If you notice that your toilet suddenly becomes hard to flush and feels like the plunger at the bottom sticks, then there’s a possibility that your flush valve seal is damaged.
Experiencing awkward bathroom incidents is normal, and it is hard to handle, especially in a public bathroom. It is why some individuals leave it there like nothing is happening.
However, if this problem happens at home, you need to act immediately and call a plumber as a homeowner.
If you know the primary ways to fix your hard to flush toilet, you can do the fixing yourself.
Hence, before you proceed with fixing your toilet, the first thing you should do is to locate the problem. Know what’s the reason why your toilet is hard to flush.
You know what you should do and prepare the proper tools you need in fixing.
To dig more about this topic, you may continue reading.
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Reasons Why Your Toilet Is Hard To Flush
Indeed, it’s hard if your toilet is hard to flush. It becomes more frustrating when you use public toilets that won’t flush.
Frankly, hard to flush the toilet needs immediate action from you.
Here are the top four reason why you have a hard to flush toilet:
1. Your Toilet Clogged
The first and the most fundamental problem your toilet is hard to flush is toilet clogged. Your toilet clogged when you used too much toilet paper, then attempted to flush it on your toilet straight down your toilet.
Flushing toilet paper is not the only one that makes your toilet clogged, but also one of the famous culprits of a clogged toilet is flushing a sanitary napkin.
2. Your Tank Water Level Is Low
The water in your toilet tank should be at its required level. The water should not exceed or below your water tank level; it should be exact.
If the water level is low, flushing your toilet becomes hard; check your water valve immediately.
You might accidentally turn off your water valve or be damaged.
3. Your Toilet Flapper Is Damaged
The toilet flapper is designed to release water when you flushed it, and it is the one that closes the water intake hole, so the clear water remains in your tank.
If the rubber flapper on your toilet deteriorates, bent, or damaged, you need to replace it.
4. Your Toilet’s Lift Chain Is Damaged
Sometimes the lift chain inside your toilet that connects your flapper to the flushing handle gets damaged throughout excessive use.
So, a damaged lift chain prohibits the water from flushing, causing you a headache.
How To Fix Hard To Flush Toilets?
Usually, if your toilet is hard to flush, the common cause is that the flush valve seal or the flapper is broken. If your flush valve seal or the flapper is damaged, except that you can’t flush your toilet.
Below are the ways to fix your hard to flush toilet.
1. Know The Problem
There are different reasons why your toilet is not flushing or why is it hard to flush. Before dealing with the problem, make sure that you know the problem’s roots.
So, it becomes easy for you what kind of fixing you need to do, whether your toilet problem is mild or severe.
2. If Your Toilet Is Blocked
A blocked toilet is a common problem at home. Especially if you have kids at home and don’t know what they have just flushed in your toilet, this is one reason you have clogged toilets.
If you have mild clogged tissue papers, you can use a plunger. It might be unpleasant and messy, but it is the simplest way to avoid calling a plumber and paying more fees.
If the plunger won’t work, it’s time that you should call a professional to remove what blocks your toilet drain.
3. There’s No Water In Your Toilet Tank
Indeed, if there’s not enough water in your toilet tank, you won’t be able to flush a thing down to your toilet. To check this problem, you can open the top of your toilet tank. It is located behind the wall panel.
Moreover, to start it, check the water supply if running by turning on the tap. Next, move the ballcock and see if the water inlet tap is working.
If it still won’t work, and your water tank is still the same, you may need to ask for professional assistance.
4. The Toilet Handle Is Broken
Another problem but quite simple is when your toilet handle is disconnected from the flushing system. Remove your toilet’s top and check the handle if you can still connect it.
The level handle attaches to your lift chains that respond to flushing water. Modern toilets have push buttons or dual flush toilets.
If you are not familiar with the process of fixing your toilet handle, call for a plumber’s help.
What Tools Do You Need For This Job?
In today’s generations, it’s already familiar that homeowners handle their problems independently by just purchasing a handful of tools to use.
It becomes the most common problem in plumbing that is easy to fix. It becomes an advantage to you if you know the primary ways to fix your bathroom problems.
But what are the tools you must need when doing the job? It is the first question you might be asking yourself.
Here are the top four tools you should be familiar with before fixing your toilet problem.
1. Toilet Auger
It is used to clear your toilet clogs. This tool is designed differently. It has a long metal rod with a bend for reaching into the hole at the bottom of your toilet bowl.
The rubber sleeves at its covers bend to protect the porcelain in your toilet to get scratched. Once you already properly place the tool inside the toilet drain, you push then rotate the auger cable to snake it into the clog.
2. Toilet Plunger
The toilet plunger is a specially shaped plunger to clear its blocking to your toilet. It works like a regular plunger; hence it has a flange.
Its flange is an extended rubber that flaps below the plunger head’s dome that helps you seal the hole and the bottom of your toilet bowl.
It will effectively create the pressure necessary to dislodge your toilet correctly.
3. Plumber’s Tape
A plumber’s tapes are also very used material if you have a leaking toilet. It’s a thin white tape that you can use to wrap around threads in your pipes and twist things together to stop leaks or others.
4. Channel Type Pliers
A channel-type plier looks similar to regular adjustable plies, but it has a more extended adjustment section as well as its angled jaws.
It is allowing you to grip the pipes or other plumbing parts properly. Its long handle provides you tremendous leverage for squeezing and twisting.
You can use channel type pliers if you want to grip heavy steel pipes or gently tighten a plastic nut in your bathroom.
Toilet Flush Button Hard To Push – What To Do?
Instead of the flush lever today, it’s already a button in modern toilets. It is mostly located at the top of your toilet tank.
Moreover, what will you do if your toilet flush button becomes hard to push? Probably, fix it by turning off first your water supply.
Next, open the cistern lid and carefully disconnect it to your refill tube and unscrew the back nuts that hold your push button.
After that, remove your old flush valve, then start fitting your newly purchased flushing mechanism inside.
If you already replaced your flush valve with new ones, you may now install back the cistern, then check and adjust your flush valve carefully to make sure that you set the fill valve correctly.
Lastly, open your water supply and try if your flush button works.
Toilet Handle Hard To Push – What To Do?
Your toilet handle acts hard, mostly if it’s old. It’s expected that your toilet handle gets hard over time since you use it every single day.
However, it becomes your fault if your toilet handles act that way for a long time since you did nothing to fix it.
What will you do if your toilet handle becomes hard to push? Perhaps, you need to learn it first.
Below things you should do if your toilet handle gets hard to push.
- First, turn off the water valve
- Second, measure its chain length
- Third, move the hook
- Fourth, check the slack.
However, if your toilet handle still doesn’t work well, you may need to change it right away.
Summary
In summary, over time, our toilet handles/buttons deteriorate their use. To maintain your toilet flush efficiency, you may need to change or replace your flush handles/buttons yearly.
Replacing your flush handles/buttons should be applied since you used your toilet handle every single day to flush what you need to flush.
Lastly, before acting to fix your toilet problem, better know first what the problem is and the best way to fix it.
