Toilet repair and installation
We repair and replace toilets in Orange, Anaheim, Santa Ana and the rest of Orange County, from the parts inside the tank (fill valve, flapper, flush valve) to the parts underneath (wax ring, closet bolts, flange) and the stop valve on the wall. The same few parts wear out in the same few ways, so we carry them, and most repairs are finished on the first visit. You see a written price before we start.
A rocking toilet is more than a nuisance. Each movement works the wax seal loose, and once it breaks, waste water seeps into the subfloor with every flush, often for months before a stain shows on the ceiling below. We pull the toilet, inspect the flange, and correct the cause instead of tucking a shim under the base.
Before a new toilet goes in, we measure the rough-in, set the flange at the correct height for the finished floor, and always fit fresh closet bolts and a fresh wax seal. The supply line goes to a quarter-turn stop valve, so whoever does the next repair is not fighting one that has seized.
The usual culprits
- A worn flapper letting water slip from the tank into the bowl
- A fill valve set so high that water spills into the overflow tube
- A wax ring broken because the bowl was never anchored firmly
- A flange left below the new tile after a floor remodel
- A supply stop dripping at the packing nut
- A partial clog in the branch drain rather than in the toilet
Signs your toilet needs work
- The tank refills by itself between flushes
- The bowl shifts or rocks when you sit
- Water seeps out around the base after flushing
- A growing stain on the ceiling under an upstairs bathroom
- A weak flush, or one you have to hold the handle for
- A sewer smell in the bathroom that comes and goes
Repair or replace the toilet
When the bowl and tank are intact, repair is nearly always the better value, because the parts that fail are inexpensive next to a new fixture. Replacing makes sense for cracked porcelain, an early low-flow model that needs two flushes each time, or when a taller bowl is wanted for accessibility.
We tell you which case you are in before any work begins, and if a repair will last we say so, even when a replacement would be the larger job.
When the problem is not the toilet
If several fixtures drain slowly, the toilet gurgles when the shower runs, or plunging moves water without clearing anything, the blockage is in the branch line or the main rather than the toilet. Then we put a camera in the line before cutting anything; our drain cleaning and sewer repair pages cover that work.
How a running toilet adds up
A flapper that does not seal can leak constantly without making a noticeable sound. The tank tops itself up in short bursts, the water meter creeps all day, and the only clue is a bill that keeps rising. To check, add a few drops of food coloring to the tank, wait about an hour without flushing, and look at the bowl. Any color there means the flapper is leaking.
Run that test on every toilet in the house, not only the one you noticed, since flappers installed at the same time tend to wear out together. If you find water spreading from the base instead, call us; a person answers the phone 24 hours a day.