There are certain sounds in your house, whether you own it or rent it, that you shouldn’t ignore. The sound of water running in your toilet is one of those sounds.
That’s the warning a TikTok creator who makes home maintenance content for The Gibbons Group (@therealestatefamily), a real estate firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, gave in a viral video. The video, posted on Aug. 27, has attracted more than 88,000 viewers.
In it, the creator starts with the tagline for a series of videos he’s made, “Stuff you may not know as a homeowner,” before adding, “but you do now.”
“Hear that sound right there?” he asks, pausing to let the sound of water running in a toilet play for several seconds. “If that sound keeps going, you’re going to get a massive, massive water bill.”
To close out the short video, he then warns, “Do not let this sound keep going in your bathrooms.”
@therealestatefamily Stuff you may not know as a homeowner
♬ original sound – gibbonsgroup
What could that sound be?
According to Architectural Digest, as part of a “do it yourself” series for the online version of the magazine, you should only hear a running water sound as the toilet’s resetting after it’s been flushed. If you hear the noise beyond that, the article suggests one of several possible causes.
“Either the float cup is positioned at the incorrect height, the chain on the toilet flapper has an issue, or the flapper seal or fill valve needs to be replaced,” it notes. “In rare cases, a running toilet may be due to a crack in the toilet tank, but this is something that you should be able to spot visually, since water will pool on the floor around the bowl or beneath the tank.”
To diagnose, shut off the main water supply, usually behind the toilet. Then, lift the tank lid to look at the flapper chain, flapper, water level, and float ball, the latter being a feature more typical of older toilets. The float valve and fill cup may also come into play. Some of these fixes require relatively inexpensive parts and some basic repair know-how to set things right.
One thing to note from the article, though: “It is important to not mix and match the toilet parts as most toilets are configured to work optimally with parts from the same brand.”
Commenters talk toilets
Some commenters were eager to share knowledge.
“Change the little flapper in the tank or move the chain if it’s getting stuck,” advised one commenter.
Another offered, “Such an easy fix too! If it’s the floater, it can be fixed with a screw driver by adjusting the height of it.”
Others marveled at people just letting the sound go.
“It’s always surprising how ppl dont do anything when they hear that sound,” someone observed.
“2Gal/min is thousands of $ a month,” one warned. “I’ve seen it many times in our condo building. Some toilets you can’t hear running. Put food coloring in the tank, wait 20 min color shouldn’t migrate to the bowl.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to The Gibbons Group via Instagram and TikTok direct message.
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