rather than living with un-flushed toilets, you can use lake water, snow melt, rainwater collected at a downspout, etc. to flush conventional water type toilets (or urinals or bidets) in a building connected to a public sewer or private septic system.

Watch out: but be warned: if your septic system is itself flooded, tank and drainfields, then there is some risk of a sewage backupinto your building when you try flushing a toilet

. If you are pretty sure your septic tank and fields are at least not under water, or that the public sewer is no longer under water and flooded, you can test the private or public sewer system to see if you can begin flushing toilets:

1. Select water that is free of debris 
   
   and is clean as you can (it does not have to be sanitary, clear lake water would be fine) - don't use water loaded with weeds or other trash to flush a toilet as you risk clogging the drain system.
2. Test a lowest-floor sink or tub drainage first:
   
   try pouring a few gallons of clean lake water (no weeds etc) down a bath tub drain or sink drain on your lowest floor. If that drain doesn't back up and no water comes up in nearby drains (floor drains, sink, shower, tub), then
3. Test a toilet on the lowest floor next:
   
   try flushing the lowest toilet in the building - you can fill the toilet tank to the fill line and then flush, or (messier) you can try pouring some water directly into the toilet bowl until it begins to flush. We chose a toilet on lowest floor to avoid the unpleasant surprise of flushing an upper floor toilet only to see the sewage boil up out of a lower floor toilet in the building.

Watch out: if you flush via the toilet tank and flush valve and the toilet starts to back up or overflow, quickly

• Take off the toilet tank lid
  
  and carefully (not to break it) place it aside
• Manually push closed the toilet flush valve
  
  in the center bottom of the toilet tank to stop the flush
• See TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY for illustrated details of this emergency procedure to stop an overflowing toilet

Other emergency toilet options for use when your home or building have no power, water, etc. include some simple and easy expedient methods for holding feces, toilet paper, and if necessary, urine such as using a plastic bag lined bucket or just using a plastic bag alone.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Water rises to toilet bowl rim?

What does it mean if the water from the tank goes from the trap way and up towards the rim of the bowl? On 2021-03-02 by Anonymous

by (mod) - flooding toilet bowl means clogged drain

@Anonymous, probably the toilet drain is clogged and is draining so slowly that the flush water volume is flooding the toilet bowl.

The distance from the waste pipe connection to the wall for my toilet seems too small

My toilet wast line flange where I want to mount the toilet is not 10 inches but rather closer to 9 1/2 - I can't find a toilet to fit.

What can I do to fix this? - Jo.

by (mod) - toilet spacing from the wall: Standard 10" vs others

Jo

About toilet spacing from the wall

Since relocating the waste line itself would be a big job that's probably not necessary:

TOILET INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

notes that you're quite right that your toilet waste pipe is a bit close to the wall.

Standard toilet spacing is 12" from finished wall behind toilet to center of waste line - may vary by toilet model. Some toilet models require a 10-inch spacing and others may require a 14-inch spacing.

So I suspect your waste line was intended to meet the 10-inch space. (9 1/2 would be a bit odd).

My guess is that either the plumber or the carpenter made a mistake in locating either the toilet plumbing or the partition wall.

If you're just a bout 1/2" shy of fitting in a toilet you might do what I've done in those cases: remove the 1/2" thick drywall and baseboard trim at the floor and install thin wooden wall paneling instead, to try to fit a 10-inch toilet base.


Here are some

10-inch wall-spacing toilets

• American Standard Cadet 3 Right Height Round Front Flowise
  
• American Standard 270AB001.020 Cadet 3 Right Height
  
• KOHLER K-3851-0 Cimarron Comfort Height Two-Piece Round-Front
  
• Kohler K-3889-0 Highline Comfort Height
  
• Toto CST744SF.10No.01 Drake Two-Piece
  
• Toto CST412MF.10No.01 Aquia Dual Flush
  

by Jo

Thank You so much for your response. I will do some research on those models you listed and give info to the family and will see what they decide. Thanks again for your time and consideration.

 

Toilet fill valve is way too slow to refill the tank

My somany signature commode water flushing is become defective and properly not filling otherwise it will take more than 30 minutes to fill the tank On 2019-11-29 by Govindappa M

Reply by (mod) -

Usually an off with shelf standard toilet fill valve repair kit will work fine for you

Why does our toilet flush back up in the drain system?

(a) toilet flushes causing

(b) toilet to backup in the plumbing drain.

what would cause this? On 2019-11-27 by Craig

- by (mod) -

A blocked (clogged) drain or an improper or inadequate drain vent system causes the backup you describe.

 

Thank you to our readers for their generous comments

What a fantastic site educational and helpful! Thank-you very much! On 2016-07-27 by Jan

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Continue reading  at TOILET CLOG REPAIR, UN-BLOCK or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see TOILET REPAIR FAQs - questions and answers posted originally here

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• BLOCKED DRAIN REPAIR
• CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS
• PLUMBING LEAK DETECTION METHODS
• PLUMBING LEAK DETECTION & SHUTOFF DEVICES
• SEWER GAS ODORS
• TOILETS, INSPECT, INSTALL, REPAIR - home
• ALTERNATIVE & WATERLESS TOILETS
• FLUSHOMETER VALVES for TOILETS URINALS
• LEAKY TOILET SEAL REPAIR
• LOOSE TOILET REPAIRS
• LOW WATER USAGE / POWER FLUSH TOILETS
• TOILET DESIGN CHOICES
• TOILET CLEARANCE DISTANCES
• TOILET CLOG REPAIR, UN-BLOCK
• TOILETS, DON'T FLUSH LIST
• TOILET FLUSH OPERATION
• TOILET FLUSH HANDLE LEVER REPLACEMENT
• TOILET INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
• TOILETS, DON'T FLUSH LIST
• TOILET FLUSHES POORLY
• TOILET LEAK CATASTROPHES
• TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY
• TOILET PLUGS, SEWER BACKUP
• TOILET REPLACEMENT PROCEDURE
• TOILET RUNS CONTINUOUSLY
• TOILET SEAT / SEAT-LID REPLACEMENT & BOLT SPREADS
• TOILET TANK / CISTERN LID REPLACEMENTS
• TOILET TANK SWEATS
• TOILET WON'T FLUSH
• TOILET MANUFACTURERS & SOURCES
• TOILET TYPES, CONTROLS, PARTS - home

Suggested citation for this web page

TOILET REPAIR GUIDE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to TOILET INFORMATION

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