Every home has its quirks: a toilet that runs a few seconds too long, a light that flickers when you flip the switch, a thin line of caulk pulling away from the tub. None of them feel urgent, so they slide to the bottom of the weekend to-do list.

That’s exactly what makes them expensive. Many costly home repairs don’t start with a burst pipe or a storm. They start as small problems that cost a few dollars to fix, then quietly cause damage behind walls, under floors and inside electrical boxes until the bill runs into the thousands.

Here are three minor home issues you shouldn’t ignore, what they’re really telling you, and how to fix them before they become major repairs.

That faint hiss or random phantom flush usually means water is leaking from the tank into the bowl. The most common culprit for an intermittent phantom flush is a worn flapper, the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank, which warps over time from hard-water minerals and cleaning chemicals.

A faulty fill valve or high float level causes a slightly different problem: a constant, non-stop running hiss as water spills into the overflow tube. Either way, the water goes into the bowl and down the drain, not onto your floor. That doesn’t make it harmless. A running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day, which can noticeably raise your water bill.

Water pooling around the base of the toilet is a different, more serious problem.

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