Finer Points on DIY Pittsburgh Toilet Repair
Just What Are the Signs Your Toilet is in Need of Repair
Toilets have several moving parts, with some having more than others. Water is for sure the main operational component, and it also moves. It’s no secret that when you contain and direct water around, there’s always the chance that it’s going to leak out somewhere.
In fact, leaking water is one of the primary indicators that your toilet is in need of repair, if that’s what’s happening. The toilet water not doing what it’s supposed to do, or doing what it’s not supposed to do? So does this mean that it’s time to go online to browse through listings of plumbers in Pittsburgh PA?
Or take the direct route By dialing 412-681-9525 to call on Kwiatowski Plumbing to the rescue.
Or what about saving a few bucks by rolling up your sleeves and fixing it yourself? After all, you’ve been using the toilet your whole life, so by now, you should have some level of familiarity with how it functions. While it’s for sure no glamour job, if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you just might be able to do it yourself.
So keep on reading to help you decide if all it is that your toilet needs is a minor tune-up that you can do. Or if what you’re facing is a major repair job, all the way up to complete replacement, where there’s a chance that you might not be able to DIY and achieve reliable results.
That Annoying Steady Leak into the Bowl
If you haven’t seen it already, then you haven’t been potty trained for a very long time. It’s that steady drizzle from the tank into the toilet bowl, and no matter how many times you wiggle the handle or flush it, still, there it is.
This is for sure the most common sign that a toilet is in need of repair, and it’s also the easiest to fix. So step one is to remove the lid on the tank on the back of the toilet and take a good look inside, down at the bottom.
No worries either because the water in the toilet tank is as fresh and clean as water that comes out of your kitchen faucet.
You may need a flashlight to look down to the bottom of the tank to see the rubber flapper valve.
It releases the water when your toilet is flushed. Simply remove that flapper. It pulls right off, and once you do that and get a look good look at it, you’ll see how a new one easily snaps right back on. It’s made of rubber, so there’s no chance of breaking it.
Next, take that rubber flapper with you down to one of the two dominant players in the big box hardware business and pick up a new one for about $10.
That’s certainly less than hiring one of the many Pittsburgh plumbers to come and do the job. Make sure to reach around behind the toilet and turn off the water valve, too, so you don’t have a constant water flow while you’re gone.
On to More Serious Pittsburgh Toilet Repair Work
If your problem was an annoying, steady leak from the tank into the toilet bowl, then most likely, replacing the flapper did the trick.
But moving further down on your toilet, if your problem is water leaking from the bottom where it’s attached to the floor, that’s more serious.
You might even be able to hold on to your toilet, and with a bit of effort, rock it back and forth to see that it’s not solidly connected to the floor.
That means that the wax seal has been compromised.
There is a circular wax gasket that’s the size and shape of a large donut, and in fact, the vernacular among plumbers in Pittsburgh has it referred to as a wax donut.
What makes this replacement job more difficult is the toilet has to be removed and set aside upside down to scrape off the old wax and replace it with a new wax donut.
Or you might want to opt for one of the newer, more expensive rubber sealing devices that are available at the hardware store. Either way, replacing the seal on the bottom of a toilet, because of the weight of the toilet itself is a tough job.
Then fussing with the existing filthy wax seal is such a downright horrible task that you may want to opt for completely replacing the old toilet at this point.
Toilets are surprisingly affordable now, and if you qualify, both of the big box hardware stores offer a 15% veteran’s discount.
Is it Time to Call in a Professional?
So you may be up in the air by now. Caught between the decision to replace or repair. What you may not know is that in due course, that decision might be made for you after removing your toilet, flipping it over, and getting a look at the underside.
Then if you’re leaning towards buying a new toilet, there is the problem of disposing of the old one because your garbage collection service won’t pick it up, so don’t bother setting it on the curb.
So it has to be somehow wrestled into the trunk of your car, keeping in mind that there is the chance of transferring some of the old cruddy brown wax along with the other “brown stuff” into or onto your vehicle.
The folks at Kwiatowski Plumbing told us that it’s not uncommon to arrive on the scene of a call to remove and reseal or replace a toilet to find that the homeowner made it as far as removing it. They got a good look and “a smell” of what was wafting up from the open sewer drain pipe and decided to bail out.
Horrible Stuff to Muck Around With
Another thing to keep in mind if you plan on mucking around underneath an old leaking toilet is that you will be coming into contact with some very nasty germs.
Sewer germs that lurk in toilet drain pipes are nothing to scoff at, so any money that you might save by removing and hefting your toilet around could end up going right down the drain in the form of a hospital stay due to a nasty staff infection.