The basics of toilet care and training, by Kay Keating, from Toiletology 101.

"Let's plunge in; flush out the facts and plumb the depths of toilet repairs. Almost everything you ever wanted to know about your toilets!  And some things you probably never knew you needed to know."

The very first thing you need to know in your pursuit of your "Bachelor of Toilets Degree" is how to turn off your water supply. The main water shutoff for single family homes is usually in the basement; most often on the wall facing the street, but that's not alway the case. You need to explore your home and find it.

Once found, hang a tag on it so everyone in your household knows what it is and where it is. The MAIN SHUTOFF turns off all the water to your entire house; MAKE SURE IT WORKS. You will need it in an emergency AND/OR when you don't have an individual shutoff under fixtures. If the handle is hard to turn, apply a penetrating lubricant spray such as LPS-1 or WD-40 to the
stem behind the handle. Give it time to soak in and then try to turn the valve by using pliers on the stem behind the handle.

I urge you to be careful with this valve, you need to be aware that if something breaks and the valve is turned on, you will have a mess on your hands very quickly. Better to have a professional take care of this valve. To repair this valve, the water supply must be turned off at the street and usually requires a special tool only available from the water company.

Need more information to keep your toilet problems from overflowing into the rest of your life? Click here: http://www.toiletology.com/. When you go to http://www.toiletology.com, you'll find comprehensive articles to get you up and going (ahem), again.