Water gushing from around toilet base

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William Creech

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Ok, I was remodeling the bathroom for my wife and pulled up the older toilet (that was working fine) to put in a nice shinny one. So first I Buy a Glacier Bay toilet. I have set a few toilets before and have not had any issues, but with this one when I flush it seems to discharge every bit of water from beneath the base. I have tried 3 different wax rings and the same result every time. Today I had a professional plumber come out and he tried a single wax ring, he even doubled the wax ring and all with the same results.

He told me that the toilet must be bad. So I took the toilet back and bought a new toilet but this time I got the American Standard Duet. After installing this one I flushed the toilet and low and behold it was doing the same thing. I am looking for any advice as to what I can do. The flange looks to be in great shape, plus it was just replaced 5 months ago when I had the floor re-tiled in the bath room. PLEASE HELP!!!!!
 

WJcandee

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That does seem a bit strange that two bowls are giving you grief. Some pictures of the flange may help.

Seems odd to me that a "professional plumber" would say "The toilet must be bad," without identifying any defect in its structure which would cause this. If the hole is in the right place, and there aren't any other holes through which the water could come, isn't it more likely that the problem is something backing up from the drain line? I would love to see some photos.
 

William Creech

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I will post pictures tomorrow. To me it did seem like the plumber didn't want to do anything other then change wax ring. Could the flange be causing the water to gush out from underneath base?
 

Reach4

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I am thinking a blocked closet bend or pipe would have to be involved. Even with no wax ring, would the water gush on a flush normally? Did you forget to remove the towel you stuffed in there? I guess I would dump a bucket of water down the hole once the toilet is off to see if it accepts water readily.

Now just a blockage should have just blocked things up. But I am wondering if there was a bad seal plus a blockage. Not a pro.
 

hj

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If the wax ring is making a proper seal, it makes no difference whether the line is plugged or not. It would still NOT leak. THerefore, without being there and testing ourselves there is no way we can diagnose this problem.
 

Wallijonn

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Is the drain pipe PVC or cast iron? How wide is the pipe hole?

The flange looks to be in great shape, plus it was just replaced 5 months ago when I had the floor re-tiled in the bath room. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Is the flange level, below or above the tiles?

If the wax ring being removed had a plastic flange on it, did you also remove the plastic flange, or did you just scrape the wax level with the flange? If you left the plastic flange in place over the metal flange then when you install another plastic flange over the old plastic flange the new plastic flange may be being squeezed shut and water will spill sideways over the flange. Another possibility may be that the wax ring is being pushed back when you position the toilet on the floor and now the water is bouncing off the plastic flange. A third possibility is that the flange is corroded where it meets the pipe. If it's a PVC pipe then you would have to cut off the old metal flange and use a new flange that opens/closes underneath the PVC pipe flange/lip.
 
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William Creech

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Ok, the first picture is of the wax ring on the toilet after I pulled it up this time. The second picture is of the flange. I didnt clean any wax off the flange or toilet before I took these pictures. Also I tried pouring about 2 gallons of water down the drain and had no back flow, so I don't think the pipe is clogged. Looking at the toilet it looks like the wax ring is making a good seal around the horn on the toilet. The flange is sitting about 1/4" above the tile or maybe even just a little bit more, like 5/16 or so. like I said in the original question I don't think the flange is bad but if y'all could take a look at it and tell me what y'all think. I am willing to try anything.
 

Wallijonn

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Did you slowly pour the two gallons or did you have a really large funnel and dump the water in bucket fulls at a time (say filling up a 3 gallon HD bucket with 1.5g of water)? If the pour rate was slow then it may not show an obstruction (like a shaving razor, a bar of soap, a hair brush, etc. (?))

You will have to ask the plumbers if it can be done safely, meaning if the seal on the funnel is too tight there may be a back-spitting due to there being no way for air to escape. idkfs. But other than the slit near one of the bowl bolt holes everything looks fine. It may be time to call in a plumber to put a bore scope down your pipes.

Slowly flowing drains are the sign that the system is having a problem from roots. Homeowners will notice the first signs of a slow-flowing drainage system by hearing gurgling noises from their toilet bowls. A complete blockage will occur if no actions are taken to remove the roots/blockage.
http://www.paininthedrain.com/roots/

You weren't getting any gurgling noises, were you?
 

William Creech

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When pouring the water down the hole I didn't use a funnel but I did pour a gallon down pretty fast, and then another gallon pretty fast. As for the roots in the pipes, the other toilet doesn't have any issues draining as well as all the other water drains. What are some other things I can try? I did read something about using a flange extender, would that be appropriate in this case. Or has anybody ever used or tried the wax less seal?
 

Terry

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Is that a white PVC closet flange setting inside a black ABS bend? Maybe something else?

I take it that the old toilet worked on that?
 

William Creech

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Yes I do believe it is, I know the flange is PVC, as for the bend, it looks like metal.
 

William Creech

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Update
I hired a new plumber and he spent 3 hours at my residence. The issue ended up being a crack in the flange, and old bad pipes. Replaced the flange and flushed out the pipes and works pretty good now.
 

Wallijonn

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Thanks for the update. I'm glad it all worked out for you. Hopefully it wasn't too expensive.
 

Terry

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Update
I hired a new plumber and he spent 3 hours at my residence. The issue ended up being a crack in the flange, and old bad pipes. Replaced the flange and flushed out the pipes and works pretty good now.

Yeah......Two bad bowls in a row? I'm glad you found the problem with the drain. Now you're back in business. :)
 
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