LESLIE: Matt in Indiana has got a slow toilet. What’s going on there?
MATT: Well, hello. I live in a house that’s about four years old with the original toilets in them and even with the fill valve all the way open – the one that’s at the wall – the toilet takes maybe two minutes to fill up.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right. OK. Have you considered replacing the fill valve?
MATT: I haven’t done that yet. I was sort of going to go there but I didn’t know if they were …
TOM: Well, let’s just put it this way. There’s nothing worth repairing or adjusting on a fill valve.
LESLIE: Because what; the fill valve is like five bucks?
TOM: Yeah. The fill valve is like a few bucks and it’s a pretty easy do-it-yourself plumbing project, Matt.
MATT: OK.
TOM: So, I would replace the fill valve. The only thing that you can adjust – you can’t adjust the speed with which it fills up; you can adjust the height. So, if you have it adjusted too high, then of course it’s going to put more water in there before it shuts off. But if you replace the fill valve, I think that would be the easiest thing to do.
Sometimes you get some mineral deposits that build up and slow these things down. It may not be opening all the way. So I would just replace it. You want to get a Fluidmaster one; they’re the most universally acceptable.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and the Fluidmaster website has like complete instructions, step-by-step photos, fun cartoons; it’s a good website.
TOM: Yeah, they’re like five or ten bucks. They’re really cheap and they’re not hard to do. Just turn the water off at the toilet before you start.
MATT: Well, it sounds good. I sure appreciate the advice.
TOM: You got it. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
