I have a home that was built in the 1930s. I have a problem with the toilet on my first floor. When the water supply to the toilet is on water leaks through the floor to the basement below. Here are some random facts: The floor in the bathroom is original tile. The floor doesn't appear to be wet. I have access from the basement. The pipe I can see connecting the toilet to the waste pipe is lead. The waste pipe is cast iron. The lead pipe comes down and bends right, traveling through a wood beam and over a "girder" type beam to the iron pipe that ties to my septic. The distance between the two is 2 feet or so. I have been dealing (or not dealing) with this issue by keeping the water supply turned off , only turning it on to flush. I have resisted pulling the toilet because I realize once I do there's no going back. If my problem is the flange, how do I fix it ? With the beams and the tight quarters replacing the lead pipe with PVC seams - well... This feeling like War and Peace so I'll take a breath and throw myself at your mercy and knowledge. Thanks in advance.

First you need to find out where the water is leaking from. If it is from where the commode is sealed to the lead pipe, that would be one thing that is fairly easy to stop, if the leak is coming from further down the lead pipe that the pipe must have a hole I it and this could be a bigger problem but still fixable. If the water is coming from some other place then no need to bother the lead waste pipe. Sometimes it is very hard to determine where water is coming from, so make sure you have found he leak and then to problem can be solved very easy.

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Originally Posted by bellwoods

I have a home that was built in the 1930s. I have a problem with the toilet on my first floor. When the water supply to the toilet is on water leaks thru the floor to the basement below. Here are some random facts: The floor in the bathroom is original tile. The floor doesn't appear to be wet. I have access from the basement. The pipe I can see connecting the toilet to the waste pipe is lead. The waste pipe is cast iron. The lead pipe comes down and bends right, traveling through a wood beam and over a "girder" type beam to the iron pipe that ties to my septic. The distance between the two is 2 feet or so. I have been dealing (or not dealing) with this issue by keeping the water supply turned off , only turning it on to flush. I have resisted pulling the toilet because I realize once I do there's no going back. If my problem is the flange, how do I fix it ? With the beams and the tight quarters replacing the lead pipe with PVC seams - well ...This feeling like War and Peace so I'll take a breath and throw myself at your mercy and knowledge. Thanks in advance.

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I have a little problem here. If the water"s leaking from the supply and you have to turn it off to stop it why are you focusing on the lead closet bend?
It seems to me simple enough. Go into the basement and track the water supply until you locate the leak. Or am I missing something here?
Regards, Tom