About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 7:54:51 AM UTC-5, TimR wrote:
About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

I might've changed mine a couple times in thirty years or so. The fill valve wouldn't shut off. The incoming water
ran through the overfill tube.
There is this on Amazon. Who knows if it's any good.
https://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Flapper-Replacement-Next-Danco/dp/B08R8WGC7X/ref=sr_1_26?_encoding=UTF8&c=ts&dchild=1&keywords= Toilet+Flappers&qid=1622552722&s=kitchen-bath&sr=1-26&ts_id=3226965011

In TimR writes:

About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

Can't answer about better parts, but..

by any chance are you using the toilet cleaner disks or
similar garbage in your tank? These are notorious
for eating away at the rubber and pseudo rubber parts.

(I had a two part toilet - tank and bowl - and
the tank was dripping into the bowl. It took
a _lot_ of painful work (starting with replacing
the flapper and progressing to removing the
toilet, separting all the parts..) before I
realized the gasket between the two parts had
been damaged. ANd yeah, due to the specific design
the leakage went into the bowl instead of
the floor...


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On 6/1/2021 8:54 AM, TimR wrote:
About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.


I do not know what your toilets are. Mine are all different but the
only one I have trouble with is a finicky Toto where I have had to
replace the flapper several times and must use OEM with a larger than
normal flapper. I also required a new flush lever and only OEM would
work. I have another different type Toto that has never malfunctioned.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 1 Jun 2021 05:54:47 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

I don't see how this applies to you, but...

35 years ago when I was a new homeowner and was going to do a great job,
I bought "1000 Flushes" for each of my toilets. It kept the bowl clean
alright but in a few weeks black stuff from each flapper (they weren't
flappers then, so I don't know what their name was) lined the bowl.

I sent the old ones to the company and they refunded the price of 3
1000-flushes and three flappers.

The flappers wern't new but it was no coincidence that they all went at
once.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 1 Jun 2021 13:12:28 +0000 (UTC), danny
burstein wrote:

In TimR writes:

About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

Can't answer about better parts, but..

by any chance are you using the toilet cleaner disks or
similar garbage in your tank? These are notorious
for eating away at the rubber and pseudo rubber parts.

(I had a two part toilet - tank and bowl - and
the tank was dripping into the bowl. It took
a _lot_ of painful work (starting with replacing
the flapper and progressing to removing the
toilet, separting all the parts..) before I
realized the gasket between the two parts had
been damaged. ANd yeah, due to the specific design
the leakage went into the bowl instead of
the floor...

Well that's good. Who says there is no objective good in this world!

I have 2-part toilets too. I guess I'm lucky the stuff I used only
ruined my flappers.

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 9:12:33 AM UTC-4, danny burstein wrote:
In TimR writes:

About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.
Can't answer about better parts, but..

by any chance are you using the toilet cleaner disks or
similar garbage in your tank? These are notorious
for eating away at the rubber and pseudo rubber parts.


Nope. I made that mistake once, the valves lasted one year instead of two.

On 6/1/2021 5:54 AM, TimR wrote:
About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.


The silicone flappers are supposed to last longer. Perhaps an occasional
treatment with silicone grease, or even armoral would help

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 8:54:51 AM UTC-4, TimR wrote:
About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

Have you considered that the problem isn't the flapper(s)?

Maybe the flush valve seat - the part where the flapper lands - is rough/out of round/etc. Maybe a brand new
flexible flapper seals properly but after a short time it can't compensate for a faulty seat.

That's just a guess, but you shouldn't have to replace the flapper every 2 years.

Do you have more than one toilet? If so, it is only this toilet that gives you trouble? If so, I'd
have to say that it's something other than the flapper(s).

On Tue, 1 Jun 2021 13:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Marilyn Manson
wrote:

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 8:54:51 AM UTC-4, TimR wrote:
About every two years my toilets start leaking into the bowl enough that they periodically refill. I guess my water is aggressive enough to eat away at them.

Last time I paid my plumber to do it instead of me, thinking he would have better quality parts. Nope, he went to Home Depot and bought the same stuff I did.

Is there anything better out there that will last a bit longer? Or is this just routine maintenance like filter changes.

Have you considered that the problem isn't the flapper(s)?

Maybe the flush valve seat - the part where the flapper lands - is rough/out of round/etc. Maybe a brand new
flexible flapper seals properly but after a short time it can't compensate for a faulty seat.

That's just a guess, but you shouldn't have to replace the flapper every 2 years.

Do you have more than one toilet? If so, it is only this toilet that gives you trouble? If so, I'd
have to say that it's something other than the flapper(s).

My answer too. Had an oldie that has a brass valve seat - or maybe it
was chrome and later brass - with a rubber ball that dropped down on
the valve. It had corroded enough to create a tiny leak. Being a
responsible renter I bought a replacement fix that was a flapper &
seat with a gummy adhesive that went over the old seal.

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 4:36:25 PM UTC-4, Marilyn Manson wrote:


Do you have more than one toilet? If so, it is only this toilet that gives you trouble? If so, I'd
have to say that it's something other than the flapper(s).

Three toilets, three slightly different seats, all of them fail.

But you're right, the one that's acting up today has a slightly different attachment. I did end up putting a different seat on it, but when i had the plumber redo it he took that one off.

When I change light bulbs i write the date on the base with a sharpie. Maybe i'll start using a label maker and marking the toilet to see if I get different life spans.

On Wed, 2 Jun 2021 04:38:52 -0700 (PDT), TimR posted for all of us to digest...


On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 4:36:25 PM UTC-4, Marilyn Manson wrote:


Do you have more than one toilet? If so, it is only this toilet that gives you trouble? If so, I'd
have to say that it's something other than the flapper(s).

Three toilets, three slightly different seats, all of them fail.

But you're right, the one that's acting up today has a slightly different attachment. I did end up putting a different seat on it, but when i had the plumber redo it he took that one off.

When I change light bulbs i write the date on the base with a sharpie. Maybe i'll start using a label maker and marking the toilet to see if I get different life spans.

Is it that important? Anyway, if all toilets are doing it then I would look at
the water quality. It may be acidic or something, crystal ball is down.

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Tekkie