Question: Hi Robert, I’m a younger homeowner with my first home, and would like to try and handle repairs mostly on my own, ...

A: Even though you can likely fix your old toilet yourself with a repair kit, you would be better off in the long run installing a new water-saving model.

Flush the toilet to drain out most of the water, then unhook the old flapper. Buy a new flapper of the same type and install it according to the instructions on the package.

You can get a cheap toilet for around $100, and you can spend several hundred dollars for the high-end models. Spending more doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting a better toilet. What it ...

What was the issue with the toilet? “This customer’s toilet was continuously running, and they thought it was an issue with the flapper,” he says as he starts the repair.

Before they put their Minneapolis home on the market this spring, real estate agents advised them to replace the old-fashioned toilet with the tank that hung on the wall.