Toilet seal leak
I recently had the tile replaced in a bathroom of a rental apartment. Because the tile raise the floor a spacer was added to the flange to raise it with the tile. I applied silicone cement between the flange as recommended by the device tag.
I have replace the toilet seal twice and still have a leak. I flush the toilet 6 to 8 times after each install and nothing but yet the tenant said a small amount of water comes out when she sits on toiliet.
I suspect that the toilet is not sitting level on the floor and might be tilting some forward during use and cause water to flow out of the bowl.
I havent chaulked it yet and was wondering if maybe shimming the front slightly and then chaulking it might cure the problem. I have just about run out of ideas with this thing.The toilet is not very old only about a year.
Well, to start off with we need to find where the leak is coming from.
The obvious places to check are as follows:
1 – Wax seal below toilet. Constant flushing many times should reveal if the problem is coming from the seal. It is possible that the seal is not properly installed so when you sit on the toilet it causes it to leak. Also does the toilet move at all?
2 – Tank to bowl gasket or bolts. Look behind the toilet where the toilet and tank go together for any signs of water/moisture. Also move the tank around a bit to check if bolts are leaking when someone sit on the toilet. Make sure to flush while looking also to check the tank to bowl gasket and if it looks OK flush again while moving the tank a little bit.
3 – Toilet supply. Check all around the shut off, supply tube, and where the supply goes through the tank for water or moisture.
Now for the Non-obvious places:
4 – If all else fails check for possible cracks in the china.
5 – Check inside the tank to make sure the water level in the tank is not too high and the little plastic tube is in place so it doesn’t spray water up at the cover causing water to leak around the cover and down the outside of the tank.
The best way to check for leaks is to wipe everything down very well with a paper towel and stick the paper towel into the crack between the floor and the toilet to dry out any moisture under the toilet. This way you will be able to spot the smallest leak. Make sure to use a flashlight to see better.
Do not caulk the toilet until the leak has been found because if it is the seal all you will do is trap the leak and rot the floor or worse, cause the water leak to come through the ceiling below.
I personally never caulk my toilets and if installed properly you should not need to do this.
One more thing, because you raised the flange it is a good idea to use a wax seal with a plastic cone to help get the water past the closet spacer. If the wax is installed correctly and the pipes drain correctly, you should never have a leak this way, unless the pipes back up.
