Why is My Toilet Leaking?

You’re sitting on your couch in the quiet living room, only to hear the sounds of a repeated water drip coming from your bathroom. Sound familiar? Or maybe you walked into your bathroom and were surprised when you stepped in a puddle of water at the base of your toilet. Clearly, in both situations you have a leak. A toilet leak is one of the most common water leaks to occur in a home.

Not every water leak is so simple to find, if you suspect a water leak follow these steps:

Once you’ve confirmed you have a water leak it’s time to figure out why it’s happening.

Top 7 Reasons Your Toilet May Be Leaking:

1. Fill valve- The fill valve is essentially a tube with a shutoff valve connected to the water supply through a connection at the bottom of the toilet tank. If the fill valve is the cause of the leak then you will need to replace the gasket and washer that keep the fill valve assembly watertight.
2. Corrosion- This can occur inside your pipes without you knowing until it’s too late. This can happen due to age and water impurities.
3. Worn bolts and washers- Look at your toilet, you’ll see two large bolts that keep the tank attached to the bowl along with a gasket. If the bolts or gasket fails you’ll see a leak.
4. Improper float- This is the plastic ball that floats in your toilet tank. It is the cause of a continuously running toilet, which can turn into an overflowing toilet.
5. Cracked tank- A crack inside your tank that is 1/16 inch wide or more needs to be replaced. Small cracks on the outside of the tank most likely can be fixed with epoxy.
6. Cracked bowl- This needs to be fixed immediately. Holding off to fix this problem can result in water damage to your home.
7. Feed line issues- The feed line is the tube that provides water to the toilet when you flush it. If this becomes loose or worn out a leak can occur.