7 Common Bathroom Problems You Can Easily Fix Yourself

Do you have a toilet that runs or a drain that smells bad? How to solve problems in the bathroom before they get bigger – and more expensive.

Solve the small problems before they become big

A dripping faucet can cost thousands of dollars. Holes in the bathroom can cause costly moisture damage to walls and floors. Some problems in the bathroom should therefore be solved as soon as possible.

A clogged sink or clogged drain can be a comfort issue, but on the other hand, it is usually easy to repair yourself so you do not have to call a plumber.

1. Attach a tight drain

Drains may look different, but they usually have a water trap that stops the smell from the drain. Most bathroom and shower floor drains today have a removable insert that can be lifted and cleaned separately. The drain should be cleaned regularly to prevent soap residue and hair from clogging the drain and causing worse clogging.

Here’s how to do it

• Take out the insert and wash it with detergent on a dish brush.
• Then insert the insert and fill with water. If the drain is clogged further down, you can use a pipe brush or a drain cleaner.

2. Stopping a dripping tap

A dripping faucet can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars per year, so be sure to solve the problem as soon as possible. Changing gaskets or inserts is not that difficult, the problem for many people is that there are many different models on the market and it can be difficult to find the right spare parts.

In addition, brands and models are collectively different. Cheap, imported mixer taps can be difficult to find spare parts for. This makes it sometimes easier to replace the entire mixer with a new, well-known brand.

Here’s how to do it

Find out which mixer you have. If you do not have receipts or papers on the mixer, it may be difficult to know the model. Check the supplier’s website and see if you can find pictures of your mixer tap. The big brands often have descriptions and video instructions that show how to replace spare parts yourself.

3. Leaky wet room

Repairing a nice wet room is a job for a professional. It is necessary to examine whether the water has left moisture damage to walls and floors. In such a case, the moisture must first be removed for the leak to be sealed.

A leaking wet room should therefore not be loaded with water, as moisture damage can occur. Therefore, if you have an older bathroom, you should consider a renovation instead of a repair.

4. A tight wash

A tight wash is the optimal do-it-yourself job. In most cases, a clogged sink is due to clogging in the water trapped under the sink, which you can easily remove yourself.

Here’s how to do it

1. Have a bucket and some cloths ready.
2. Unscrew the pipe sections. If the water trap is made of plastic, you usually do not even need to use tools.
3. Clean the inside of the tube. This may smell a lot, but is quickly over.
4. Reassemble the parts and check that the water can get through the pipes and that they do not leak.

If the pipe is clogged further down, it can at best be loosened with a “sweeper”. Fill the sink with some water. Place the cup over the bottom valve and press and pull a few times.

If this does not work, remove the entire water trap down to the pipe connection in the floor. Plumbers usually use a drain cleaner to loosen dirt. The drain cleaner can be found in various construction markets and is a good tool to have in the toolbox.

5. Running Toilet

A running toilet is something you can repair even if you have little practical know-how. A running toilet is usually caused by limescale, which means that the valve does not close properly.

Here’s how to do it

Check that the valve is not limed. If so, the lime can be dissolved with acetic acid. If this does not help, the gasket may need to be replaced.

Modern toilets are more difficult to fix than older toilets, but suppliers often have good instructional videos on the website that guide you through how to solve various problems.

6. Dirty and dark joints between the tiles

The joints between the tiles are often filled with dirt and soap residue over time. This causes black spots of mold to grow between the joints, and although they are not necessarily dangerous, they look ugly.

Here’s how to do it

Mold can not grow on clean, dry joints because it is not nutritious for the fungus to grow. To remove the fungus, you can therefore wash your joints thoroughly with Rodalon for indoor use. This will kill mold and remove dark joints.

7. Broken tiles in the bathroom

Unfortunately, it is difficult to replace any broken tiles in wet rooms without damaging the wall behind. It is also inappropriate to change tiles on the floor in a wet room. Tiles on the wall in the wet zone around the shower and toilet are also risky to try to change. On the wall in the dry part of the bathroom it is less difficult, but you should be aware that moisture can still penetrate and cause damage to the wall.

A guest toilet without a bathroom is another matter. If a bathroom is not taken in the room, it is possible to replace individual plates even without risking moisture damage.

Here’s how to do it

1. First remove the joint around the damaged tile (wear safety goggles).
2. Clean behind the old tile and glue the new one on.
3. Once the glue has dried, seal it around the new tile. The joint will actually look newer, as it is difficult to get exactly the same colour as on the remaining walls.

 

Text by : Roger Nyström and C. Dahl

Source : https://voresvilla.dk/