Toilet and Sink Suddenly More Difficult to Use

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Jeffx

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Messages
9
Reaction score
2
Location
,
Hi,

This problem started a few days ago. I live on the sixth floor in a six-story apartment building in Brooklyn, NY. The toilet in the bathroom is a flushometer, which is very common here.

One day last week, after getting home from work and using the toilet, I noticed that I had to press down much harder than usual to flush the toilet. It flushed fine, though.

I then used the bathroom sink. As I turned on the cold faucet, I noticed that on this fixture, too, it was much more harder to turn than usual, and required more strength to do so.

I also noticed that, while turning on the shower the next morning, it seemed to need more force since then to turn on, but maybe not as much as the sink. Ditto for the kitchen sink.

The toilet always required a little bit of force to flush, especially after I had it "fixed" by the super a couple years back due to a short flush that really wouldn't flush at all. Since the toilet flushed well after the fix, I thought, hey, that's the best I'm gonna get from the guy (even though I give him a nice Christmas present every year).

The toilet is what I'm really concerned about. It's as if there is a two-step process to flush: It easily pushes down, then meets some resistance, and then I have to push harder to get it to flush. It's sort of been like that since the super fixed it, but it's more difficult to push down now. Sometimes I have to use nearly all my strength to flush it, believe it or not!

I'm thinking that there may have been an increase to the water pressure either in the building or the neighborhood that's creating this resistance to all fixtures. This all happened right before we had the 95-degree weather which has ended.

I was going to call the building management to get this looked at, but I know they'll be a bit hesitant to do anything, since it does flush and I do have water in the sink. They will, as they like to do, try to make like I'm imagining a problem. And the super, while fixing one problem, often creates another. Such is the life in New York.

The toilet may flush a little easier at 3pm than at 3am, but it's still more difficult to do so than it was a week ago.

So, since all fixtures are now more difficult to turn, what can be causing this? I am kind of doubting that all fixtures are failing at the same exact time.

Thank you for any help or information!!
 
Last edited:
That can be a tough one to diagnose from here.
Ask your neighbors if they notice anything different.
I would start with checking the water pressure. That may be a little difficult, even for myself. With some imagination I could probably find a way.
 
By more force do you mean that you are having more resistance when turning the faucets on or do you mean that you have to turn them farther to get water?
 
By more force do you mean that you are having more resistance when turning the faucets on or do you mean that you have to turn them farther to get water?


I am having more resistance. I do not have to turn them farther than I normally do.

It's been a little better the last day or so...I don't have to use as much strength as I did last week to flush the toilet or turn the faucet. But it's not as easy as it was previous to this happening.

Thank you for the replies!
 
That can be a tough one to diagnose from here.
Ask your neighbors if they notice anything different.
I would start with checking the water pressure. That may be a little difficult, even for myself. With some imagination I could probably find a way.

Thank you for the reply.

I wouldn't even know how to check the water pressure...any equipment in the basement of the building is probably off-limits to me. Not sure if there's a way to do it from my apartment.
 
Good news. The super was here and he replaced the washer at the toilet handle. Works great now. Hope it lasts.
 
Toilet handles have washers?

Well, that's what the super called it. Maybe it has another name. I think it may be called a handle coupling (I just did a google search and that's what it looks like). It is a part that attaches to the end of the handle on the flushometer. I can see that it's new. Maybe later tonight I will take a pic of it.
 
Flushometers do.

He probable replaced the diagram assembly in the head.

Does it look like this?

Yes, it looks very much like that. Not that exact model, but similar. The part you show at the bottom, with the handle and other part attached to it, is what was replaced. I have no idea if any of the other interior parts were replaced. Since it took the guy only two minutes to do it, I'm guessing not.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top