The short answer
When a toilet in a Northern Virginia home won’t flush at all, the answer is almost always in the tank. Lift the lid and push the handle. If nothing moves, the handle or the chain let go. If the flapper lifts but there’s hardly any water in the tank, it’s the water supply or the fill valve. If the tank empties fine but the bowl rises instead of draining, it’s a clog. All three show in under a minute, and the first two are a few dollars to fix.
Lift the lid and push the handle
Swipe to see all columns →
| What you see | What it means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The handle flops and nothing moves | The handle nut came loose or the arm broke | Tighten the nut, or a new handle |
| The handle moves, the flapper doesn’t | The chain came off the arm or broke | Hook it back with a little slack |
| The flapper lifts and drops right away | The chain is too long | Take up the slack |
| The tank is nearly empty | The valve behind the toilet is closed, or the fill valve is stuck | Open the valve; clean or replace the fill valve |
| The tank empties, the bowl rises | A clog in the toilet or the line | Stop flushing and plunge |
| It flushes, just weakly | Clogged rim holes, a partial clog, or an early low flow toilet | A different fix |
| A push button does nothing | The button’s linkage came off | Seat it back on the flush valve |
A toilet that flushes but doesn’t clear the bowl is a different problem. Toilet flushes slow or weak and toilet not flushing all the way cover those.
The handle
The handle is held to the tank by a nut on the inside. On most toilets that nut is reverse threaded, so you turn it clockwise to loosen it and counterclockwise to tighten it, the opposite of every other nut in the house. Snug it by hand plus a little. If the arm inside is cracked or the handle spins freely, a new one is a few dollars. Match where it mounts: the front, the side, or the corner of the tank.
The chain
Hook the chain to the hole in the arm that sits right over the flapper, and leave about half an inch of slack when the flapper is closed. Too tight holds the flapper open and the toilet runs. Too loose and the handle reaches the end of its swing before the flapper lifts. Clip off the extra chain so it can’t get caught under the flapper and start a leak. If the flapper itself is stiff or warped, the toilet flapper covers which one fits.
No water in the tank
Check the valve on the wall behind the toilet first. Someone may have turned it off, and it opens counterclockwise. If it’s open and the tank still won’t fill, the fill valve is stuck or clogged with grit, and the toilet fill valve shows how to flush it out. Toilet tank not filling goes through a tank that fills slowly.
The tank works, the bowl doesn’t drain
Stop flushing. Each flush adds a full tank to a bowl with nowhere to go. Use a flange plunger, the kind with the extra cup on the bottom, and how to unclog a toilet has the steps. If the bowl is already near the rim, toilet overflowing shows how to stop the water first.
If the tub gurgles when you plunge, or a floor drain in the basement backs up, the clog is past the toilet in the line every drain shares, and one drain or the main line explains how to tell. A toilet that clogs over and over has its own reasons, in toilet keeps clogging.
With no water or no power
On county water, a power outage doesn’t stop a toilet. On a well, no power means no pump, so the tank won’t refill. Pour a bucket of water, about a gallon or two, straight into the bowl in one quick pour and the toilet flushes on its own. That works any time the water is shut off.
When to call
Call when the valve behind the toilet won’t turn, the tank is cracked, the plunger doesn’t clear it after a few tries, or more than one drain is backing up. A clog that keeps coming back is in the pipe, not the toilet.
A toilet that won’t flush is one of the loud warning signs. Every warning sign around the house, from a furnace’s blinking light to the sounds a house makes, is in one guide.
Fix it small, fix it now
A toilet problem caught early stays cheap three ways. The water and sewer bill stops climbing. The water stays out of the floor and the ceiling under it. And it stays a part and an hour instead of a subfloor later. Almost everything we find wrong inside a toilet is repairable, and once it’s fixed right, you stop listening for it.
What it costs when we fix it
Flappers, fill valves, handles, shutoff valves and supply lines are all toilet repair, $250 to $900, with the price in writing before we start, and we check the rest of the toilet while the lid is off. When the toilet itself is worn out, a new one installed runs $800 to $1,300, and this month’s coupons on our offers page take $100 off a new toilet, or $50 off any plumbing repair over $400. Any plumbing repair also comes with a whole-house plumbing inspection, a $149 value. If water is showing up where it shouldn’t and you can’t tell where it starts, leak detection runs $200 to $500. A plumbing diagnosis visit is $49, or $250 after hours.
Call (703) 997-9757, day or night, or book a toilet repair online. Rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
Questions people ask
Why won’t my toilet flush when I push the handle?
The handle nut is loose, the chain came off the arm, or the chain is too long to lift the flapper. Lift the tank lid and push the handle to see which.
How do I fix a loose toilet handle?
Tighten the nut inside the tank. On most toilets it’s reverse threaded, so turn it counterclockwise to tighten.
Why is my toilet not flushing when the tank is full?
The flapper isn’t lifting, usually a slack or broken chain, or the toilet is clogged and the bowl can’t drain.
How do you flush a toilet with no water?
Pour a gallon or two of water straight into the bowl in one quick pour. The toilet flushes on its own.
How much does it cost to fix a toilet that won’t flush?
A handle, chain or flapper is a toilet repair, $250 to $900, priced in writing before we start. Clearing a clogged toilet is drain cleaning for one fixture, $200 to $800.
