How to Prevent an Unexpected Toilet Repair
If you’re like most Denver homeowners, there’s a good chance that you haven’t given much thought to the toilets in your home in quite some time. While it’s usually okay to overlook your toilets, they do need some attention from time to time. Giving them a little attention now can help to prevent emergency toilet repairs down the road. To understand how to properly care for your toilets in every situation, check out this easy-to-use guide from your friends at High 5 Plumbing.
Don’t Overfill
One easy way to prevent emergency toilet repairs is to be careful when using the bathroom. If you need to wipe, make sure you don’t put too much toilet paper in the toilet. Doing this can clog the drain. If a clog is already beginning to form, you may not be able to easily remove the excess toilet paper, potentially resulting in a massive mess. If you need to use extra toilet paper, flush more than once to limit the load going down the drain each time. Although this process uses a little more water, it certainly beats having a completely avoidable plumbing emergency.
Be Mindful of What You Flush
Speaking of toilet flushing, High 5 Plumbing urges you to be mindful of what you flush at all times. If it didn’t come out of your body or it’s not toilet paper, it shouldn’t go in your toilet. Feminine hygiene products, facial tissues, diabetic supplies, toilet paper wrappers, grease, or anything else that people try to dispose of in a toilet can all cause serious problems if they go down the drain the wrong way. Even if you get away with disposing of these products in your toilet a few times, that doesn’t mean the next time won’t be the time that causes a plumbing emergency.
Watch for Proper Seating
Another problem that involves the toilet’s drain relates to the proper seating of the toilet on its anchor bolts and wax ring. The wax ring is the device that seals the bottom of the toilet to the top of the drain. The anchor bolts are positioned on either side of the toilet’s base to secure it to the floor. If your toilet is loose on its bolts, it will move back and forth when you’re sitting on it. This movement could cause it to come loose from its wax ring, resulting in wastewater leaking from underneath the toilet. Even if the anchor bolts are installed properly, the wax ring may not be seated correctly, raising the toilet too high and resulting in a significant risk of seal failure.
Replace Components Carefully
If you remove the lid of most toilet water tanks, the inner components look fairly simple. For the most part, this initial impression is correct. As long as you take your time to buy and install the proper components, a typical toilet is easily repairable by the average do-it-yourselfer. The problem is that many novice plumbers don’t take their time to do the job correctly. For example, if you install a new fill valve on your toilet but don’t attach it to the tank correctly, the tank will immediately start to leak as soon as you turn the water back on. If you have an older toilet and try to reuse some of the nuts or gaskets when completing a repair, you may end up with water leaks because the worn nuts or gaskets are likely to break. When you’re facing a toilet repair and don’t know exactly what you’re doing, your best bet is to call High 5 Plumbing for assistance.
Take Porcelain Cracks Seriously
A crack in the porcelain can be a death sentence for your toilet. Unfortunately, if the crack penetrates through the bowl, it could also spell the end for your bathroom floor and surrounding finishes. That’s why you need to take any cracks in your toilet’s porcelain seriously. Even a small hairline crack can quickly expand because of the varying temperatures that your toilet experiences. If you catch a crack early enough, you may be able to fix it if it’s in a non-critical location. For the most peace of mind, High 5 Plumbing typically recommends replacing your toilet when any type of crack develops. To avoid cracks, always lower your toilet seat carefully and ensure that the toilet is level on the floor.
Avoid Harsh Drain Cleaners
If your toilet’s drain becomes clogged, your natural inclination might be to use a chemical drain cleaner to eliminate the clog. Unfortunately, liquid drain cleaners may result in a plumbing emergency instead of a plumbing victory. That’s because liquid drain cleaners contain harsh, corrosive chemicals that can quickly and significantly damage your toilet and drain. Rather than a clear drain, you might find that you still have a clog and multiple drain leaks caused by the chemical cleaner eating through the drain walls. To clear your toilet’s drain, try using a plunger or a toilet auger instead. Both of these devices are specifically designed to break up the clog and push it through the drain without causing any damage to your toilet.
Observe for Changes
If you’re like most homeowners, your family uses your toilet multiple times a day. Although you probably don’t usually pay much attention to the toilet when it’s draining and filling, your mind undoubtedly knows how your toilet sounds when it’s operating normally. If you ever finish in the bathroom and notice that the toilet sounds different than usual, it’s a good idea to give High 5 Plumbing a call. Strange noises could be a sign of a drain clog, water leak, malfunctioning fill valve, or worn-out flapper. Since it can sometimes be tricky to identify the source of the unusual sounds coming from your toilet, it’s a good idea to get a professional involved early in the process.
Check the Shut-Off Valve
Dealing with a clogged toilet drain can be a stressful experience. The first step you need to take when your toilet’s drain is clogged is to turn off the water supply to the toilet as quickly as possible. To do this, you must know where the shut-off valve is located so that you can access it quickly. Otherwise, your toilet may try to continue filling the bowl, resulting in a wet, disgusting mess in your bathroom and elsewhere in your home. High 5 Plumbing also encourages you to occasionally check the valve to ensure it hasn’t rusted in the “open” position. If this has happened, you’ll need to call a plumber to install a new valve.
Your Toilet Repair Experts
At High 5 Plumbing, we can help make sure that every experience in the bathroom is a pleasant one. We offer toilet repair and replacement, drain and sewer services, water heater installation, plumbing repair, and many other plumbing services to ensure your home’s plumbing system works as it should. For over 10 years, we’ve exceeded our customers’ expectations with a steadfast commitment to knowledgeable service and competitive prices. That’s why we continually receive five-star customer reviews. To learn more about taking care of your toilet, contact High 5 Plumbing today.
