"Launched in 2005, Home-Dzine was created to realise a dream; to express my love of home DIY and decor and share with other South Africans. As a non-commercial website I am free to express my own opinions and pass on valuable information to readers.
I feel that more people can benefit by being able to DIY home improvement and home repairs. And we're not talking about major DIY home repairs, but those that anyone with a bit of DIY savvy can do themselves."
Fix that leaky toilet
If there are brown stains or water is dripping from the back of the toilet - where it connects to the outlet pipe - you need to replace the seal.
It's a fairly easy - although quite messy - project that can be done in 10 minutes.
All you need to replace the damaged seal is a new wax seal that you will find at your local Builders Warehouse or Builders Express store.
You will need:
Wax seal
Rubber gloves
Clean Green
Paper towels
Clean cloths
Here's how:
1. Switch off the local stop valve next to the toilet. If you don't have a local valve, switch off the main water supply. The main stop valve is normally located outside the house but still on your property, and is situated closely to the water meter.
2. Flush the toilet to empty any water in the cistern and use a plastic cup (put on your rubber gloves!)to remove any remaining water in the 'U' trap - or bend in the toilet, otherwise you will end up with water all over the floor!
3. Place an old towel under the pipe to catch any remaining water and pull out the old seal. If you can't, do not worry too much - you can pack the new wax seal into the gap.
4. Gently remove the new wax seal from the container and start to pack this around the join between the back of the toilet and the outlet pipe (see image above). It is quite messy. Make sure that the wax seal is packed nicely all around the join and that there are no gaps.
5. Wipe any excess wax off with paper towels and then put some Clean Green on a cloth to remove the rest.