It gave him so much pride! My middle son (in his early 30’s) called me a few weeks ago all excited to tell me that he had fixed one of his leaking toilets. Of my three wonderful sons, this is not the one I would have guessed would have taken something apart and put it back together again. We laughed and I said, “Real men fix their own toilets – ha!” In following up last month’s article starting off the year as a “Do It Yourself Year,” let’s talk briefly about toilet maintenance.
My wife and I bought our first home in 1985, which was impeccably maintained by the original owner. Everything was in stellar condition! Eight months into our all-American dream of home-ownership, the ballcock valve broke in a toilet while we were at church. We returned home to a house that was completely flooded. In less than an hour, friends descended upon our home and removed all the carpet and padding, and our beautiful little home was all concrete floors. I learned that day about the importance of toilet maintenance and repair … and it’s REALLY simple!
The toilet is a very simple device that is easy and inexpensive to maintain and repair. The “engine” in the toilet is the ballcock valve assembly in the tank. This is what split and broke in my toilet. It’s amazing how quickly an entire house can flood from one toilet overflowing! An experience I’ll never forget and don’t ever want to repeat.
There are different styles and models of ballcock valve assembly units at the hardware store that range in price from about $10 – $30. I rebuilt both of my toilets a couple of years ago with a “Quiet Flush” model. Some of the kits come with the other parts to basically rebuild your toilet. Read the simple instructions that come with the kit, and get the tools you’ll need for the job. You could boil it all down to a few easy steps…
- Turn off the water valve and flush the toilet.
- Dry out the remaining water in the bottom of the tank.
- Remove the tank from the toilet bowl – super easy.
- Remove the old ballcock assembly and flapper.
- Replace with the new parts.
- Replace the seal between tank and the bowl and reattach the tank to the bowl.
- Make sure everything is secure and looks good.
- Turn the water valve on, make sure it’s leak-free … and flush!
You may also need to replace your water valve and connection to the valve to the bottom of the tank, depending on the age and condition … and that’s also very easy to do. Turn the water pressure off to the house, remove and replace the valve. Always remember to use pipe dope or Teflon seal tape to be leak-free. There are many helpful videos you can find on the internet to see how to rebuild your toilet.
I hope that’s helpful and that you’re encouraged to rebuild your toilets. I hope you have a good flushing time doing it! Be flushed my friends!
