Two, if not three, of the toilets in my house are increasingly leaking and it’s driving me crazy. The flappers inside the tank aren’t properly fitting, they are always a bit off and cause the leaking. I’ve tried replacing them, but they always have the same issue. Is there any recourse for this? I don’t know why all of a sudden (say, about 3 months ago) this started happening. Perhaps I just finally noticed it, but I am hoping there is some sort of a solution.
Get yourself down to Home Depot and buy they whole flapper kit with the tube, flapper, and chain. Get the red flapper. Turn water off, drain the tank and replace the whole unit. Make sure the chain to the flapper has a little slack in it but still flushes correctly. You may want to replace the flapper seal that connects to the toilet. Search youtube as well. Easy cheap fix.
Guh, I was really hoping to not have to do this three times.
It always seems in my house when one starts leaking they all start leaking. Then when you turn the water off to the tank, the valve which hasn’t been closed in a few years begins to leak and you end up replacing the valve. The older valves that you turn a bunch of times, if they start leaking, just replace them with the newer type values that turn only 90 degrees.
Guh, I was really hoping to not have to do this three times.
I’ve had about 50/50 success changing just the flapper and if you’ve already tried it likely the flappers you’re getting are “Ever so slightly” different so that they don’t seat properly and leak. The “Sure thing” is to replace it all as suggested. That being said there are many things you can try including.
make the holes at the pivot point larger. This allows the flapper to move a bit and sometimes that allows it to seat.
Weight the flapper down ever so slightly. This is, IMO, a bigger PIA then replacing everything because those flappers float and then sink. To much weight and you have to hold the damn handle down for the whole flush.
make sure the chain is not too tight and not allowing the flapper to seat all the way.
Replace the flapper again. You might get lucky and get a better fit. Get it from another store and another brand other wise you’re going to get the same one.
Pull the flapper and make sure there is no build up on the flapper or the sealing surface. Lime build up will cause a leak. If there is you might be able to drain the tank and “Lime away” the build up and have it seal.
tridiot was looking for a single site solution (he must be a network admin). I could have suggested it takes a village to fix a toilet, but that would have really yanked your chain.
I’ll try them all out, and ultimately end up having to do the whole thing.
Well of course, you’ll spend hours and hours and hours trying to figure out how to save a few bucks and some time…it will fail. The toilet will continue to leak for months as you try different things. But you will feel good about yourself knowing you did everything you could as you trudge to the store and buy three new units and install them all in an a hour. How do you think I knew all those things to try
Scope creep is for sure a concern of mine too. Old house, it’s always something.
Ain’t that the truth. I had a light that wasn’t working that turned into a complete tear down to the studs in two rooms and a remodel of a kitchen. The worst, if you live in a real old house, is fixing cracks in old plaster walls…chip out a “V” and fill with plaster my ass.
Hey, why not send an email to Ask This Old House and get a visit with Richard? Then, we’ll redicule you on the LR when they get your wife to do the labor. If you’re not familiar w/ the show, they always get the wife to do the labor.
This can be a real bbbbeatch if you have older toilets as well. I refused to join the low flow craze and have 28 year old Kohler crappers that can flush the best turd I can throw at them. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find the right Kohler flappers b/c the toilet is extremely sensitive to that exact shape. So much so I have tried every other brand and generic that says it will work…almost, but not quite. I cleaned out Home Depot last time I found them and might be screwed next time they start to leak.
Typically when a new flapper doesn’t fix the problem it is because of scale and verges build up on the take sealing surface. A kitchen scrubber will normally fix that problem. Put a new flapper on it and you are good to go normally.
When that doesn’t fix it there are kits (at big box and small box stores) that replace the seat in the tank with a stick on “tar” sealed compound. All you do is clean the tank and stick it on. No dry time required. Good as new.
Lastly, are you sure it is the flapper that is leaking? The valve will also fail, the float can partially flood, etc, that will make the toilet run all the time but it is actually going down the overflow tube. The simplest way to figure that out is to pee in the toilet and not flush it. Come back in an hour and if the toilet is clear its the flapper, if the water is still yellow it is the valve.
Get the model # and go to a plumbing supply house. Most toilets work best with the OEM flappers and for some reason Kohlers almost only work with OEM parts. The universal parts sold at the big box stores aren’t; they are invitation to leaking. Either get the OEM flappers or replace the whole float/flapper mechanism.
