Toilet trouble. . . . (1 Viewer)

[Jman]

So it turns out the stain that showed up a couple days ago on the first floor ceiling is from our toilet on the second floor. Every time we flush, a few drops filter through. Luckily, we did the testing with clean water in the bowl.

Because of the location of the stain, it's either the wax seal between the toilet and the drain, or maybe a leak in the PVC drain pipe as it descends to the main drain stack. I'm hoping for the former.

I've never changed the wax seal on a toilet before. Any advice? Is it as easy as disconnecting the water, unbolting from the floor, moving toilet, and dropping in a new seal (uh, after removing old seal, of course). Are there any "surprises" I should try to avoid?

What do I need? Just a new seal, some tools, and some gloves?

 

[DBAX]

Here ya' go buddy

 

[Dan_J-spec_fj62]

be sure to empty the tank before you move it... that could get very cold and wet in a hurry if you don't!!
that and a turkey baseter from the dollar store for a one-time-use to empty any extra water that is still in the bowl!!

dan

 

[freightdog]

take the funky nuts off each side where it is connected to the floor - lift up toilet - (after you drain all water) the wax seal might be the problem - doubtful it would be the PVC - just take the wax seal up and then clean good and slap a new wax seal down - center toilet over the wax seal and set her back down...don't pinch or go front to back when you reset the toilet.

How old is the house

 

[OZCAL]

Maybe it's condensation from a heat differential - anything really hot going down the pipe?

 

[rusty_tlc]

Turn off the water supply, flush the toilet. Pour a bucket of water into the bowl, this will get rid of most of the water. A shop vac or sponge work well to get the last bit of water out of the bowl.

When you replace the wax ring, most likely the source of the leak, put the bowl straight down. Remove the tank to make it easier to handle. Then take a seat on the throne to make the seal seat.
DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE NUTS THAT HOLD THE BOWL DOWN!!!!

I cracked a bowl this way.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

There are two types of wax rings available - one with a flange and one without. Spend the extra fifty cents and get the one with the flange. It willhelp center the thing on the toilet and drain. Also, careful when you tighten the bolts, you could break the flange on the drain. If you do there is a thing called an expanding flange, nothing more then a metal thing that has hole that will go half way around the drain tube and hopefully catch what ever is left of you flange.

 

[Jman]

How old is the house

About 132 years old. We bought it and renovated about ten years ago.

Tank is already drained--that's how I determined it was the toilet. Flushing all five gallons got some clear drops quickly coming through.

I'll shop vac the bowl, then unbolt and move it. Good idea about removing the tank to make it easier to seat the bowl.

Oh, and you all forgot to tell me the move important advice: buy two or three wax rings, so that you have spares when you fxxx the first one up!

Thanks, guys.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Oh, and you all forgot to tell me the move important advice: buy two or three wax rings, so that you have spares when you **** the first one up!

Thanks, guys.

That is why yu get the one with the flange. Even Jman proof!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

When I did this, I seem to remember there are two different sizes. a 3 inch and a 4 inch. That wax is some sticky goo and it's a bit of a chore to clean the old stuff off. One other thing-those wax seals are cheap, and it's easy to damage the first time you do it. My reccomendation-get 2!

 

[Brian in Oregon]

There are two types of wax rings available - one with a flange and one without. Spend the extra fifty cents and get the one with the flange. It willhelp center the thing on the toilet and drain.

Uh, one caveat to that. Sometimes the thickness of the flange in the wax ring is enough to prevent the toilet from fully seating. You may wind up with a gap under the toilet. If this happens, you have three choices. Crank down the nuts until you break something. Reinstall the toilet with a wax ring sans flange. Or if the gap is narrow enough, space the toilet off the floor with pennies.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Uh, one caveat to that. Sometimes the thickness of the flange in the wax ring is enough to prevent the toilet from fully seating. You may wind up with a gap under the toilet. If this happens, you have three choices. Crank down the nuts until you break something. Reinstall the toilet with a wax ring sans flange. Or if the gap is narrow enough, space the toilet off the floor with pennies.

Uh, warm up the wax ring a bit with a space heater or hair dryer and use the crapper. (ie sit on it) then tighten the bolts a bit. That is why they are made of wax.

 

[stevezero]

nitrile gloves........wear em when scrapin the wax off(and all the other associated fluids and compounds).......

Plastic putty knife or bondo spreader that you never want to see again...(use to scrape toilet and bowl).

Extra wax ring, and extra T bolts used to mount the toilet. Pennies or plastic tackle box dividers to level toilet.

 

[brian]

i hate it when the s***ter craps out............

 

[97 FZJ80]

You will need the extra T bolts that holds the toilet to the flange. The excess part of the bolts are design to snap off so that the plastic cover can fit over it. The old bolts will be too short to reuse.

Most local hardware stores sell the wax ring and T bolts as a package.

 

[Walton]

The water could be coming from condensation...My toilet at our cabin would sweat lot's of water from the tank if the water was real cold...Might check it out...I replaced it with a Kohler air bladder tank that doesn't sweat...

Good Luck......

 

[brett76]

oh man that happned to my buddy
it was the pipes. it sucked they ripped half the ceiling out of their dnnig room to get to it

 

[Jman]

Oh, crap.

Got two wax seals, one with a flange, one without, got all the tools, took it all apart, used a wet vac to remove all the water, lifted the bowl, and found out that it had been leaking enough to corrode the metal ring around the drain that holds the bolts in place. There is nothing to hold the bolts in place. So, here are the questions:

1. From the looks of it, the metal ring is attached to the PVC drain, so I need to take the top part of the drain pipe out, too. Is this correct? Or is there a hinged version of the metal ring that can go on like a collar?

2. If I do indeed have to remove the top part of the PVC drain pipe, whats the best way to do this, from above? I don't want to rip out the ceiling below if I don't have to.

3. It looks as if the drain pipe was a little too high--the person who installed the toilet had it resting on some plaster, which decayed over time, caused some flex when people sat on the bowl, which is probably what caused the leak in the first place. What's the best way to shim the toilet when I reseat this? Pennies or nickels? Washers? And what do I use to fill the gap between the bowl and the tile floor after it is shimmed? I don't want to use paster, because it decays when wet, but I don't want to use anything like phenoseal, which would create too strong a bond.

4. I'm dealing with a tile floor, so I might have to chisel away some of the tile and underlaying concrete to reseat this metal ring. And tips on that?

Thanks for anything you can suggest.

 

[honk]

Just lag bolt the toilet to the floor. Forget that scrawny flange.

Oh, it's on concrete? That's too bad.

 

[fsusteve]

They make a broken flange kit that fits over the original and the t-bolts go thru that. I used plumbers putty, rolled into a snake to level a toilet once seemed to work well. Trust me, if it can be fxxxed up, I've dealt with it.