Toilet Repair

Trusted Local Toilet Repair Plumbers Near You

St Paul Pipeworks is an established and trusted name in Minneapolis and St Paul metro area, providing residents and businesses with professional plumbing services for decades. We are a locally owned & family-operated business specialized in plumbing repairs, installations & maintenance.

Most toilet repair calls generally fall into three areas:

Running Toilet

The most common problem that St Paul Pipeworks plumbers get called out to repair is that the homeowner’s toilet is “running,” meaning that they can hear the water in the toilet continuing to run past the normal refill cycle. To make that repair, St Paul Pipeworks plumbers typically replace most of the moving parts inside the toilet tank. Inside the tank, there is a shut-off device called a ballcock (or a fill valve), which is the mechanism that alerts when the tank is empty and allows it to refill with water.

In the flushing process, when the trip lever (flush handle) is pressed, that starts the process of emptying the water out of the tank. The water in the toilet tank goes into the bowl and pushes the contents of the bowl out into the sewer. For the tank to refill, two basic things need to happen: There must be a stopper, also called a flapper or a tank ball, over the hole in the bottom of the toilet tank to keep that water from running out while allowing the tank to refill. Some other less common stopper devices used by some toilet manufacturers are a flush tower or a tilt flush.

Experienced plumbers recognize the various versions of that stopper. When repairing the toilet, that flapper, the seal on the flush tower, or one of the other devices is replaced, and then the ballcock is replaced. Once the tank can fill back up with water, the ballcock turns off that refilling cycle. Occasionally, the trip lever that activates this process has malfunctioned, and either needs to be adjusted or replaced.

PLUGGED/CLOGGED TOILET

The second most common problem with toilets is that they plug up. When trying to flush, the water doesn’t have anywhere to go, and if the water fill is not stopped, the toilet will overflow onto the floor.

To prevent the water from overflowing, turn off the valve at the wall. Toilets have S-shaped or serpentine traps, and such things as a lot of toilet paper, human waste, or other objects like kid’s toys thrown into the toilet can plug up that trap. St Paul Pipeworks plumbers have a specialized tool used on plugged toilets. Usually, our plumbers can get the toilet unclogged quickly because they are experienced and set up for it.

If it is a larger foreign object that is lodged in the toilet, it can become a bigger problem because sometimes it isn’t easily removed from the toilet trap. The plumber will have to replace the toilet if the object cannot be flushed through or removed. A homeowner can always try to use a plunger before calling a plumber but should not use a conventional hand snake in a toilet because it will scratch and damage the porcelain.

Toilet Leak

The third problem with toilets is there can be a leak, which can come from several different places on the toilet. Here are four of the common places where St Paul Pipeworks plumbers find leaks:

  • Standing water on the bathroom floor coming from the joint where the toilet connects to the waste pipe. That pipe is hidden beneath the toilet. The homeowner needs to call a plumber to determine if that is the source of the leak.
  • Leaking water can also come from the connection between the toilet tank and the toilet bowl, where the bowl and the tank are bolted together with rubber seals.
  • Excess water can come from the fill valve opening or the trip lever opening if the water level in the tank is too high.
  • On rare occasions, there can be a crack in the toilet body’s porcelain that may leak water.

St Paul Pipeworks plumbers have the knowledge and experience to locate the source of the leak and make the proper repairs.

PRO TIP:
If you are trying to replace a trip level on your toilet, it has reverse threads, so it will not screw as the old axiom says, “right tight, left loose” it screws and unscrews in opposite directions.