Household plumbing is not
something to mess around with. Plumbing issues, toilet maintenance, water
heater malfunctions, and clogged drains can be problematic – especially if you
don’t know what you’re doing.

Fortunately, knowledge is power.
In today’s post, we’ll share some essential toilet maintenance tips, so next
time you’re faced with toilet plumbing issues, you’ll know what to do.

The Toilet Is An Important
Fixture

The toilet is one of the most
used and vital fixtures in any home. If there’s a problem with it, it has the
potential to be one of the messiest, costliest, most disruptive home
maintenance problems you would have to handle.

Toilet Maintenance

Do: Clean the toilet regularly using a mild cleanser. Mild soap or detergent, baking soda, and vinegar are ideal for cleaning porcelain. Keeping your toilet clean can help keep a better smelling and more hygienic bathroom.

Regular toilet cleaning also allows you to check any the toilet for any leak or issues with the bathroom’s plumbing quickly. If you don’t regularly clean the toilet, you wouldn’t discover any water leaks and address them right away.

Don’t: Use chemical cleaners if your toilet is clogged. Not all plumbers agree on this one. Some may say it’s okay to use chemical drain cleaners, while others may disagree. We think it’s not worth the risk.

Chemical drain cleaners may have
harmful ingredients that are not good when they come in contact with the skin,
inhaled, or accidentally consumed. These toxic ingredients can cause damage to
older pipes and plumbing fixtures.

On top of that, these toxic
ingredients are not something you would want mixing with your water supply
system. The elements can also cause issues in septic tanks.

Do: Check the toilet’s interior components every six months. Doing so will allow you to know if all the components are still in good condition and functioning like how they should. Flush the toilet and watch how the parts work. Make sure that the fill valve doesn’t run water anymore at the right level, and the flapper is sealed correctly.

Do: Fix a leaking or running toilet immediately. Toilet leaks are what you would classify as a “silent intruder.” In many cases, you won’t find any puddle of water gathering around it on the floor. This is because the leak is coming from the water tank down the drain and into the bowl.

This makes homeowners
complacent, leading them to think that no toilet maintenance is necessary.
Homeowners may even overlook or put off repairing the toilet because they don’t
see any leaks.

Toilet leaks are slow leaks as
well. This means that homeowners won’t necessarily notice even a slight
increase in their water bill every month – until they look back and see they
are paying $50 or $100 more than they did several months back.

Don’t: Use a brick in an attempt to save water in your toilet tank. Unless the toilet in your home is older than the ’90s, you’re only using about 1.6 gallons of water for every flush. Most sewage systems don’t require a lot of water to flush down the waste.

If your toilet is old and you
want to make an effort to save water, fill a water bottle with small rocks or
sand and use that to move some of the toilet water. Don’t use bricks; they can
clog and break down your pipes.

Don’t: Flush any foreign objects or materials down the toilet – other than toilet paper and human waste. This is one of the most straightforward yet vital toilet maintenance tips. We can’t say this enough.

Do: Be mindful of what toilet paper you’re using. We get it.

You just love the ultra-soft pillowy feeling of the toilet paper you’re using.

However, not all of them are created equal.

Some may have materials that can
destroy septic or sewage systems. While this isn’t much of an issue in the
municipal sewage line setting, using toilet paper that doesn’t break down with
no trouble can cause backups and clog your home’s sewage pipes.

Don’t: Hesitate to call a professional and experienced local plumber when you need to. Many homeowners think that watching a video tutorial or doing a five-minute research on Google can help them solve their toilet and plumbing problems.

If your toilet requires
extensive toilet maintenance and repair, don’t hesitate to call a plumber to
fix your plumbing problem. Plumbers are professionals who have the experience,
knowledge, and tools to address your plumbing problems correctly.