A few months ago our downstairs toilet started leaking. We bought a new flapper and fixed the problem. A couple weeks ago our master bedroom toilet started leaking. The noise kept Peter up most of the night. His quick fix was to turn the water off until he could get a new flapper. Last weekend we bought a new flapper and he fixed the toilet. Shortly thereafter he told me the flapper wasn't the problem and the toilet still was leaking so he turned the water off. About five minutes after that I hear running water upstairs. Yes the spare/guest room toilet was leaking now. Now what are the chances of having three toilets fall apart in the same time frame? Upon further investigation the spare room toilet had a kinked chain or something so that was an easy fix. However the master bathroom toilet is still a nuisance. A second trip to Home Depot and we came home with a flush valve shank washer. Peter insisted that this must be the problem. I suggested we buy one of the complete toilet innards in a box type of thing and then if one thing didn't work we could replace it until we found the problem and stop making trips to Home Depot. Yes I'd rather have too much than too little, after all we do have three toilets, the parts will come in handy some day. Well Peter was convinced that the washer was what we needed so we bought that and headed home.
This morning he decided to fix the toilet. He reads the directions on the back of the box:
1-Turn off water supply to toilet and drain tank. Check!
Remove tank from bowl. "Uh how do I do that?" Me-"Well there's screws at the bottom, probably unscrew those and it'll come off."...remove tank from bowl. Check!
2-Remove flush valve, clean tank bottom where shank washer seats. "What's a flush valve?" Me-"I don't know." He consulted the Internet and it said the flush valve is the same as the flapper (The people at Home Depot later said this was not true.).
So he cleaned everything he could. Check!
3-Replace worn shank washer with new, place tapered edge down. "I can't figure out how to get the washer off."...he disappears for awhile and then I hear water running. Mind you the part is still sitting next to me as I'm typing down the instructions. He comes downstairs and tells me he put the toilet back together and turned the water on. No more leaks...well for the first few minutes at least. He's heading back to Home Depot...not sure what he'll come home with, but if it was me I'd buy the complete set...but given I'm not heading to Home Depot for the third time, I'll fill you all in as to what he comes home with.
"There's this tube that goes through the middle of the tank, there's a big old gasket that sits on the tube and does miraculous things to keep water out." -Peter, toilet repair guru.
"We'll call ours Moses when we get it to work, a Moses gasket."
Story from Home Depot: Peter's goal as he goes to Home Depot is to look perplexed and let them spill their guts. The only problem is if you run into more than one employee you'll get different advice which compounds the problem. Guy #1 said the only problems you could possibly have is the flapper or the floating filler mechanism. Guy #2 said, "You have an angled flapper old toilets have those, you need this special flapper to fit your toilet." Mind you there were like 10 different flappers there. Now Peter's thinking, gee the last flapper I used worked and all the toilets in my house are the same.
Well he returned from Home Depot and got another flapper and washer but this time he got one that had some kind of sealant in a tube. He also got the complete toilet repair kit to use just in case his idea doesn't work. He put the toilet together and announced that it wasn't leaking. Then we headed out the door to a Christmas party. When we returned this evening, much to our dismay the dang toilet was leaking again! ARG!!!! The water is off again and perhaps we'll try again tomorrow morning. After all we have a complete repair kit now :) We're bound to find the problem.
5 comments:
I can't wait to hear how this goes. Good luck on your quest. At BYU we had a toilet that would flush randomly. We decided that there was a 7th room mate living under one of the beds that we couldn't see.
I say you just buy a new toilet. It's easier in the end.
How funny! I agree with Fred - just buy a new toilet.
Our last toilet adventure involved a small toy that was flushed. The best part about that was the first flushings to find out that it was blocked. And then the numerous after-flushings by people who ignored the sign that said "Don't Use Me!" Good luck!
I hope your trick finally worked after a few more rounds of trying. Although, I think it would save you more time and money if you’ll just leave the job to the professionals. Not that I’m against taking the DIY route, but sometimes it’s better to have things fixed by people who are capable of doing it, rather than face the disastrous result of failed self-repair attempts. Take care!
Martha Ward @ Son-Rise Plumbing
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