Toilet Repair Basics For First Time Homeowners

Learning some basic toilet repair will save you money.  New homeowners are usually drained of savings for the first few years after buying their house.  With no extra cash to pay for repairs, some will resort to a home warranty to handle such issues.  These warranties are built into the price of the house, and sometimes paid from the sellers proceeds.  Plumbers make a great living off of homeowners who have no clue how to fix some of the simplest plumbing problems, especially when those calls come in late at night or on weekends.  With some common household tools and cheap parts from the hardware store, you can fix most problems with your toilet by yourself.

All homeowners should invest in a toilet repair kit.  Having one of these stashed in your bathroom closet will prove most convenient when things go wrong in the middle of the night.  These kits have everything you need to replace the inner workings of your toilet.  The only tools required are a screwdriver, pliers, and a wrench.  These kits are available at you hardware or home improvement store, and cost less than $20.  At that price, it is worth it to have one in the house for convenience.  At some point, all homeowners end up having to replace at least one of these in their house, so you might as well stock up now. 

Other toilet repair parts you might need are available either at the store or on line.  Take a few moments one day to research the model of your toilet and see if your local store has parts in stock.  If not, you might want to order a few on line and keep them handy with the repair kit.  Most parts life O-rings and washers are easy to find.  Some parts like specially designed flush handles might not be as easy to locate and should be ordered to have on hand. 

Most toilet repairs are simple.  The inner workings of a toilet might look complicates, but they are not.  Kits come with clear instruction, and completely replacing the inside of a toilet takes less than 30 minutes.  You can buy the interior parts individually when needed, but sometimes you will find that the new parts do not fit well with the preexisting parts.  That is why many homeowners chose to use the repair kit and replace everything at the same time.  Besides, once one part inside the toilet starts to fail, you can be sure that the other parts are soon to follow.  Replacing everything at once will remove that headache for several years to come.

Toilet repair is generally simple.  Keeping a plunger handy is also essential.  You should have a plunger for every bathroom so you don't have to foolishly run around the house looking for one in an emergency, hoping you get back in time to keep the water from running out onto the floor.  A closet auger can also come in handy for large clog problems that a plunger wont fix.  If your toilet is experiencing structural issues that are impossible to fix, then you might need a new one.  Even replacing a toilet is a job that anyone can do without a plumber.  All you need is household tools, perhaps a pipe wrench, and a little advice from your hardware store.  New toilets are kept in stock at home improvement stores, and they come with easy to read installation instructions.  You can even search for instructional videos on the internet for further advice.  It is highly advisable for all homeowners to learn a little about home plumbing repair.