A toilet that runs, gurgles, leaks at the base or clogs every week is asking a different question each time. Here are the ones we hear most, answered from our own 2026 toilet work between Seattle and the Snoqualmie Valley.
Why does my toilet run by itself for a few seconds, then stop?
Because the flapper at the bottom of the tank is not sealing. Water seeps past it into the bowl, the tank level drops, and the fill valve turns on briefly to top it up. That cycle, sometimes called a phantom flush, is a worn or misaligned flapper nine times out of ten, and a new flapper fixes it.
A flapper that is clean, seated and still leaking usually means the seat it closes against is rough or the chain is holding it slightly open. Both are quick fixes. Near Stillwater in July, Caleb replaced a fill valve and supply line in about half an hour, which is the size of most running-toilet visits.
How do I tell whether the flapper or the fill valve is the problem?
Take the lid off and look at the water level. Water running over the top of the overflow tube means the fill valve is not shutting off and needs adjusting or replacing. A level below the tube on a toilet that still runs or cycles means water is leaving past the flapper.
A few drops of food coloring in the tank confirm it: color in the bowl within fifteen minutes, with no flush, means the flapper.
How much water does a running toilet waste?
A constantly running toilet can waste 200 gallons of water a day or more, by the EPA's estimate, and the agency's own guidance says an old, worn flapper is the most common cause. On a water bill that is a leak you can hear; on a well it is a pump that never rests.
The repair is one of the cheapest in plumbing.
Why does my toilet gurgle when the shower or washing machine drains?
Because air is being pulled through the toilet's trap as water moves past it in a drain line that is partly blocked, or in a line whose vent is not doing its job. One gurgling toilet with everything else draining fine points at the vent; a gurgle with a slow tub or floor drain points at the main line.
In Mountlake Terrace in October, Mykal was called for low flow at a tub and a toilet, opened the exterior cleanout, found the sewer backed up and cabled the main. Our drain cleaning page covers the line between a drain call and a sewer call.
Can a cracked toilet tank be repaired?
No, not reliably. A hairline crack in a tank weeps a little more every time the tank fills, and no sealant holds against standing water and the flex of a flush for long. A matching tank is rarely available for an older toilet, so the practical repair is a new toilet.
That is what Caleb did in Carnation in June, when a plumbing inspection turned up a crack in a hall-bath tank, a job told on our Carnation toilet page.
Why is there water around the base of my toilet only after a flush?
Because the wax ring between the toilet and the flange has stopped sealing, or the tank-to-bowl bolts or the supply connection are dripping down the back. Water that appears only after a flush, rather than steadily, points at the wax ring or the bowl's connections rather than the supply. A toilet that rocks is almost always a wax ring.
It is not always the toilet. Outside Carnation in May, Donald pulled and reset a master-bathroom toilet to chase a leak in the ceiling below it, then ran ten test flushes and the shower for seven minutes and could not reproduce it. The worn caulking at the shower was the likelier source. Resetting the toilet ruled it out.
Does replacing the shutoff valve behind the toilet mean shutting off the whole house?
Yes, for the length of the valve swap, usually under an hour. The shutoff is the last valve before the toilet, so there is nothing between it and the main to close. In June, PJ and Alex shut down the main at a home near Stillwater to replace a toilet shutoff that would not hold.
A toilet replacement is the cheapest time to do it. North of Carnation in August, the old multi-turn stop was swapped for a quarter-turn ball valve while the water was already off for a new Toto, and west of Carnation in July the old stop would not close fully, so it was recommended for replacement.
Why does my toilet clog so often?
Usually one of four reasons: something that should not have been flushed is lodged past the trap, a partial blockage further down the line is catching paper, the flapper is closing early and sending too little water, or the toilet itself is worn. The first two are cleared; the last two are repairs or a new toilet.
West of Carnation in July, a toilet that kept backing up after an object was lost down it was replaced with a new Toto Drake. In Duvall in June, a toilet broke while a hard blockage was being augered out, and it was replaced too.
A toilet that clogs on its own while the rest of the house drains fine is a toilet problem. When other fixtures slow down at the same time, it is the line, and augering the toilet again will not fix it.
Talk to Us About a Toilet
Call 425-549-2400 or schedule an appointment.
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