Steps to Take If Your Toilet Is Ghost Flushing

What? Is that the toilet flushing? That can’t be when nobody else is home. Is that a ghost flushing the toilet?

When you hear a flushing sound from your toilet every few minutes(or even every few hours), that is an indication of a slow leak in from thet oilet bowl or tank. The leak causes the water level to drop below a certain point causing the float to give the signal to refill the tank which then causes the flushing sound you are hearing. No you don’t need ghost busters; you have bathroom plumbing problems and need a fix.

If there is no water leaking onto your floor, your ghost flushing toilet is leaking internally. Something could be wrong with your rubber flapper that allows water to run out of the drain causing the toilet to constantly refill.

You can perform a simple food dye test determine if it is your flapper causing the toilet leak. Just put some drops of food dye in the back tank of the toilet. Let it set there for about 30 minutes. If you see that same color in the toilet bowl you will know that your flapper is causing the internal toilet leak.

Are there signs of damage or debris on your ghost flushing toilet flapper? Clean the flapper and the surface area of the flush valve to potentially stop your toilet leak. Check to see if the chain to the flapper is adjusted properly allowing the flapper to fit well over the drain opening.

If this does not solve the ghost flushing, replace the rubber toilet flapper. A worn-out flamer is a very common problem with toilets that leak internally.

If replacing your rubber toilet flapper did not stop the internal toilet leak, you should check the refill tube. If the refill tube is inserted too far into the overflow pipe, you should pull it out and attach it to the outside overflow pipe. This is done to keep the tube from entering the overflow pipe and usually will stop an internal leak from the tank to the bowl that caused the ghost flushing.

If you have done both of the above and still have a ghost flushing toilet, you may have to replace the entire flush valve.

Are you experiencing an external toilet leak? An external toilet leak will leave water on the floor.

When you find water on the floor from your leaky toilet, first mop up the water on the floor and dry off your toilet. You will be looking for the source of the leak when a new puddle is formed. You will be looking to see if the water is coming from underneath the toilet or around the base. Examine the following to confirm the leak is coming from underneath your toilet and not from:

• A loose supply tube
• A cracked tank or sweaty bowl
• A defective shutoff valve.

1. Turn off the water supply to your leaky toilet, drain your bowl and remove the supply tube from the shutoff valve.
2. Pop off the caps covering the bolts and remove the hex nuts with a wrench.
3. Carefully pull the toilet by the bowl (not the tank ) and set it down on cardboard or an old blanket.
4. You will notice a portion of the flange will be broken off. Scrape off the old wax from the closet flange.
5. Loosen the screws around the flange and slide a repair strap under the closed flange.
6. Center the new wax gasket down on the closet flange making sure both closet bolts are in place.
7. On the bottom of the toilet, connect the new water supply tube to the threaded fill-valve shank.
8. Push down on the toilet bowl to compress the gasket and tighten the bolts and press down again.
9. The bolts will be too long and need to be trimmed off with a close-quarter hacksaw before you tighten them back on and replace the caps you popped off earlier.
10. Finally, attach the supply tube to the shutoff valve. Turn on the water and flush the toilet to make sure it is working properly.

Is water dripping from the bottom of the toilet tank? This could be another external toilet leak source when water is found on the floor.

By looking and feeling underneath your toilet tank -over the toilet bowl- you may discover wetness. This is a good indication that the tank-to-bowl sponge gasket needs to be replaced. Follow the steps below to fix this leaky toilet problem.

1. Shut off the water supply. Flush and hold the lever down to drain your tank.
2. Catch any extra water by placing a bucket underneath your toilet.
3. Turn off your water supply line. Then remove all the old hardware from the toilet. These old nuts, bolts and washers may need to be cleaned or replaced.
4. Now you are ready to carefully lift the tank up from the bowl allowing you to remove the tank-to-bowl sponge gasket.
5. Your new red sponge gasket can now be placed over the mounting nut threads.
6. Now it’s time to carefully set the tank back onto the bowl. You should use downward pressure to keep the tank level while you tighten the nuts. Also, to keep the tank level, alternate between the nuts as you tighten them down.
7. Be very careful not to over tighten the nuts. If you screw them down too tight, you will crack the porcelain.

As always, your professionals at Blue Mills will come to your leaky toilet rescue if you need assistance. We have the supplies, know-how and experience to fix any of your plumbing problems in a jiffy.

You would not intentionally flush money down your toilet, but if your toilet is running and causing high water bills you are unintentionally flushing money down the drain. Your ghost flushing toilet is not just a plumbing problem; it could be causing high water bills as well.

When your do it your self-efforts fail or if fixing plumbing problems is out of your comfort zone, call Blue Mills Plumbing. Our experience and expertise will solve your plumbing problems and save you the headaches. As your local plumber, we save you money on your water bills when your leaky toilet is fixed.