Toilet bowl slowly losing water

[Jeannine]

My husband and I redid our bathroom floor and then reinstalled the original toilet because it looked in good condition. We used a danco perfect seal wax ring since the floor was a bit higher then the flange. It's been two months and we noticed the water in the bowl gets less each day without use. It's not refilling just continuing to lose water so I don't think it's the tank level. I checked the ceiling below the toilet and it's not wet at all. There also is no water on the floor. And we drilled a hole in the ceiling and didn't notice anything. Any other things we can try to diagnose the problem, if there is a problem at all? It lost about half an inch in four days with no use. We want to catch any issues before it ruins the new floors.

Thanks for the help. Jeannine

 

[Terry]

Is there a toilet in a room next door? If two toilets are on a cross and one flushes, the wave of air from the one toilet pushes water up in the opposing bowl and sloshes a little water out. I see that all the time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

It could be a crack in the toilet draining water down the drain. If the water loss is fairly constant rather than related to how often you flush the nearby toilet, that could be the case.

 

[Jeannine]

Is there a toilet in a room next door? If two toilets are on a cross and one flushes, the wave of air from the one toilet pushes water up in the opposing bowl and sloshes a little water out. I see that all the time.

Thanks for the quick reply. Is half an inch too much to think that? The master bath is next door. Would a good test be to not use that bathroom and only use the one downstairs to see if it still drains?

 

[Jeannine]

It could be a crack in the toilet draining water down the drain. If the water loss is fairly constant rather than related to how often you flush the nearby toilet, that could be the case.

Thanks. It seems rather constant but we haven't been checking after each time we use the other bathroom. Would a good test be to not use our master toilet that's in the next room to see? I assume the only solution is a new toilet. But shouldn't have damaged the floor in that case hopefully.

 

[Terry]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is half an inch too much to think that? The master bath is next door. Would a good test be to not use that bathroom and only use the one downstairs to see if it still drains?

Yes, that would tell if that's the issue.

 

[Jadnashua]

Are you saying that this toilet hasn't been flushed in months and that the level is dropping? Could be as simple as evaporation. WHen I am away for a week or more and come home, both of my toilets have lost some obvious water in the bowls. It depends on the temperature of the room and the humidty levels...the hotter and dryer it is, the faster the water will evaporate.

 

[Reach4]

Would a good test be to not use our master toilet that's in the next room to see?

You could also watch to see if the water surface in the problem toilet moves when the neighboring toilet flushes.

For your don't-use test, keep the lid on the suspect toilet closed to keep any pets out.

 

[Jeannine]

Are you saying that this toilet hasn't been flushed in months and that the level is dropping? Could be as simple as evaporation. WHen I am away for a week or more and come home, both of my toilets have lost some obvious water in the bowls. It depends on the temperature of the room and the humidty levels...the hotter and dryer it is, the faster the water will evaporate.

Thanks. We use it probably once a week. We flushed it friday so four days ago and it lost about 1/2 an inch of water.

 

[Jadnashua]

That's fairly fast, especially in VA where the humidity tends to be higher, but it's possible. My mother doesn't use the bathroom upstairs, and when I go to visit, the sink, shower traps, and toilet are all almost dry. My toilet can drop over an inch in say 10-days when I'm away. I often turn off or at least raise the thermostat in the summer so the a/c doesn't run as often, and the internal temp rises a fair amount. On a day-to-day basis, you can't tell.

Watch the water in the bowl when someone flushes the other toilets or say drains the tub.

Is the toilet perfectly stable (i.e., it doesn't rock)?

 

[Jeannine]

That's fairly fast, especially in VA where the humidity tends to be higher, but it's possible. My mother doesn't use the bathroom upstairs, and when I go to visit, the sink, shower traps, and toilet are all almost dry. My toilet can drop over an inch in say 10-days when I'm away. I often turn off or at least raise the thermostat in the summer so the a/c doesn't run as often, and the internal temp rises a fair amount. On a day-to-day basis, you can't tell.

Watch the water in the bowl when someone flushes the other toilets or say drains the tub.

Is the toilet perfectly stable (i.e., it doesn't rock)?

The toilet does not seem to rock at all when I try to make it rock there is no movement.

 

[Jadnashua]

What about the water in the bowl when someone else flushes a toilet?

Has it been particularly windy? That can cause the water to move in a toilet, and if it sloshes one way, it can empty a bit over the weir (the outlet), and since the tank is not dropping level, the fill valve won't open to compensate.

 

[Jeannine]

Yes, that would tell if that's the issue.

So we didn't use the upstairs bathroom and the water still has sorry drained out another 1/4 inch maybe. If there is a crack in the toilet the only solution to replace the toilet? Or are there any other tests we should try before buying a new toilet?

 

[Terry]

1/4" could be evaporation.
In my home, I have two back to back toilets, and the water in the opposing bowl will always drop the moment the other toilet is flushed. The bowls are perfect.
I do plan on pulling drywall at some point and changing the layout of the plumbing to fix that.