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The cistern won't stop filling, the flush has gone feeble, there's water round the base of the pan, or the button's stopped doing anything at all. A toilet has only a handful of parts that fail, and we carry the common ones on the van — so most toilet repairs in Crawley are diagnosed and fixed in one visit. Usually with you the same day, fully insured, and a clear price before we start.
A toilet is a simple machine — a cistern that fills, a valve that releases it, a seal where it meets the pan, and a connector into the soil pipe. Almost every fault lives in one of those four places, and the trick is working out which before anything gets replaced. Here's what we're called to most often.
A running toilet wastes water every hour of the day, and on a meter you'll see it on the bill. There are two usual causes: the flush valve seal at the bottom of the cistern has hardened or picked up grit and no longer closes, so water trickles into the pan with a constant ripple on the surface; or the fill valve isn't shutting off, so the cistern overfills and the excess runs down the overflow. A fill valve that's on its way out also hisses, bangs or takes an age to refill. We test for each, replace the part that's actually failed, and set the water level so the flush is full without the cistern running on.
Dual-flush toilets rely on a button pressing a cable or a pair of rods that lift the flush valve. When the cable stretches, the button clip breaks or the valve only lifts part of the way, you get a flush that needs holding down, works every other time, or does nothing at all. On older lever toilets the siphon diaphragm splits and the handle goes slack. Limescale is the other culprit in a hard-water area like Crawley — it narrows the rim jets so the water dribbles instead of washing round the bowl. We replace cables, buttons, siphons and flush valves with the right type for your cistern, and clear scaled jets where that's the real problem.
Water on the floor behind or beneath a toilet is the fault to take seriously, because it isn't clean water for long. On a close-coupled toilet the doughnut washer between cistern and pan perishes, or the fixing bolts corrode, and the cistern weeps on every flush. At the back of the pan, the connector into the soil pipe can crack, slip or lose its seal, especially if the pan has worked loose and rocks. Either way it lifts flooring and, upstairs, finds its way into the ceiling below. We replace the washer, kit or connector, refix the pan so it's solid, and check the floor while it's accessible.
A toilet that won't clear, or fills to the brim and drains slowly, is usually a blockage in the pan, the trap or the first stretch of pipe beyond it — wet wipes, too much paper, or something a child has posted down there. We clear it with a plunger or a hand auger without lifting the toilet wherever possible, flush-test it, and tell you what caused it. Where the blockage is further down the drain — a shared run, tree roots or a collapsed pipe — that's a job for a specialist drainage contractor with jetting kit, and we'll say so rather than force it. More on where that line sits on our blocked drains page.
Sometimes the honest answer is a new toilet: a cracked pan or cistern, a discontinued flush mechanism with no spares, or an old suite that's had three repairs in two years. We'll say so plainly and quote for a like-for-like replacement, including the new connector, fixings, seat and isolation valve, so the next fault is years away rather than months. If it's part of a wider refresh, our bathroom installation service covers the whole room.
Many newer homes and flats in Crawley have a wall-hung or back-to-wall toilet with the cistern hidden behind tiles and a flush plate on the wall. The parts inside are much the same, but reaching them means working through the flush-plate opening without disturbing the finish. We also repair macerator toilets — the pumped units fitted where there's no gravity drain — and we'll say honestly when a tired unit is better replaced than patched.
Three steps. No surprises.
Running, not flushing, leaking or blocked — and whether it's a push button or a lever, a visible cistern or one behind the wall. Two minutes on the phone usually narrows it to one or two parts, so we arrive with the right ones on the van.
We check the simple things first — water level, fill valve, flush seal, button and cable, the seals at the base — and test rather than assume. Most toilet faults are a single worn part, and most are fixed on the same visit.
We flush it through several times, check the floor and the connector are dry, and leave the bathroom as we found it. You get a clear price before we start and an itemised VAT receipt by email, and you can pay by card on the spot with Stripe Tap to Pay, by bank transfer (BACS), or cash.
Based in Crawley, we're usually the quickest to reach the town itself and the villages around it, and we cover the wider Sussex, Surrey, South London and Kent area from there. Click any area for full detail on what we cover there.
Not in this list? We also reach Brighton and South London, and most addresses within about an hour of Crawley — call 07884 064809 and we'll confirm we cover you.
If the toilet is backing up because the drain beyond it is blocked, see blocked drains in Crawley. A leak that's already reached the ceiling below is an emergency plumber job and we treat it as one. A dripping basin tap beside the toilet comes under shower and tap repairs in Crawley, and a damp patch with no obvious source is one for leak detection in Sussex.
A toilet that runs on after the flush, or trickles into the pan all day, almost always has one of two faults: the flush valve seal at the bottom of the cistern isn't closing, so water leaks straight through into the pan, or the fill valve isn't shutting off, so the cistern overfills and spills down the overflow. Both are wear parts and a straightforward swap, and we carry the common types on the van. We'll tell you which one it is rather than replacing both on the off-chance.
Yes. A weak flush is usually a flush valve that's only lifting part of the way, a dual-flush button or cable that's stretched or jammed, a cistern that isn't filling to the right level, or limescale narrowing the rim jets. A toilet that won't flush at all is usually a snapped cable, a failed button or a blockage. We check the mechanism first, because a new flush valve set up correctly fixes most of them in one visit.
Treat it as urgent. Water at the base of the pan is coming either from the pan connector to the soil pipe or from the joint between the cistern and the pan, and either way it's waste water reaching your floor. Left alone it lifts flooring, rots a timber floor or ends up in the ceiling below. The fix is usually a new doughnut washer, close-coupling kit or pan connector — a quick job if it's caught early. Stop using the toilet if you can and call us.
Yes, blocked toilets are everyday work for us. We use a plunger or a hand auger to clear the pan, the trap and the first run of pipe, and we flush-test it before we leave. If the blockage is further down the drain than rodding reaches, or it's a shared drain or a collapsed run, that needs a specialist drainage contractor with jetting kit, and we'll say so rather than force it.
It depends on the part. Swapping a fill valve or a flush seal is a short job; replacing a whole toilet or getting into a concealed cistern behind a tiled wall takes longer. We don't quote a fixed figure before we've seen it, because it might not hold. What we promise is a clear price agreed before any work starts, then you pay for the time on the job and any parts, with a VAT receipt by email.
We're based in Crawley and cover Crawley (RH10, RH11), Horsham (RH12, RH13), Burgess Hill (RH15), Haywards Heath (RH16, RH17), East Grinstead (RH19), Redhill (RH1), Reigate (RH2), Brighton (BN1-3) and out into Surrey, South London and Kent. If you're within about an hour of Crawley, call us — chances are we cover you.
Call or WhatsApp, tell us what it's doing, and we'll give you an honest time to be there.