Tried to fix a toilet flapper and ended up flooding the bathroom floor

On Saturday I decided to swap out a worn flapper in my main floor toilet. I got the water shut off fine and replaced the part, but when I turned the water back on the little rubber piece didn't seat right. Water started steadily trickling into the bowl and then overflowed onto the tile floor. It took me about 45 minutes and a second trip to the hardware store to find a flapper that actually fit my model. Has anyone else had a simple fix turn into a mess like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles_coleman1mo ago

Wait, is this the kind where the chain gets caught under the flapper and it cant close? I mean I've definitely had that happen before. Maybe it's just me but I always check the chain tension and make sure the new part actually matches the old one before messing with the water.

charlies371mo ago

That's a good point about the chain tension though... have you ever had a flapper that just seemed too stiff to seal no matter how you adjusted the chain? I dealt with one last month where the rubber was practically brand new but the whole thing kept leaking. Turned out the little hinge pins on the toilet were worn down so the flapper couldn't sit flush. Sometimes it's not the chain at all you know?

pat_roberts551mo ago

@charles_coleman actually you want the water on before you hook up the chain so you can see the flapper seat on its own. That chain tension thing gets thrown around too much when most of the time it's just a bad part right out of the box.