RustyNails
New Member
I'm hoping some expert sleuth out there can help solve the mystery of my leaking loo.
There's been water leaking behind the toilet, and several visits from plumbers failed to solve it. It doesn't leak when you flush, but once every few days you'll come in and see water behind the stool. Sometimes it's a good bit, like a cup's worth, and other times just a few drops that I only noticed because I began laying bits of tissue down in spots behind the toilet and along the wall in order to easily see if it was wet. The first time I noticed it, there was a lot of water, all the way from the stool back to the wall (a few inches) and running all the way behind the toilet from the vanity to the wall on the other side of the toilet. So it was probably about 4 feet long, a few inches wide, and the water was a couple of inches deep. BUT I'm not the one who usually uses that bathroom and the person who does is rather unobservant -- meaning by the time I discovered the pool of water, it could've been building up for a couple months. I cleaned it up, and a few days later there was a pretty good bit again, but not nearly as much as the first time. There is no sign of leaking down into the basement, and a guy came out with a water meter thingy and determined that it was only a little wet under the flooring, not enough to worry about.
So, plumbers came a few times and couldn't determine what was wrong. They finally said the most likely culprit was a bad wax seal under the toilet, so I told them to go ahead and change that. When he got the toilet up, there wasn't really a definite problem with the seal, but he saw a little something that he said could've maybe possibly been a problem (I think he said a notch in the collar or something, not sure). So he left, and water showed up again behind the toilet. Another guy came out and replaced the "tank to bowl kit" which I guess is a rubber gasket thingy at the bottom of the tank, as he thought maybe water was dripping down from there. Yet the problem persisted.
A townhouse maintenance guy came out and looked at the window which is right above the toilet (it doesn't open, and has always been bone dry around the edges inside). He looked outside to see if it needed caulking to make sure water wasn't dripping into the wall there and then out under the baseboard), and it didn't need caulking. I asked if some vent or other thing on the roof could possibly be leaking down into the walls and then out under the baseboard behind the toilet, and he said he couldn't see how that could be happening.
Now for a few weeks, other than one time when a paper towel left behind the toilet turned up completely soaked, I only get a small bit of water showing up (enough to lightly wet part of the tissues I place behind the stool), but it keeps happening every two or three days. We have put green food coloring in the back of the tank, and the tissue I leave around the toilet is never colored green. We have filled the sinks with water and food coloring and let it all rush out at once, and no leak appears, so I really don't think it's from the sinks.
What I have been able to discern by putting bits of tissue here and there on the floor is that I think the water is originating from the back base of the toilet. I don't think it's coming from the area of the shut-off valve beside the toilet, nor from the wall behind the toilet, nor from the bathroom sink/vanity area. But it's not coming immediately out when we flush, it just seems to be randomly burping up water every now and then.
I've been told that if I can't figure out where it seems to be coming from, the next step is to rip out the vanity and rip open the wall behind the toilet. They may also take out the toilet and do some other thing under there (can't recall what they said). I really hate to get into god knows how much money to root around and try to find the problem, it would be much better if I can help direct them to the likely source.
Anyone have a clue what the problem could be?
There's been water leaking behind the toilet, and several visits from plumbers failed to solve it. It doesn't leak when you flush, but once every few days you'll come in and see water behind the stool. Sometimes it's a good bit, like a cup's worth, and other times just a few drops that I only noticed because I began laying bits of tissue down in spots behind the toilet and along the wall in order to easily see if it was wet. The first time I noticed it, there was a lot of water, all the way from the stool back to the wall (a few inches) and running all the way behind the toilet from the vanity to the wall on the other side of the toilet. So it was probably about 4 feet long, a few inches wide, and the water was a couple of inches deep. BUT I'm not the one who usually uses that bathroom and the person who does is rather unobservant -- meaning by the time I discovered the pool of water, it could've been building up for a couple months. I cleaned it up, and a few days later there was a pretty good bit again, but not nearly as much as the first time. There is no sign of leaking down into the basement, and a guy came out with a water meter thingy and determined that it was only a little wet under the flooring, not enough to worry about.
So, plumbers came a few times and couldn't determine what was wrong. They finally said the most likely culprit was a bad wax seal under the toilet, so I told them to go ahead and change that. When he got the toilet up, there wasn't really a definite problem with the seal, but he saw a little something that he said could've maybe possibly been a problem (I think he said a notch in the collar or something, not sure). So he left, and water showed up again behind the toilet. Another guy came out and replaced the "tank to bowl kit" which I guess is a rubber gasket thingy at the bottom of the tank, as he thought maybe water was dripping down from there. Yet the problem persisted.
A townhouse maintenance guy came out and looked at the window which is right above the toilet (it doesn't open, and has always been bone dry around the edges inside). He looked outside to see if it needed caulking to make sure water wasn't dripping into the wall there and then out under the baseboard), and it didn't need caulking. I asked if some vent or other thing on the roof could possibly be leaking down into the walls and then out under the baseboard behind the toilet, and he said he couldn't see how that could be happening.
Now for a few weeks, other than one time when a paper towel left behind the toilet turned up completely soaked, I only get a small bit of water showing up (enough to lightly wet part of the tissues I place behind the stool), but it keeps happening every two or three days. We have put green food coloring in the back of the tank, and the tissue I leave around the toilet is never colored green. We have filled the sinks with water and food coloring and let it all rush out at once, and no leak appears, so I really don't think it's from the sinks.
What I have been able to discern by putting bits of tissue here and there on the floor is that I think the water is originating from the back base of the toilet. I don't think it's coming from the area of the shut-off valve beside the toilet, nor from the wall behind the toilet, nor from the bathroom sink/vanity area. But it's not coming immediately out when we flush, it just seems to be randomly burping up water every now and then.
I've been told that if I can't figure out where it seems to be coming from, the next step is to rip out the vanity and rip open the wall behind the toilet. They may also take out the toilet and do some other thing under there (can't recall what they said). I really hate to get into god knows how much money to root around and try to find the problem, it would be much better if I can help direct them to the likely source.
Anyone have a clue what the problem could be?
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