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TOILET FLUSHING ISSUES AND FIXES

Toilet Not Flushing Every Time? Here’s an Easy Fix Why is Your Toilet Not Flushing?

Have you ever flushed your toilet in the morning and everything worked normally, as a toilet should, only to attempt the same task a couple of hours later and it not work? The handle jiggles, no water fills the bowl, and you’re left standing there confused as your toilet runs and runs and runs? It happens more often than you’d think, and there are a few different reasons this may be happening.

The Toilet Tank Flapper

If your toilet seemingly flushes fine once, continues to constantly run, and then won’t flush the next time you try, the first place to look is at your flapper. Toilet flappers are the mechanism in your toilet tank that controls water releasing into the bowl of your toilet. When you flush your toilet, they open to release water into the bowl. Then they close and seal over the opening, preventing the toilet from constantly running. Over time, they wear out or crack for a variety of reasons, such as mold or mildew, or the flapper rubbing against the side of the toilet over time.

When this happens, the seal on the opening isn’t secure anymore and water constantly runs into the bowl and doesn’t fill the tank. This causes the toilet to be unable to flush. Thankfully, replacing a worn-out flapper is a quick fix. You can purchase a new stopper at any hardware

Toilet Water Supply Line/Fill Valve

Another issue that may cause your toilet to have issues flushing is a clogged fill valve. The fill valve’s job is to fill the toilet tank up with water again after the flapper releases it into the bowl when you flush. Over time, the fill valve can get clogged by debris in your water (think: if you have hard water in your home). As the fill valve gets clogged, it becomes harder to fill the tank with water and it happens much more slowly. Fixing a clogged fill valve is something that you can take care of on your own, but you’ll need to watch some tutorial videos to help you. If you’re uncertain about tackling it on your own, it’s best to call a plumber to help you fix the issue.

Here are a couple of tutorials you can use to fix a clogged fill valve:

  • Flush Out the Toilet Fill Valve on a Slow Filling or Noisy Toilet
  • Toilet Fills too Slow- Quick and Easy Fix
  • How to Know if You Have a Bigger Problem

There are some issues with your toilet flushing that may be harder to take care of than an old flapper or clogged filler valve. For these issues, we recommend calling a plumber to fix them.

Water Pressure

For toilets to flush quickly and effectively, you need to have adequate water pressure in your toilet. If you’re noticing a particularly slow flush and have determined it’s not an issue with your filler valve or flapper, you may have a water pressure issue. Sometimes this problem can be solved within the tank and sometimes it’s an issue within your pipes that a plumber will need to take care of.

Incomplete/Slow Flush

An incomplete or slow flush of your toilet could be an issue with the flapper but, if you’ve already ruled that out, you may have a bigger problem on your hands. There could be a clog somewhere in the rim holes of the toilet, or even in the pipes. If the easy fixes aren’t going to work, you will need to call a plumber to take a look at things.

Toilet Backing Up

If your toilet is backing up, this can be a serious problem that needs to be taken care of by a plumber. There are a variety of reasons why your toilet is backing up that a professional will need to assess. A team like Best Plumbing can help you assess if the issue is a result of a blockage in the trap, drainpipe, or sewer line. Hopefully, the issue with your toilet can be solved by the easy fixes we provided. If you think it may be a more serious problem, we have over 30 years of experience in providing trustworthy toilet repairs. Reach out to our team and we’ll get your toilet flushing properly!

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