It is [...]]]> If the water bill came in a little high then you could have a hidden water leak. The easiest way to verify this is at your water meter. If you will look at your meter you will notice a small triangular shaped device. This leak detector spins when water is going through the meter.

It is imperative to make sure that there is no water running in the house before checking the meter. With no water on in the house then the triangle shaped leak detector should not be moving at all. If it is moving then this shows that water is going somewhere.

You should have a main shutoff valve somewhere in the system before it branches off inside the house. Shut this main valve off and then recheck the leak detector at the meter. If the detector is still spinning then this shows a leak somewhere between the meter and the valve that you just shut down.

Look for any wet or mushy spots in the yard or under the floor. If you keep searching you will locate the leak because water is not hard to find when it is somewhere that it shouldn’t be.

1. Water leaking from the tank. 2. Water leaking from the bowl. 3. Condensation.

*Water Leaking From The Tank. Let’s look at the first one which [...]]]> Toilets that leak water on the floor are not only messy but they can cause some major damage and expensive repairs. There are actually three ways a toilet can leak water on the floor.

1. Water leaking from the tank.
2. Water leaking from the bowl.
3. Condensation.

*Water Leaking From The Tank.
Let’s look at the first one which is water leaking from the tank. There are four possible areas for water to leak here.

1. It can leak from around the fill valve where the supply line connects to the bottom of the tank.
2. From around the flush valve or flapper in the bottom of the tank in the center.
3. From around the bolts that bolt the tank to the bowl.
4. From the supply line or shut off valve that comes out of the wall.
Any of the first three can be fixed by either tightening the nuts or bolts or replacing the sealing washers from inside the tank.
The forth one, the supply line leak possibly can be stopped by tightening the connections on the supply line and at the shut off valve. Where the supply line hooks to the tank can leak if the line is not properly inserted straight into the tank fill valve fitting.
Be extra cautious when making these water supply connections and don’t cross thread or strip out the threads by over tightening.

*Water Leaking From The Bowl.
Unless the bowl is cracked somewhere the normal culprit for a leak is the wax seal ring that goes between the bottom of the toilet and the toilet drain pipe fitting in the floor.
This wax seal ring is compressed down when the toilet is set and tightened to make a water tight seal around the drain fitting and the toilet.

If you suspect that this is the problem then the first thing to try is tightening the nuts on the two flange bolts, one on each side of the toilet base. There are two plastic covers that you lift off to expose these nuts. If this doesn’t fix the problem, then you will need to check the wax seal ring underneath the toilet.

To do this,  turn off the water supply line shutoff valve on the left side behind the toilet and loosen and remove the supply line from the toilet. The two bolts on the sides of the toilet that bolt the toilet to the floor or actually to the drain fitting hub in the floor must be loosened and removed. Flush the toilet to remove the water in the tank and loosen the two nuts on the floor bolts. Pull the toilet straight up and set it to the side.

You can now see the wax ring and should be able to spot why it was leaking. Get a new wax ring and replace the old one. You may need a helper to reset the toilet and line the bolts up with the mounting holes on the sides of the toilet. After you get the bolts in the mounting holes and start the nuts back on the bolts then sit on the toilet to press it down on the wax ring until it meets the floor. Then you can tighten the nuts on the sides of the toilet.

By doing this you can avoid cracking the porcelain toilet base by not using the nuts and mounting bolts to pull the toilet down snug. Sitting on it first gets it down where it needs to be and the bolts will hold it there when tightened.

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There are actually two ways a toilet can leak water. One is internally, meaning the water is seeping from the tank into the bowl and the other way is externally. This way means [...]]]> Toilets that are constantly refilling with water are expensive and annoying. Here are some things you can do to repair a leaking toilet.

There are actually two ways a toilet can leak water. One is internally, meaning the water is seeping from the tank into the bowl and the other way is externally. This way means that water is leaking from inside the toilet to the outside and onto the floor.

First we will look at the internal leak. This type of toilet leak will cause your toilet to cycle on refilling itself. This can cause wasted water and a higher water bill. The best way to check for this problem is to turn off the supply valve behind the toilet. Remove the tank lid and use a pencil to mark the water level in the tank. Then wait about 20 minutes and check the water level. If it has dropped below your mark then water is seeping out around the flapper.

If the water is still at the mark that you made you can put some food coloring in the tank water and wait a little while and then check the bowl water. If it has a tint of color then you have water seeping from the tank to the bowl.

Check the flush valve flapper first to see if it is deteriorated. This can cause the flapper not to completely seal off around the valve seat. It is possible to clean the flapper with steel wool or 500 grain sandpaper but is actually best to just replace it with a new one. You can flush the toilet while watching the flush valve in action to make sure nothing is disturbing it from properly dropping into it’s seat.

The refill valve can also be adjusted wrong and allowing the tank water level to fill over the overflow tube. There is an adjustment mechanism on the refill valve that you can move up or down to control the water level in the tank. The water level should come just below the top of the overflow tube when the refill valve shuts off the water.

There are several different types of refill valve and flush valve kits for toilet repair. You can find what you need for your repairs here. Toilet Repair Kits And Accessories.

Fluidmaster is a common brand that works well and is fairly simple to install.

Below is a direct link to all my “How To” articles on eHow.com. More How To Articles Here!