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jmrank · Dec 3, 2009, 09:28 AM

Hey everybody...

We bought a house that's only 4 years old, and never expected this sort of problem. One of our toilets appears to have a very slight leak, with water coming out from under the base. The water is definitely "pee-water;" once it starts to dry, the smell is evident.

It's not a problem I can "make" happen... I can flush the toilet as many times as I feel, without seeing any leakage. Inevitably, though, after a couple days, we start seeing and smelling the leakage. I have replaced the toilet about five times now, with both rubber wax-free seals, as well as the extra-thick wax ring (which is on there now). I've tried dying the water both in the tank and the bowl in an attempt to find leaks, with no success. The toilet also does not appear to be loose... and the only people that use it are my 3- and 5- year old girls (i.e. no weight is being put on it).

I have read that if the "leakage" smells like toilet water, the issue is likely that the water is backing up. I could see this being the case... the same drain in the basement has the bath/shower and washing machine on it. But we never see any back-up anywhere else. I guess my questions are:

1. Does the back-up theory make any sense?
2. Is there any way to "test" that theory?
3. Any other ideas as to how this could be happening?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

ballengerb1 · Dec 3, 2009, 09:57 AM

You need to remove the toilet and replace the wax ring that seals it to the closet drain pipe. I would also suggest that since the toilet will be off the floor you should also do some prophylactic rodding of the drain.

ballengerb1 · Dec 3, 2009, 11:28 AM

"water mostly drop downward into the drain pipe?" this is correct and the reason I said to do some rodding. The pipe must be slightly blocked to cause the back up to leak. Do you have any young sons or older parents living with you?

bostonian · Dec 3, 2009, 11:28 AM

I've already done that a number of times... is the implication I'm doing it wrong?

Wouldn't the flushed water mostly drop downward into the drain pipe? And if it were a leak... wouldn't I be able to "create" it by flushing enough times?

Whoops, didn't mean to respond the same thing twice... no, just girls in my house, and I don't use that bathroom...

Someone put some caulk around my kitchen sink and did a terrible job of it. I want to remove it, any easy solutions?

ballengerb1 · Dec 3, 2009, 11:33 AM

?? Why post your #3 post again?

OK I see we are posting at the same time and stepping on each other. A bad wax ring generally allows sewer gas to get into the room but can allow water to leak under certain circumstances. However, it usually isn't a urine smell alone unless someone has a very bad aim. Here is a test. Clean the room thoroughly and them do not allow anyone to use it for several days. Go in and flush the toilet 5x days a day to see if you ever get any leak or smell. I think you won't.

Yeah, that was an accident... I posted it, walked away, came back, and saw an option to Post... and thought there was an intermediate step, so I hit the button again. My mistake.

Stupid question #2... what would I use to rod the drain? One of those crank-rods that you reel back in?

I can see that... let me ask this up front... if we don't get any leaks, what does that mean? That the cause is something else?

Also, are we talking about 5x quick flushes in a row?

I can believe it could be a back-up problem, particularly because the pipes seem to also service the washing machine and shower (that the kids use)... It's just that after replacing the toilet so many times, I'd like to feel comfortable that I'm attacking the right problem before I take it off again...

ballengerb1 · Dec 3, 2009, 11:37 AM

OK I see we are posting at the same time and stepping on each other. A bad wax ring generally allows sewer gas to get into the room but can allow water to leak under certain circumstances. However, it usually isn't a urine smell alone unless someone has a very bad aim. Here is a test. Clean the room thoroughly and them do not allow anyone to use it for several days. Go in and flush the toilet 5x days a day to see if you ever get any leak or smell. I think you won't.

jmrank · Dec 3, 2009, 11:38 AM

Yeah, that was an accident... I posted it, walked away, came back, and saw an option to Post... and thought there was an intermediate step, so I hit the button again. My mistake.

Stupid question #2... what would I use to rod the drain? One of those crank-rods that you reel back in?

jmrank · Dec 3, 2009, 11:41 AM

I can see that... let me ask this up front... if we don't get any leaks, what does that mean? That the cause is something else?

Also, are we talking about 5x quick flushes in a row?

I can believe it could be a back-up problem, particularly because the pipes seem to also service the washing machine and shower (that the kids use)... It's just that after replacing the toilet so many times, I'd like to feel comfortable that I'm attacking the right problem before I take it off again...

ballengerb1 · Dec 3, 2009, 11:42 AM

No those are for smaller sink drains. They are normally only 1/4" rodders. You can rent or borrow a sewer rodder which can take a 2" to 4" cutter

jmrank · Dec 17, 2009, 06:48 AM

All right, we're reloading this question...

I've been trying to "test" with nobody using the toilet to see what's the matter, and I can't figure anything out. Then yesterday, I notice the sewer pipe underneath the toilet is dripping onto the basement floor. I can see that the wood (floorboard) is wet, and that's where the drip is coming from.

So, I took the toilet off again, and I can't seem to find anything wrong. I don't think the pipes are backing up anymore; we were unable to "make" it happen with the wash machine, bathtub, and buckets of water down the toilet drain... nothing comes back up.

So, we're to the toilet. I will admit: I know jack about how a toilet works. As a test, I did the following:

1. Put the toilet into the bathtub
2. Add water to the tank and bowl
3. Put red food coloring in the tank
4. Put blue food coloring in the bowl
5. Walk away

The idea being, maybe I can "prove" if something is leaking. Not two hours after rigging the whole thing up, there is blue water draining behind the toilet into the tub drain.

Has this taught me anything? Is there something on the toilet that needs replacing? The whole thing, perhaps? Or is it likely just because the toilet isn't level when it's in the tub?