The Toilet is the Main Suspect....

5/23/2018 (Permalink)

The Toilet is the Main Cause of Residential Water Damage We Deal With

The leading cause of residential water damage issues we deal with is from toilet issues. More specifically faulty toilet shutoff valves and fill/flush kits. It is important to check them at least once a year, but preferably every quarter.

When checking the shutoff valve make sure that there isn't any leaking at the shutoff valve or any of the pipes or lines attached to the shutoff valve. One of the other issues with the shutoff valve is rust. Rust on the shutoff valve can prevent you from being able to turn the valve off. Because rust can make it hard to turn the valve off, there is also a chance that putting too much force on the valve can cause attached pipes to break. If you are having a hard time turning the valve, try to use WD-40 to loosen the valve up.

Another issue that can cause the toilet to flood are issues with the fill and flush kits. The fill and flush kits regulate the amount of the water that fills the toilet tank after a flush. When there is a break in the line between the flush and fill kits it throws off the regulator and the water will keep filling into the tank without turning off when it’s full. To keep this from happening regularly check the line between the kits when you are checking the toilet shutoff valve.

If for some reason there is a toilet flooding issue and you are not able to turn the water off at the point of the toilet, immediately turn the water off at the main water shutoff valve for the property. A good way to prepare ahead to know where the main shutoff valve is use SERVPRO’s free ERP (Emergency Ready App) to log where all of the shutoff valves are in the house. You can see more about the ERP here: www.ready.SERVPRO.com