How to Fix a Running Toilet

Is your toilet running?

You better catch it!

Before you groan at my lame joke, what if I told you that a running toilet could cost you hundreds of dollars and waste thousands of gallons of water if you don’t fix it quickly?

Besides slowly driving you mad with the constant flushing sound, a running toilet can waste as much as a gallon of water every minute — or 1,440 gallons a day. Now, go take a look at your water bill and do the math!

Ouch!

If you let a toilet run for weeks before fixing it, you could be looking at a water bill that is hundreds of dollars higher than typical.

If your toilet is running — constantly filling with water — the most likely culprit is the flapper

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This little rubber contraption that costs between $5-$10 at your hardware store. And you can replace it in less than five minutes. No need to call a plumber and pay the $100-for-just-showing-up fee because I’m going to show you how to fix a running toilet. So easy! So quick! No actual DIY skills required.

The pictures you are about to see aren’t pretty, but with the money you save with this DIY repair, you can go buy yourself some nice decor!

Let’s look into our powder room toilet. See that blue thingy at the bottom of the bowl. That’s the flapped-out flapper. Let’s replace it.

1. Turn off the flow of water to the toilet and remove the top of the tank.
2. Flush the toilet, emptying the tank.
3. Remove the old flapper and discard.
4. Hook the loops on the sides of the flapper to the pipe in the tank.
5. Hook the chain to the little bar connected to the flushing handle. You may have to experiment and adjust a little; you don’t want the chain to be too slack.
6. Turn the water back on. Let the tank fill up and give it a test flush.

Now pat yourself on the back and give yourself an Atta Girl or an Atta Boy!

If you liked this tip on how to fix a running toilet, be sure to check out my post on how to remove odors from furniture.

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