Why My Toilet is Leaking at the Base?
If you have walked into your bathroom only to find that a puddle has been created around your toilet, then you have a problem. Your toilet is leaking, and unfortunately, that isn’t going to fix itself. If you have noticed your toilet leaking, you will want to shut off the water to it and flush your toilet to remove the water.
Usually when the toilet is leaking around the base and you can spot not visible damage to the toilet itself, it means your wax ring has failed. This wax ring helps provide a seal between the water inside your toilet and the sewer pipe it connects to. As its name suggest, the wax ring is a ring made of wax and it will break down if the toilet is allowed to move excessively. It is likely you noticed some rocking for a few months before the leak occurred.
A wax ring that has failed will not only allow your toilet to leak, but you may also notice some odd smells wafting into your bathroom. This means that sewer gas is wafting into your home, and it is not something you want to be smelling or breathing.
Unlike many home leaks, a toilet that is leaking at the base because of a faulty wax ring is something you can technically replace yourself. You need to remove your toilet, scrape away the old dried wax ring and its residue, and then install the new wax ring. However, while that all sounds very simple, it is typically the proper repositioning of the toilet that causes trouble for most people. You will also want to look into why a wax ring failed in the first place. If your bathroom has uneven, warped flooring for example, it may need replaced or the toilet may need to be, at very least, kept still with shims.
If you are having a toilet leaking problem or other plumbing problems and need help, contact us today to see what Ory’s Plumbing Solutions can do for you.