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The Call, Step by Step

Three steps, and the first is a bottle of food coloring.

Short version

The food coloring test settles a running toilet in ten minutes and costs nothing, and the second question — whether the fixture is yours to repair at all — costs nothing either. When a call does happen the household is not charged; the contractor is.

Tank and Bowl is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no work, we sell no fixtures, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

Work out whose repair it is

If you rent, the toilet is part of the property and repairing it is normally your landlord’s responsibility. Arranging a contractor yourself can leave you paying for something you were not liable for.

Name the fault, not the fixture

“The toilet is broken” covers five different repairs. Running, no flush, a weak flush, water at the base and movement have different causes and different urgency. Two minutes with the tank lid off usually settles it.

Then ring us

The number on this site connects you to an independent contractor covering your area. We pass on what you tell us. We do not quote, schedule or supervise the work.

What we will talk you out of

Do not flush a second time to see whether a rising bowl goes down — turn the valve behind the toilet clockwise instead. And do not tighten the bolts on a rocking toilet: on an uneven floor that is how a ceramic base cracks.

If the dye test pointed at the flapper, that is a part, not a fixture.Worth saying on the call, because it changes what somebody arrives with. We connect you to a contractor covering your area and you are never charged. Toilets head this site, but any plumbing job is welcome.

Call (888) 525-3450