Three Steps to Fix Your Toilets and Avoid Water Damage

You probably take your toilets for granted -- whenever you and your team members are using something on a daily basis, it’s easy to forget that these basic fixtures in your facilities are essential to operations. Whether you’ve only got a single bathroom in your small business, or a whole array of toilets throughout multiple buildings, it’s really important that you don’t forget about the commodes that carry so much water into and out of your commercial business. All it would take is a single water leak in any one of your toilets to cause a very bad day for the bottom line of your business, especially if that leak happens to break open full-force after you and the team are gone for the day! Imagine the hundreds of gallons of water that could flow into your workspaces and cause thousands of dollars of water damage, not to mention the lost profits in the second-order effects on your operational productivity! So take a few minutes to read about how you can fix your toilets and avoid water damage, and protect your business from an easily avoidable extra expense and distraction from your daily operations.

1. BEGIN WITH REGULAR VISUAL CHECKS.
   This is the most basic thing you can do to avoid water damage from your toilets. Whether you have a paid or contracted maintenance staff, or you’re a tiny operation where you’re the boss who also scrubs the bathrooms, make sure that somewhere on your routine maintenance schedule is the task of “check toilets for leaks.” This is something your bathroom cleaners can do visually every day when they’re cleaning the toilets (…yes, you should make sure that they’re being cleaned every day to maintain basic standards of safety and sanitation…!) — and this involves not just cleaning the bowl and seat, but also taking an extra few seconds per toilet to examine the floor around the base to inspect for leaks. Even a discoloration of the grout around the base of the toilet could be an indication of additional moisture seeping through the wax ring or other seal that’s supposed to be protecting you from a costly flooding situation. If you do find evidence of a leak, you can either repair the wax ring yourself or call a professional service provider to help ensure it’s done right.

2. INSPECT THE INTERIOR OF THE TOILETS.
   You don’t need to do this every day, but if you’ve got a toilet that has a ceramic cover on the back, then ensure that you or your maintenance crew are periodically checking the fill valve (also known as the ballcock) for proper operation. This is the part of the toilet that makes sure your tank fills up to the correct level for the next flush. If the ballcock has been damaged or is getting stuck for any number of reasons, it can malfunction and not shut off properly when the tank is supposed to be full. This means that your toilet could be running constantly and wasting water, which is going to give you a higher bill each month. You might think only an ounce here or there isn’t a lot, but when you multiply that out by hours and days, you’re going to be paying unnecessary dollars to the water company instead of your own business. You should also check the rubber gasket at the base of the tank to ensure that there isn’t a leak there. The good news is that these kinds of issues are very simple and affordable to fix — sometimes as little as a few dollars per toilet for a part. You might even find that jiggling the flush handle solves the problem without any repair at all!
   
   
3. STILL NOT SURE WHAT’S GOING ON, OR HAVE WATER DAMAGE? CALL AN EXPERT FOR HELP.
   You may not want to pay for a service call, but think about the money you’ll save in the long run by contacting a water damage restoration professional like AdvantaClean. Since 1994, we’ve been providing businesses across the nation with world-class flooding response and water removal services. We can also help you troubleshoot your current toilet situation if you’re not sure exactly what’s going on. We’ll work with your busy schedule and your maintenance budget to make sure that your commercial business is protected from the serious effects that water damage can have on your bottom line. We tackle every flood cleanup and even sewer cleanup scenario with the same kind of attention to detail we would show to our own business. We take pride in serving fellow companies with the best service available for the best price too. But don’t take our word for it — read our reviews, and then get in touch with us today. We look forward to serving you soon. Remember when you’re looking for a water damage pro: it’s not clean until it’s AdvantaClean!