Toilet question/problem

[bobg03]

My apologies if this is the wrong forum, but there was no area specific to plumbing/toilets.

My house is 7 years old built by a reputable builder in 2015 (not a development built cookie cutter home) and I have 2 gerber toilets with plastic guts. I am in sunny SC all my plumbing is thru my concrete foundation and I am on city water and sewer. What I have noticed lately is one or both toilets run water as if they are filling the tanks for 30 seconds or so, It doesn't happen often but enough to be noticable. My wife wanted to bring in the water hunter so they could check lines, but I am thinking maybe it's leaking from the tank into the bowl and just topping itself off. Thoughts, opinions welcome..this is a concern that I have never encountered in any previous home and have no discernable plumbing skills.

 

[PoorUB]

You need th replace the flappers.

 

[mike93lx]

A leak in the wall/floor won't make the toilet run. I agree, it's the flappers.

 

[CoogarXR]

Could also be calcium/rust buildup on the flapper + seat. My toilets get that. Shut off the water, flush the water out of the tank and feel the flapper and flap-seat. If it feels gritty, clean the mating surfaces until they are smooth.

 

[four.cycle]

flapper.
follow the instructions of Coogar above: clean the crud off the sealing lip onto which the flapper rests.

 

[HalfTonTom]

Your house is haunted, and the ghosts are shitting. You need to call an exorcist.

 

[mike93lx]

If you want to check for water loss after you clean or replace the flapper, shut the water off to the toilet once the tank is full and make a pencil mark at the water line. Check back later in the day

 

[lolaetype]

Flush the toilet and wait for the tank to fill. Remove the tank's cover and put about 4-5 drops of red food coloring in the tank. Tell everyone in the house not to use that toilet. Go have a beer or two. Come back about an hour or two later. if there is reddish water in the bowl you have a leaking flapper. Easy to replace.

 

[The Cobbler]

I agree, it sure has symptoms of leaking flapper valve.
food colouring as mentioned above is a good test , also can turn off the water to it and see if it creeps down ( which it probably will)

 

[loganb]

The kits for replacing all guts in the tank cost 25 bucks or so at your big box or hardware store. Need to know the diameter of the drain, most are 2" but some newer or high flow are 3".

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Put some food colour in the tank and leave it alone. If you come back and the bowl has the colour within, replace the flapper. Our water bill was out of line or so I felt. Two out of three toilets got new flappers. Problem solved.

 

[Shiftless]

The kits for replacing all guts in the tank cost 25 bucks or so at your big box or hardware store. Need to know the diameter of the drain, most are 2" but some newer or high flow are 3".

Agreed
And since the OP said that the house was vintage 2015 I would expect that to be a 3 incher.

I had those exact symptoms with one of the toilets in my house and a new flush valve kit solved the problem.

 

[rlitman]

Could also be calcium/rust buildup on the flapper + seat. My toilets get that. Shut off the water, flush the water out of the tank and feel the flapper and flap-seat. If it feels gritty, clean the mating surfaces until they are smooth.

Yes, stuff can build up on the flapper seat. I'll run my finger around the flapper seat before replacing the flapper. Regardless, 7 years for a flapper is too much. The chlorine in the water causes the rubber to harden and deform over time. 5 years is a good life for a flapper.

 

[bobg03]

I ordered new flappers, the seals seemed clean, The flappers are junk, I'll wipe the seals good when the new ones arrive.

 

[rharman]

If you use those bleach tablets or cleaners in the tank.... STOP! They'll exacerbate the decay of the flappers big time.

The "Flush & Sparkle" is a good alternative. It goes inline with the bowl filler so the tank water stays plain tap water.

 

[mogandave]

Food color in the tank is an easy leak test.

 

[JRC3]

Also always check the water level. (Adjust the fill valve float) I like almost an inch below the overflow tube. What happen is when the level is at the very top of the overflow, surface tension can pull the water over and drop the level actuating the fill valve. I see it all the time, even corrected this at a customer's house last Friday when she described the problem in passing as I was leaving. But yeah, 9 out of 10 it is the flapper.

 

[bobg03]

Also always check the water level. (Adjust the fill valve float) I like almost an inch below the overflow tube. What happen is when the level is at the very top of the overflow, surface tension can pull the water over and drop the level actuating the fill valve. I see it all the time, even corrected this at a customer's house last Friday when she described the problem in passing as I was leaving. But yeah, 9 out of 10 it is the flapper.

Good catch, but I'm an inch below the top of the fill when it's full.

 

[jjrbus]

Your house is haunted, and the ghosts are shitting. You need to call an exorcist.

Don't try to get out of paying the exorcist or you will get reposessed!

 

[bobg03]

Don't try to get out of paying the exorcist or you will get reposessed!

Will they take my health, my money or my worldly belongings?

 

[Norcal]

Will they take my health, my money or my worldly belongings?

All of the above. J/K.

 

[gahrajmahal]

My Flapper valve thread (betcha didn’t think there could be one of those, did ya?)

Fixing Your Flapper Valve

Bad things come in threes they say, and that is how I recently replaced three (3) flapper valves on three different toilets. I am not a plumber and I know that most GJ members are familiar with the workings of a toilet, but I am going to try and explain this so a complete novice can attempt this...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Death Row Dave]

Dye test is a friend for this issue . To start with

 

[mogandave]

Will they take my health, my money or my worldly belongings?

So did you get the issue sorted?

 

[bobg03]

It's indeed the flappers, new ones should be here shortly and I will change them. This post was very helpful, thanks y'all.

 

[JRC3]

Try turning it off, then back on again.

 

[tdkkart]

Just tell SWMBO that her flapper is leaky and that it's just getting old.

See where that gets you........

 

[etherhuffer]

And newer flappers are "tuneable" with adjustable holes in them

 

[Sumboodie]

If you use those bleach tablets or cleaners in the tank.... STOP! They'll exacerbate the decay of the flappers big time.

The "Flush & Sparkle" is a good alternative. It goes inline with the bowl filler so the tank water stays plain tap water.

Been using them in 2 shitters for over 10 years.
No issues

 

[bobg03]

I hate chemicals in the bowl, we clean here. That's like buying snake oil from the ol' medicine man.

One fixed, I'll do the other after the weekend. That one doesn't run as frequent as the master bath did, been 3 hours and all's quiet.

 

[JRC3]

These are the way to auto clean. Only puts the cleaner in the bowl and rim where it's needed and not flushed down the drain. The other problem with tank tablets is as the tank fills, the bowl also fills with fresh water, so the chlorinated water put in the bowl from the tank on the flush gets diluted.



The Fluidmaster Flush-N-Sparkles has chlorine, blue and green septic cartridges.

I used to use the Kaboom before I moved to a septic.



You can clip or valve restrict the flow to tailor the dosage. They really do dose way more than needed and restricting makes the product last longer.

 

[rlitman]

These are the way to auto clean. Only puts the cleaner in the bowl and rim where it's needed and not flushed down the drain. The other problem with tank tablets is as the tank fills, the bowl also fills with fresh water, so the chlorinated water put in the bowl from the tank on the flush gets diluted.

The Fluidmaster Flush-N-Sparkles has chlorine, blue and green septic cartridges.

I used to use the Kaboom before I moved to a septic.



You can clip or valve restrict the flow to tailor the dosage. They really do dose way more than needed and restricting makes the product last longer.

I use the Kaboom one, and prefer it to the competition because you can use bromine spa tablets. Even though those are more expensive than chlorine tablets, they're way cheaper than proprietary refills, and the bromine leaves less of a chlorine smell in your bathroom.