I bought a brand new apartment that had just been built 6 years ago. All around the toilet, except for the back, they applied a clear silicone seal.
I guess the silicone seal deteriorated over the years, and I ended up smelling a slight sewer odor when I smelled near the side of the toilet this winter. It is clear tha the odor came from under the toilet.
I thought the toilet wax seal might have needed to be replaced. This is the only toilet in the house (no backup plan!), and I never did such repairs, so I called a plumber. That first plumber didn't knew how to remove my toilet (!?), so he left after 2 minutes.
So I called a second plumber. He removed the silicone seal, removed toilet and left it standing up on the floor, and showed me what was underneath it:
Then he explained that this toilet was wax-free, so that there wasn't much he could do. That he had no clue where the odor came from, but that the good news that that there was no water leak under the toilet - I was worried about that possibility. He didn't underneath the toilet itself, so I'm not sure how he knew everything was fine.
Now I'm not sure how the toilet is supposed to make an hermetic contact with that drain on the floor. He just left the toilet standing on the floor so I don't think that there was anything special underneath it. Then, he reinstalled the toilet and left. So I basically paid $140 to have someone remove and reinstall the toilet without doing much more.
Now that the silicone is no longer there though, the sewer smell is stronger than before, and not as subtle as it used to be. And again, it is clear that the smell comes from under the toilet.
As the pictures show, there is no water leak under the toilet. I might as well cleanup the silicone that's left and make a new silicone seal all around the toilet and forget about it. Not sure what I should do and/or if I should be worried.
I guess the silicone seal deteriorated over the years, and I ended up smelling a slight sewer odor when I smelled near the side of the toilet this winter. It is clear tha the odor came from under the toilet.
I thought the toilet wax seal might have needed to be replaced. This is the only toilet in the house (no backup plan!), and I never did such repairs, so I called a plumber. That first plumber didn't knew how to remove my toilet (!?), so he left after 2 minutes.
So I called a second plumber. He removed the silicone seal, removed toilet and left it standing up on the floor, and showed me what was underneath it:
Then he explained that this toilet was wax-free, so that there wasn't much he could do. That he had no clue where the odor came from, but that the good news that that there was no water leak under the toilet - I was worried about that possibility. He didn't underneath the toilet itself, so I'm not sure how he knew everything was fine.
Now I'm not sure how the toilet is supposed to make an hermetic contact with that drain on the floor. He just left the toilet standing on the floor so I don't think that there was anything special underneath it. Then, he reinstalled the toilet and left. So I basically paid $140 to have someone remove and reinstall the toilet without doing much more.
Now that the silicone is no longer there though, the sewer smell is stronger than before, and not as subtle as it used to be. And again, it is clear that the smell comes from under the toilet.
As the pictures show, there is no water leak under the toilet. I might as well cleanup the silicone that's left and make a new silicone seal all around the toilet and forget about it. Not sure what I should do and/or if I should be worried.
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