411 Plumb

Can A Toilet Go Bad?




The toilet bowl is made up of many different parts that are both on the outside and on the inside of the toilet tank. The main parts that will go bad inside of the toilet bowl are the toilet fill valve, the toilet flush valve and the toilet flapper. From time to time the toilet seat and the toilet supply will also need to be replaced. The toilet itself will generally not go bad unless some how the toilet cracks and then you will have to replace it.

If you need to replace the internal working parts of the toilet bowl you can easily find them at man big box stores and off course the good old fashioned hardware store as well. If your toilet bowl is filling slowly you will not have to completely replace the toilet you will just have to replace the toilet fill valve. The toilet fill valve is connected to the toilet bowl water supply and it works with a float to allow the toilet tank to fill to the correct height. The toilet fill valve can be adjusted so you can set the height of the water level in your toilet tank.

The toilet bowl flapper can often go bad as well but be easily replaced with little to no tools. The toilet flapper will cost under $10 most of the time and many brands of toilet flappers are considered universal so you won’t have a super hard time trying to find the correct toilet flapper for your bowl. Usually the toilet bowl flapper will just slide or clip on to the toilet flush valve.

The toilet bowl chain is another part that will also have to replaced ever so often. If you have a plastic toilet bowl chain chances are you will have to replace that faster then a metal toilet bowl chain because the plastic type are known to stretch out. The toilet bowl chain connects to the toilet bowl handle and then to the eyelet of the toilet bowl flapper. The toilet bowl chain can be replaced easily and you will not need any tools to do so. You will just have to remove the toilet tank lid and replace the chain. Toilet bowl chains sometimes will also come with toilet rebuild kits and the replacement toilet flapper you buy.

If you have just bought an old or used toilet bowl from a garage sale or even a place like craigslist you should spend a few dollars and get something they call a toilet rebuild kit. This kit will contain a new flapper, new fill valve and sometimes even a new flush valve. You will also want to replace the toilet tank bolts and washers. Rebuilding the used toilet can save water and mechanical failure down the road. You can find toilet repair kits anywhere that replacement toilet parts are sold.