Some of the most common problems that homeowners face often have to do with their bathrooms, often more specifically their toilets.
While clogged drain pipes and sudden, mysterious leaks are surprisingly common, toilet plumbing problems are the problems that can be the most concerning. So when they find that their toilet is not filling up with water, many homeowners call us for help.
It does make sense, though! A lot of nasty waste goes down a toilet’s bowl and pipes, so when the tank doesn’t fill properly, it can often leave you with half-flushed waste. This kind of problem does have a solution, though.
If none of these solutions fix the problem, though, or if it needs the expertise that only the best residential plumbing professionals have, our team at Clover Contracting is ready to help whenever you need it.
What’s Causing the Problem?
The first step in figuring out what to do whenever your toilet’s tank doesn’t fill with water is to find out what’s causing the problem. As with quite a few plumbing problems, the main cause can be one of many different factors, some simple and others far more complex. Fortunately, many of these causes can easily be fixed without needing professional help, though it is recommended to ensure proper repairs!
The Fill Valve Isn’t Properly Aligned
One of the main reasons you might find your toilet tank not filling with water is the fill valve. This is the part of your toilet’s system that pulls in water to refill the tank to a specific level. More often than not, the fill valve is one of the two most common reasons that your tank isn’t filling with the float cup or ball being next.
Toilets are naturally sturdy, especially if they’re made of ceramic. Though they might stain easily, they can be easy to clean and, occasionally, easy to fix. The tank and its parts are a different matter though. Over time, these parts can start to wear down, becoming far looser than they were at first. Naturally, the parts loosen to the point where the fill valve starts to leak and keeps less water in the tank than before.
In some cases, the fill valve can become so damaged to the point that you might find the toilet tank not filling with water at all. If that’s the case, the valve itself is damaged and needs to be replaced.
While a slightly loose fill valve can easily be manually tightened again – or even just adjusted – a badly damaged one won’t be able to work properly.
Your Toilet’s Float Ball or Cup Needs Readjustment
The float ball is the other most likely reason why you find your toilet is not filling up with water. More commonly in the form of a cup in modern toilets and sometimes simply referred to as a float, the cup or ball is the part responsible for shutting off the fill valve’s flow of the water at a specific point. Much like with the fill valve, the float can often loosen with age but a bad installation can also cause the issue.
Over time, the float can slip a little, causing the float arm it’s attached to stop much earlier. With the ball or cup lower on the arm, the flow of the water stops earlier and the tank doesn’t fill as needed. Typically, simple adjustments can easily fix the issue and you won’t need to open the tank up again for a while. But age can also cause the rubber float to crack, which leads to water slowly leaking into it and making it heavier.
The Trip Assembly Is Faulty
If neither the float nor the fill valve is why your toilet won’t fill with water, the next most likely cause is the trip assembly. The trip assembly is the part of the toilet connected to the handle, responsible for levering the flapper open and starting the flushing process. Most of the time, this part of the system is installed properly and your current toilet flushes and fills as expected.
However, if you’ve noticed the lack of water properly filling soon after a thud or tap, the trip assembly is installed badly.
Your Bathroom Has Low Water Pressure
Another possible reason that you might find your toilet tank not filling up with water properly is a lack of proper water pressure. What the cause is – and as a result, its solution – can be quite a lot of things, some of which can depend on the age of your home.
Older homes are more likely to have bad plumbing or worn-down pipes that haven’t been replaced yet. And whether it’s in an old home or not, the pipes can also crack and leak, causing a drop in water pressure.
As you flush, the water in the bowl is pushed out before the tank’s mechanisms draw in more water. But if the pressure is low or there’s a crack somewhere along the line, the amount of water that refills is far too little. Unlike the other causes, this is one problem that you need professional help dealing with.
What Can You Do to Fix It?
For many of the problems, the solution is simple. Loosened floats and badly aligned fill valves can easily be readjusted and tightened. In many cases, if you find that your fill valve is broken, you can easily buy a replacement. You can also easily replace these parts without much effort and a few tools. Even the toilet’s trip assembly can be manually adjusted or trimmed as needed.
If you can’t figure out why your toilet is not filling up with water, the cause is simply a leak or low water pressure. Both of these problems require the technical know-how that a specialist has, and this is your best solution.
Takeaway
Watching your toilet fail to fill up properly with water can be troubling at first. But, like with many other problems around your home, it’s important to remember to find what may be the cause. When dealing with this kind of problem, the cause is often far simpler than expected and can lead you to an easy solution.
If none of these are causing the problem though, just call Clover Contracting for quick and reliable help.
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