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Library guide

How to Fix a Running Toilet

A hissing toilet, or one that refills by itself, can waste a surprising amount of water. Most of the fixes are inside the tank and need nothing more than a towel and a few minutes.

  • Arrival window set on the first call.
  • You see the fault with your own eyes.
  • The cost is settled before tools come out.
  • Drop cloths down, floors left dry.
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Booking is by phone only. Tell us the fixture and the floor.

Hand on a red valve handle beside a supply pipe
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Why this matters in Brampton

Brampton homes are billed for water and wastewater by the Region of Peel, so every litre slipping past a worn flapper shows up on the bill twice. A silent leak is also easy to ignore for months. Most of the toilets we open in Brampton houses from the 1980s and 1990s still have their original fill valves, and the rubber parts in them harden with age.

Step by step

  1. Confirm the leak. Put some food dye in the tank and do not flush for twenty minutes. Colour showing in the bowl means the flapper is letting water through.
  2. Look at the water level. Take the lid off. If water is spilling over into the overflow tube, the fill valve is set too high or is not shutting off.
  3. Adjust the float. On a modern cup-style fill valve, pinch the clip or turn the adjustment screw to lower the float cup. On older ball floats, bend the arm down slightly. The water should stop about two centimetres below the top of the overflow.
  4. Check the chain. Too tight and it holds the flapper open; too loose and it snags under it. Leave a little slack, about one link.
  5. Replace the flapper. Close the stop valve behind the toilet, flush to empty the tank and unclip the old flapper from the overflow ears. Take it to the hardware store so you match the size, usually 2 or 3 inch.
  6. Replace the fill valve if it still runs. This means disconnecting the supply line under the tank and unscrewing the lock nut, so keep a bucket and towel handy.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Overtightening the plastic fill valve nut. Snug by hand plus a quarter turn is plenty, or the tank can crack.
  • Dropping tablets that bleach into the tank; they eat rubber flappers and seals faster.
  • Forcing a stop valve that will not turn. Old multi-turn valves often break or start leaking at the stem.

when to phone a plumber

Call us if the stop valve is seized, if the tank itself sweats or weeps at the bolts, if the toilet rocks on the floor, or if the flush is weak even with new parts. Those point to tank bolt gaskets, a failed wax ring or a partly blocked outlet. Our toilet repair visits cover all of it, and if the fixture is past saving we can fit a new one through toilet installation.

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