Toilet Repair & Installation in San Jose, CA
A toilet that refills by itself in the night is losing water from the tank into the bowl, and it is nearly always one of two inexpensive parts. Take the lid off and put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, then leave it twenty minutes without flushing. If color appears in the bowl, the flapper is not sealing. If the color stays put but it still runs, the fill valve is letting water past into the overflow tube. Both replace easily and both are worth doing promptly, because an intermittently running toilet wastes a genuinely surprising amount of water.
A toilet that rocks, or weeps at the base, is a different and more serious matter. That usually means the wax seal underneath has failed, and sometimes the flange it sits on has corroded or cracked. By the time anyone notices, water has typically been going into the subfloor for a while. Do not wait on this one.
Weak or incomplete flushing is usually mineral build-up in the rim jets rather than anything mechanical, and our water is the cause. Blocked jets are cleanable. We will also tell you when an old low-performing toilet is costing you more in repeat call-outs than a replacement would.
When people call us about this
- Refills on its own between uses, or runs at night
- Rocks when you sit on it, or weeps at the base
- Weak flush that no longer clears the bowl
- Water on the floor around the base
- Handle needs holding down, or has to be jiggled
Questions we get asked
Why does my toilet run intermittently?+
Because a small amount of water is escaping from the tank into the bowl, dropping the level, and triggering the fill valve to top it up. The usual culprit is the rubber flapper at the bottom of the tank, which wears out with age and with our water until it no longer seats cleanly. The food coloring test settles it in twenty minutes: dye in the tank, no flushing, and if color reaches the bowl the flapper has failed. If the color stays in the tank and it still runs, the fill valve is overfilling past the overflow tube instead. Both parts are inexpensive and quick to swap.
My toilet rocks slightly. Does that matter?+
Yes, and it is worth dealing with sooner rather than later. Movement breaks the seal between the toilet and the flange it sits on, and once that seal is broken a small amount of water escapes onto the subfloor with every flush. You often see nothing at all for months while the damage accumulates underneath. Sometimes the fix is genuinely simple: shims and properly tightened closet bolts. Sometimes the flange itself has corroded or cracked and needs repair before the toilet goes back down. We will tell you which after lifting it, and that is the only way to know.
Repair or replace an old toilet?+
Repair, in most cases. Flappers, fill valves, flush valves, handles and seals are all inexpensive and a sound porcelain body outlasts many sets of internals. Where replacement starts making sense is a cracked tank or bowl, which cannot be repaired; a very old low-performing unit that needs two flushes to do the job, since you are paying for that in water every day; or a toilet that has needed our attention several times in a short span. A hairline crack in porcelain is not a repair and we will not pretend otherwise.
Further reading: The Toilet That Runs at Night, and Three Other Things You Can Fix Yourself.
Describe it to us and we will tell you what it is.
Phone consultations do not cost anything. If it turns out to be something you can sort out yourself, we will say so.
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Toilet Repair & Installation across the South Bay
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