Toilet Tank Repair

Tools on a toilet tank against a pink tiled wall
  • 1 hours
  • Intermediate
  • 0-150

Toilet tank repair is a lot simpler than it sounds. With some simple guidance, any homeowner can attempt it.

It is usually necessary to carry out some toilet tank repair if your toilet has a leak. Follow these steps for do-it-yourself success.

Step 1 - Detective work

The first step in toilet tank repair is to identify the exact nature of the problem. Open the lid of the toilet tank and observe a full flush. Can you see any mechanisms catching on each other or the side of the tank?

Step 2 - Fine tune

making an adjustment inside a toilet tank

If you can clearly see any problems, the next step in toilet tank repair is to fine tune the length of the lever chain and check that the ball cock is not waterlogged. You can do this by lifting the ball cock out of the tank and shaking it. If the ball cock is full of water, empty it and replace it if possible.

Step 3 - Replace components

If the leak persists, further detective work is necessary before you can carry out any more toilet tank repair:

Close down the water supply to the leaking toilet and mark the water level inside the tank. Then leave it for around twenty minutes and make a note of whether the level has gone up or down.

If the water level has gone down the flush valve has broken. These are often called “toilet flappers” and are mostly made of rubber. Therefore, they often perish due to the use of bleach and other “in tank” cleaning chemicals. The toilet tank repair should be complete when you replace the toilet flapper.

If the water level has not gone down but the leaking toilet is still a problem, the refill valve must be defective. Assuming that you have already checked the buoyancy of the float (“ball cock”) during the first stage of the toilet tank repair, it will need to be replaced.

Before you buy any replacement parts or embark on any other invasive type of toilet tank repair, check that the items you are purchasing are appropriate for the make and model of your toilet tank. The easiest way to do this is to take the old part with you to the store, but often these details are stamped on the inside of the toilet tank itself.