What You Can Do When Your Toilet Leaks

8/31/2018 (Permalink)

If you are like most people, you probably worry about keeping your bathrooms clean and as sanitary as possible. You may even purchase special in-bowl-chemicals for toilets, cleaners for counters, and sprays for mirrors. So, when a pool of water appears at the base of your toilet, it is reasonable to be concerned about the source of the water and the consequences of the pooling liquid. The problem may be a leaking toilet, a broken tank, or a damaged supply line.

What Can You Do?

Depending on the size of the water puddle, there are several ways you can address the situation.

• Try fixing the bathroom leak on your own.
• Call an experienced team of water damage professionals to assess the situation and restore the property.
• Call friends and ask them to come help repair your bathroom.

No matter which of the above repair methods you choose, the first step to take is to make the area safe by removing the puddling water around the leaking toilet.

How Can You Find the Problem?

If you are a DYI type of individual the next step in fixing your bathroom water problem is locating the leak. The toilet may have a crack, so check the sides of the bowl below the seat for flaws in the ceramic material. You may also want to examine the tank to see if it is leaking between the toilet base unit and the upper tank unit. The water could also be leaking near the floor around the wax ring inside the toilet base. Another possible scenario is a leak from the supply lines at the back of the toilet.

What Do You Do Next?

No matter which type of leak you find, the next step is to turn the water supply line off at the wall to prevent additional water damage. The valve is usually located behind the toilet. From there, the choice of what to do about the leaking toilet is all yours because the repair can differ greatly depending on what is causing the toilet leak. SERVPRO of Los Gatos/Monte Sereno is here to help 408-371-4001