Toilet Will Not Flush
There are only three possibilities. No water reaching the cistern, a broken link between the handle and the flapper, or a blockage below. Lifting the cistern lid tells you which within about ten seconds.
What to do right now
Do these first. None of them need tools or plumbing knowledge, and they limit what this ends up costing you.
- Lift the cistern lid and lookIs there water in it? If not, the problem is the supply. If there is water but the handle does nothing, look at the chain or lever between the handle and the flapper at the bottom.
- Check the shutoff valve is openThe oval knob behind the toilet should be fully anticlockwise. A partially closed valve is a surprisingly common cause of a cistern that fills too slowly to flush properly.
- Check whether it drains at allPour a bucket of water into the pan reasonably fast. If it goes away, the drain is clear and the fault is in the cistern. If it rises, the problem is below.
Does this need a plumber tonight?
- It will not flush and the pan is full and rising
- Other fixtures are also slow
- Sewage is present
- No water in the cistern and everything else in the house has water
- A detached chain or broken handle
- A slow but complete flush
The three causes
No water in, no mechanism, or no way out. The bucket test separates the third from the first two, and lifting the lid separates the first from the second.
No water in usually means a closed or partly closed shutoff, a failed fill valve, or in winter a frozen supply line to that bathroom. If no fixture anywhere in the house has water, that is a different problem entirely and probably a frozen or broken main.
No mechanism is the most common and the easiest. A chain that has come off the lever, a chain with too much slack, a snapped handle arm or a flapper that has perished. All are cheap parts.
No way out is a blockage, and that is the one where it matters whether other fixtures are affected too.
- Cistern empty, look at the supply valve and fill valve
- Cistern full but handle does nothing, look at the chain and lever
- Cistern full and handle works but water rises, it is a blockage
- Nothing in the house has water, it is a main or a freeze
When it is a winter problem
In a cold snap, a toilet in an unheated or seldom used bathroom that suddenly will not fill is usually a frozen supply line rather than a broken part.
That matters because thawing it carelessly can turn a nuisance into a burst. Shut the main first, then warm the area gradually, then open the water slowly and watch.
What this costs
[PLACEHOLDER: PRICING] Pending from the client.
Cistern parts are inexpensive and quick. A blockage is priced as drain work. Which one you have is worth establishing on the phone before anyone attends.
Questions people ask about this
The handle is loose and does nothing.
Almost always the chain has come off the lever inside the cistern, or the lever arm has snapped. Lift the lid and look. It is a five minute repair and a cheap part.
The cistern fills very slowly.
Usually a partly closed shutoff valve or a fill valve that has silted up. Utah's hard water is hard on fill valves.
Is this an emergency?
Not usually. A toilet that will not flush with no water rising and another bathroom available is a normal repair, not a midnight call, and we will tell you that.
If that is not quite what you have
Not sure how urgent this is?
Describe what you can see and hear. We will tell you whether it needs someone tonight, and what to do in the meantime either way.
Or send it over
Four things and a photo.