Fixing a Running Toilet Yourself

Nine times in ten, a running toilet wants a fresh flapper or a float tweak.

A toilet that never stops refilling burns through litres without a sound. Usual suspects: a seal that no longer seats, a lift chain pulled taut or kinked, and a float set high enough that water trickles down the overflow pipe.

Close the stop behind the toilet and flush once to drain the tank. Inspect the rubber seal for warping or crust. Give the lift chain a touch of slack, roughly one link. Lower the float until the water settles a finger-width under the overflow rim. A fill valve that keeps hissing is worn out; swap it.

Since replacement seals are sized to the flush valve opening, carry the worn one to the hardware counter.

1. Take off the tank cover and watch one full flush
2. Check the chain length
3. Drop the float a notch if water reaches the overflow pipe
4. Replace a warped flapper
5. Replace the fill valve if it hisses

• Replacement flapper
• Adjustable wrench
• Sponge

1. 01

   Lift the tank lid and look at the water level

2. 02

   If the water flows into the overflow tube, lower the float

3. 03

   If the flapper is warped, replace it

4. 04

   Set the flapper chain with about a half inch of slack

5. 05

   Flush and listen for the tank to stop filling

A tank that never stops filling sends water to the sewer around the clock. Usually a flapper or float setting cures it.

Whitby Plumbing, from the job

• The flush valve is cracked
• The toilet keeps running after a new flapper
• Water leaks at the base

Ring the desk if the toilet still runs after these steps or the shut-off is stuck.

• Drain Cleaning HomesBook

• Basement Flood Prevention for WhitbyRead
• How to Flush a Tank Water HeaterRead
• Preventing Frozen Pipes in a Whitby winterRead