Three 20-Minute DIY Toilet Repairs for Homeowners
If you’ve ever dealt with a malfunctioning toilet, then you know well that toilet repairs is one of the most useful DIY plumbing skills there is!
From small, irritating issues like constantly running water and worn, cracked hinges, to larger (smellier) problems like incomplete flushes, nothing ruins a day quite like a malfunctioning toilet.
Fortunately, Danco makes toilet repairs simple, with a long line of easily-installed toilet-repair parts. Here are three simple toilet-repair solutions you can perform on your own in less than 30 minutes.
Stop the Running Water in Your Toilet
If your toilet runs water for long periods of time after flushing, you’re most likely dealing with a faulty, leaky flapper or a worn-out fill valve. These parts can easily degrade, and cause a variety of toilet-related plumbing issues.
Excessive running water might also be due to an improperly sized fill valve. Older toilets were often installed using fill valves meant for larger bowls, leading you to overfill your toilet with every flush.
Your best bet when dealing with excessive running water in your toilet?
Replace your flapper and valve set-up for a Danco Water-Saving Toilet Total Repair Kit. With this kit, you’ll never have to jiggle tangled chains ever again! It is easily installed and converts your toilet to a dual-flush valve.
With this valve, you have the option of using a quick flush option (all that’s needed 80% of the time), which will save you water and money.
Replacing the Toilet Handle
If your toilet is not flushing properly, fully, or at all, you might be dealing with a worn-out or broken handle. The toilet handle begins the entire flushing process – without a working handle, your toilet will be next to useless!
Thankfully, toilet handles are inexpensive and easy to replace.
To replace a toilet handle, the only tool you’ll need is a wrench. Start by shutting off the water supply to the toilet. Remove the cover from the water tank, and pull the chain to drain the tank of water. Detach the chain from the old handle, then remove the handle by loosening its nut with the wrench.
Install your shiny, new handle, reattach the chain (or attach to Danco’s Toilet Total Repair Kit!), and replace the water tank cover. And that’s it! You are now officially a DIY plumber.
Replacing the Toilet Bumpers/Hinges
Other toilet parts that often degrade over time are the toilet seat hinges and bumpers. While these parts don’t affect a toilet’s ability to flush, they can lead to permanent toilet damage if left unfixed, and cracked hinges and missing toilet seat bumpers are not a pretty sight.
Of course, constantly fiddling with a halfway-detached toilet seat, or one that slides around when you sit on it, can also be extremely irritating!
Avoid these issues by replacing your old, worn-out bumpers and seat hinges with new parts from Danco.
Replacing bumpers is as easy as lifting the toilet seat, using a screwdriver to pop-out or unscrew the old bumpers, cleaning the area, and snapping/screwing in the new ones.
Replacing toilet hinges is just as easy. First, lift the toilet seat lid and remove the screws attaching the hinges to the lid. Remove the protective caps over the hinges, loosen the hinge-nuts with your hand or a small wrench, then remove the old hinges. Then, work backwards to install the new hinges!
Just make sure to use hinges that are similar in size to your old ones, so you can be sure they will fit your toilet.