Toilet Repair Tip
I saw a good tip for repairing a toilet (credit to Tim Carter in his Ask The Builder newsletter).
Last week, he needed to repair the pesky flapper valve in his
master bathroom toilet. It recently started to stay in the up
position causing the toilet to run. While he was at it, he decided to
replace the filler valve as it was original and looking worse for
wear.
The tip I wanted to share was that he also replaced the supply tube
or hose that runs from the wall valve to the underside of the
toilet. All too often, people try to reuse the existing supply
tube. This can sometimes lead to chronic leaks as the seal at the
toilet end of the tube doesn't seat well with the new filler valve.
He prefers the newer stainless-steel braided hoses for the supply
piping. They're virtually foolproof.
Also, if your shutoff valve works, great. But when you turn the
valve back on to fill the toilet, you may have a leak around the
valve stem. Tighten the nut on the valve stem about 1/8th turn and
that should solve the problem. Always place a dry paper towel under
the valve and the filler valve to use as your leak detector. Check
on the toilet every 15 minutes to see if you have a drip.
Hope this helps when it's time to fix the toilet!