Does your toilet keep running? Creepy gurgling noise arising from your toilet bowl? From water leaks to odd noises, toilets can do all sorts of frustrating things.

Fortunately, with a little troubleshooting, there are lots of toilet issues you can solve on your own. Here, the professionals at Fletcher Plumbing, Heating & AC will go over some of the most frequent toilet problems, what they mean and whether it’s a situation you can fix yourself—or, if it is better to call in an expert.

1. Why Is My Toilet Running?

If your toilet keeps running all the time, it is an issue you should repair because it's in all probability also costing you money on your water bill.

A typical culprit that causes a running toilet is something wrong with the overflow tube. Located in the tank in the back of your toilet, an overflow tube directs excess water from the tank into your toilet bowl so the water level in your tank doesn't get too high and overflow the top of the tank. At times, the trouble is that the plastic tube connecting your fill valve to your overflow tube is detached. If that’s the case, you can reach into the tank and reattach them. It also could be your toilet is running simply because the overflow tube is isn't tall enough for the water level and needs to be replaced by one that is the appropriate height.

Another reason for a toilet to run could be the flapper--which functions as a plug in the bottom of your tank—has malfunctioned and no longer forms the tight seal needed to hold water in the tank. Not having a good seal allows water to flow out the bottom of your tank into your toilet bowl.

Sometimes a running toilet is caused by something awry with your toilet float, which is a floating device that maintains the water level in your tank. It achieves this by shutting off your fill valve when the water level raises the float to the appropriate height. If your float is set too high, this lets the water level to rise too high, and the excess water will flow into your overflow tube and down into your toilet bowl.

2. Why Does My Toilet Make a Gurgling Sound?

A gurgling toilet is commonly caused by a partial obstruction in your toilet, drain lines, mainline or a blockage in your sewage vent. If the reason for the noise is a clog in your toilet, you can try fixing this by using a plunger or drain snake to remove the clog. If this does not have any effect, you can examine where your sewage vent exits your home to confirm it is not blocked by debris that would block air flow.

If you've done these two trouble shooting tasks and the toilet is still gurgling or bubbling, you will probably want to contact a professional such an expert from Fletcher Plumbing, Heating & AC to evaluate the problem. As the trusted plumber in Smyrna, Fletcher Plumbing, Heating & AC will investigate whether the noise is caused by a blockage in one of the drain lines transporting toilet water out of your home or the mainline that takes waste water away from your home to the municipal water system.

4. Why Is It Hard to Flush My Toilet?

If your toilet is hard to flush, it's likely the problem is with the chain, flapper or the handle. That’s because there’s a chain within a toilet tank that is attached to the back side of the handle. The other end of the chain is linked to the flapper, which functions as a plug in the bottom of your toilet tank.

The easiest way to figure out why your toilet is challenging to flush is to lift up the lid, peer inside the tank and investigate.

Here’s how the process ought to work when you flush a toilet: you push down the handle, which pulls up the chain, then the chain pulls the flapper up and that enables the water to flow out of your tank and into your toilet bowl.

Sometimes a toilet won’t flush because the chain is caught on something inside the tank, which stops the chain from pulling up the flapper to let out the water. Or, the chain is too long or gets disconnected from either the handle or the flapper. If this happens, release the caught chain or reach in and change it to the appropriate length.

Sometimes flappers can get stuck as they get older or become worn out. There also may be something amiss with the handle.

5. Why Is My Toilet Leaking?

A dripping toilet can be a costly problem, potentially causing water damage in and around your bathroom. Often, a leaky toilet is due to a cracked supply line or a crack in the toilet tank. If your toilet tank is overflowing, it is often because there is a failure in the toilet float.

Cracked gaskets around the connections on the underside of the tank also can permit water to leak out of the toilet, as can a weakened toilet flange or wax ring at the base of the toilet where it sits on the floor. Often, these issues are best fixed by a certified plumber. 

6. Why Is There No Water in My Toilet?

A toilet that won't fill with water frequently indicates a problem with the fill valve, which is what fills your toilet tank with water. If the tube has failed or is blocked by rust, sediment or mineral buildup, it potentially could not be allowing water into the tank.

Another likely cause for your toilet not filling with water is something wrong with the float, which is a device that prompts the fill valve to stop bringing water into the tank when the water has risen to the correct level. The fill valve does this when the water level lifts the float to a predetermined height. It could be that the float/float assembly needs adjustment so that the water is allowed to reach the correct level. Or, solving the problem of a toilet not filling with water might require adjusting or exchanging the fill valve.