A Little Help: Toilet Leaking?

[pikabb]

Hi,

I stumbled across this forum while researching a recent problem I have had in my house. I am a relatively new home owner and am trying to learn as much as I can (and save money) by fixing things myself.

A few months ago a had a problem where if I poured a bucked of water into the toilet, it would leak through the light fixture in my kitchen (below the bathroom). I simply let it go (I know, not smart) and just didn't pour excess water into the toilet. Fast forward to this week, I see a wet moldly stain on my kitchen ceiling. I assume that this is related to the toilet problem (I've read that it's usually a leak under the toilet or a problem on the roof with the escape vent).

I pulled up the toilet, and the wax seal appears to me to be no good. I have attached a picture of the seal below. My questions are: 1) Am I correct in assuming that this seal is no good? 2) Could this be causing the wet kitchen ceiling? 3) Is this related to the issue where I pour too much water down the toilet and it leaked, or is that a separate issue? 4) If it is no good, what to do I do now, just replace the wax seal?

I was reading other posts and I think that I should have a flange on top of the tile, but I don't see one there now. Is that right, and how would I go about fixing that situation?

I am sorry for the very amateurish questions, but like I said, this is my first time having to deal with these types of issues, and I would love to be able to gain the knowledge so next time I know what to do, and it would be great to fix it myself and save the costs of a plumber if at all possible.

I greatly appreciate any advice you could provide.

Thank you,
Glen

 

[Terry]

Unless the flange is above the finished floor, it will take two wax rings.

You didn't have enough wax to seal the flange to the bottom of the bowl.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[pikabb]

Unless the flange is above the finished floor, it will take two wax rings.

You didn't have enough wax to seal the flange to the bottom of the bowl.

Thanks for the reply. So all I should do is rip off the old wax ring, and place two new rings under the bowl? I don't need to worry about flange extenders? Do I need to put anything between the two rings, or they will just seal together? Thanks again.

 

[Terry]

I've been doing two wax rings for 37 years.

Installing a toilet

 

[Jerome2877]

Note that one wax ring has the plastic sleave and the other doesn't.

 

[hj]

The dark place is where it has been leaking. Normally, I am NOT a fan of the ring with a "funnel", but if you need two rings, use a regular wax ring, and then place one with a funnel on TOP of it. It also looks like you old ring was NOT centered so the left side may not even have been sitting on the flange.

 

[pikabb]

Thank you so much for the replies.

I am going to purchase the wax rings and finish the repair tonight. Just to make sure I am doing things right, I should use a ring like the one on the left directly on top of the flange, and then a ring like the one on the right on top of the first ring? I'm assuming they will be the same diameter so they should sit on top of each other without a problem?

Side note, is it normal for the drain pipe to look so "dirty"? If I pour water into it, it seems to go down a little slow, and a small amount of water actually sits in the pipe where I can see it. Does this mean there is a clog, and if so, how would I go about trying to clear it? Thanks again for your help and time.

 

[hj]

quote; If I pour water into it, it seems to go down a little slow, and a small amount of water actually sits in the pipe where I can see it. Does this mean there is a clog, and if so, how would I go about trying to clear it?

It depends on what you mean by " a little slow" and WHY the water sits in the pipe. Maybe YOU cannot do anything to clear it and need a plumber to check the drain first and then clear it if necessary.