Bathroom floor is mushy, inspector said it was an old leak in floor due to home being old...?

Question

We are purchasing a home and the floor near the toilet is mushy..when you step all around its dips in...The inspector said it was from an old floor leak...but he didnt' tell us how to fix it, but said it was a minor problem. can someone advise me how exactly to fix this and how serious it really is ? house is on a slab. there is supposed to be a crawl, but we couldn't find one. Must be buried under floors or carpeting somewhere.

Answer 1

Based on the initial comment from your inspector, I would be a little skeptical. The age of the house doesn't necessarily have anything to do with a leaking toilet. Without knowing the cause, it really shouldn't be dismissed as a minor problem.

If the floor is not wet, the cause may have already been fixed by the previous owner. I would make sure the water is on and flush the toilet several times to find out. I would also check to make sure water is not leaking from nearby plumbing such as an adjacent bathtub/shower ( valve, drain). If there is an adjacent tub/shower, turn it on and leave it on for several minutes up to half an hour and then check wether the floor is moist. The problem with this is, your floor covering might hide the actual moisture.

I would replace the floor as mentioned by others. Before going through the effort and expense of replacing the floor, make sure you identify the source or sources of the original water damage. If the house has not been lived in, make sure you run water in all of the fixtures for a period of time. Some problems can literally dry up and then resurface once they are in full use.

This happened to us when we bought a home. The floor was dry, so we thought a faulty toilet wax ring had been fixed. I started to tear up the old floor covering and only then did I realize that there was still a problem. I replaced the toilet, and we used it and took showers for a week. At that point the problem re-occured and the floor was getting wet again. Thankfully, I left the floor uncovered until I was absolutely sure the problem had been fixed. It was the shower valve leaking over to and around the toilet. It had done damage to the walls as well. The repair was major.

Answer 2

I'm no plumber nor a carpenter but it sounds like the toilet needs to have a new seal. These can be purchased at the hardware store and are fairly simple to replace but it takes two. You have to unscrew the toilet from the floor and replace the old one with the new one then replace the toilet and screw it back in. You will also need to replace the floor. I guess that would be done before you replace the seal. Hopefully someone who can explain this better than I will answer but if not, at least I'm getting you in the right direction. My grandmother's did that once is why I think I know about it. I helped fix it too.

Answer 3

You will have to replace the flooring under the toilet with new plywood. The damaged area can be cut out with a circular saw with the blade adjusted to the the floorings depth and a new piece cut and screwed to fit back onto the joists with a new circular hole cut out for the toilet and new seal.
It is not a major problem only a pain to have to deal with!
You do not have to get under the flooring to repair it and I doubt the joists holding the floor are ruined...maybe just a bit bowed.

Answer 4

Pull the toilet after turning off the water. Replace the section of the spongy floor with new plywood, cut out with circular saw, and replace the toilets wax seal. Check the toilet flange and make sure it isn't broken. If it is remove and secure the new flange with wood screws to the new plywood floor placing 2 x 2 beneath the screws.

Answer 5

If the plumbing itself is OK, it should not be to expensive to fix. You would have to replace all the wood flooring and wax ring that seals the stool to the main sewer pipe. You should buy new bolts to anchor stool too, my guess is they are deteriorated. Make sure there is a shut of valve on toilet too and that it works. If you have to call in a plumber it could get a lot more expensive. Good luck from a do it yourself home owner.

Answer 6

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