Friday, November 6, 2009

How to fix a leaking dual fllush toilet

I felt betrayed when our new Rona dual flush water efficient toilet started to leak after only 10 months. Every time we flushed it, water poured out from behind the toilet lid, but it didn't leak any other time. These new efficient toilets don't have a flapper, which is so easy to replace. Did the whole guts of the toilet need replacing? Where was the receipt? ARGH! With no time, we turned off the water supply and quit using the toilet, pretending that the problem did not exist.

When I finally found a few minutes to Google the problem, it was looking like I'd blown a gasket - literally! With no big plans on a Friday night, we drained the tank and took it off the bowl. Within an instant, we could see the problem. Check out that gasket and you too can see why the toilet was leaking between the tank and bowl.

We ran over to our local Home Hardware, but they didn't have the correct gasket, so a long drive in rush hour traffic to Rona and $3.49 later, we had a new gasket, and now we have a functioning toilet on the 2nd floor again. Hooray. Life is beautiful. Again.

How we did it:
  1. Close the water shut-off to the toilet. Remove the supply hose to the tank. Be ready to catch any water that spills out of the hose.
  2. Flush the toilet and then bail water from the tank using a small cup. Soak up the remaining water with a sponge.
  3. Remove the two bolts that hold the tank to the bowl, lift it off and set it aside.
  4. Inspect the gasket. If it looks like the one above, take it to the hardware store and find a replacement.
  5. Place the new gasket over the hole at the bottom of the tank, rather than putting it over the hole on the bowl. (I think that's where we ran into trouble about 10 months ago.) Carefully set the tank on the bowl, without disturbing the gasket.
  6. Tighten the two bolts and attach the water hose. Turn on the water supply and look for leaks. If you're a religious person, you may want to pray at this point, but I've never found it to be as effective as using the power of observation and a good screw driver.
  7. Enjoy your newly repaired toilet. You deserve it!

1 comment:

Pip said...

gotta love a date night that includes fixing a toilet and a trip to a hardware store. ;o)