toilet bowl leak?

Question

We have some sort of leak in our toilet bowl (I think), my husband said that it is not the seal or we would see water on the floor. I can smell wet wood and urine and no matter how much I clean it still has the smell to a small extent. My hubby thinks I am crazy, he can't smell it I guess, but it smells like rotting wood and slight smell of urine. Is it possible for the bowl to leak out under the seal and be leaking into our wood floor but not show on the surface?

Answer 1

Beggin' your husband's pardon, but it sure sounds a lot like a leaking wax seal. It may be a broken seal without water leaking - it depends on the location and degree of seal break.

good luck

Answer 2

Is it possible for the bowl to leak out under the seal and be leaking into our wood floor but not show on the surface? Oh Yeah -- that's probably exactly what's happening --
I bet the smell is coming from the ring of caulk around the base or maybe even the wood under the toilet -- the rotting wood smell is probably from uner the toilet --- have him take the toilet off and change the seal --- and check out the floor maybe really get it clean ..

Answer 3

Yes, what you descibe is entirely possible and happens quite frequently. If you have a basement, find the point in the floor, from the basement, that the toilet waste line comes thru the floor and check with a flashlite to see if it's wet around the opening. If you have a leak it will be. If so, then the toilet will have to be taken up and the floor replaced under it before it will properly hold a seal in place.

Answer 4

Everyone who said you need to replace the was seal at the bottom of the toilet is correct. You can call a plumber if you like but a wax ring only costs a few dollars and a plumber will cost you a lot more. The main thing you would have to be careful of if you decide to do the job yourself is to make sure that when you bolt the toilet back down you do not, I repeat, do not tighten down the bolts too much. You may break the porcelain base of the toilet and then, depending on the type of toilet you have, end up spending more to replace the toilet base than you would have originally paid a plumber.

Answer 5

I have probably pulled a few thousand toilets and you would be surprised where water goes.

If your toilet is well caulked at the base, your floor will stay dry while it rots away below the surface.

You will need to pull the toilet, maybe replace some sub-floor, surely replace the wax ring and possibly the flange gasket as well.

And clean everything before reinstalling the toilet. Separate the tank and bowl and clean the porcelain under the tank, remove the seat hinges and clean that area as well.

Answer 6

yes it could it might be leaking just enough that it soaks right into the floor the only way to check is add some food coloring to the water then flush remove the toilet and check the floor if it;s leaking you should see the colored water good luck

Answer 7

Try cleaning under the toilet seat mounts. You will have to remove the seat for this procedure. Replace the wax ring as a preventative step

Answer 8

Seals only cost a buck or two so it doesn't hurt to check, but you may have a joint leak in your drainage pipe. If you have a basement its fairly easy to check otherwise you may have to investigate somehow under the floor.

Answer 9

it is very possible for you to have a leak under the seal in the subflooring.

Answer 10

a seal is cheap. Pull it up and look to see what it looks like.