Toilet & Faucet Repair in Winston-Salem, NC

Toilets

Running toilet

A toilet that refills on its own, hisses, or runs until you jiggle the handle is almost always a flapper, fill valve or chain problem. It is also one of the biggest silent water wasters in a house: the EPA notes a worn flapper can leak thousands of gallons a year (EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week). The dye test is simple: put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait 10 minutes without flushing. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking.

Rocking toilet or water at the base

A toilet that moves when you sit on it has usually broken the seal of its wax ring, and water may be seeping into the subfloor every time it flushes. In crawlspace homes, look underneath for dark, soft wood around the drain. The fix is to pull the toilet, check the flange, replace the seal and reset the toilet level. A cracked or rusted-through flange, common on old cast-iron drains, is replaced or repaired at the same time.

Clogs that keep coming back

If one toilet clogs often, the cause may be a low-flow model from the 1990s with a weak flush, an object stuck in the trapway, or a partial blockage further down the line. If several fixtures clog together, see drain cleaning.

Replacing a toilet

Modern toilets use 1.6 gallons per flush or less, and those carrying the EPA WaterSense label use 1.28 gallons or less while meeting performance standards (EPA WaterSense, Statistics and Facts). When replacing a toilet in an older house, the rough-in distance (wall to the center of the drain), the condition of the flange and the shut-off valve all matter. Comfort-height bowls are popular for accessibility.

Faucets

Dripping faucets

The EPA estimates a faucet dripping once a second wastes more than 3,000 gallons a year (EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week). Depending on the faucet, the fix is a cartridge, a ceramic disc, O-rings or seats and washers. Older two-handle compression faucets are easy to rebuild; some inexpensive single-handle faucets are not worth rebuilding once the body is worn.

Low flow from one faucet

A faucet that has lost pressure while others are fine usually has a clogged aerator or cartridge. Winston-Salem's very soft water causes little scale, so in older homes debris from aging galvanized pipe or from recent work on the water main is a more common culprit. Unscrewing and rinsing the aerator is the first step.

New faucets and fixtures

Replacing a kitchen or bath faucet often turns up seized shut-off valves and old supply lines, so plan to replace those at the same time. Pull-down kitchen faucets, touchless faucets and filtered-water taps all need the right deck holes and under-sink clearance.

Shut-off valves and supply lines

Every toilet and sink should have its own working shut-off. Many older Winston-Salem homes still have multi-turn valves that have not been closed in decades and either will not turn or start leaking when they do. Quarter-turn valves and braided stainless supply lines are inexpensive upgrades that make the next emergency a 10-second fix instead of a whole-house shutdown.

Tubs and showers

Dripping tub spouts, showers that swing hot and cold, and diverters that will not send water up to the showerhead are usually cartridge or valve problems. A shower that runs scalding then cold when a toilet flushes may need a pressure-balancing valve, which most codes require in new or remodeled showers.

Sources: EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week; EPA WaterSense, Statistics and Facts.