Toilets that leak water on the floor are not only messy but they can cause some major damage and expensive repairs. There are actually three ways a toilet can leak water on the floor.
1. Water leaking from the tank.
2. Water leaking from the bowl.
3. Condensation.
*Water Leaking From The Tank.
Let’s look at the first one which is water leaking from the tank. There are four possible areas for water to leak here.
1. It can leak from around the fill valve where the supply line connects to the bottom of the tank.
2. From around the flush valve or flapper in the bottom of the tank in the center.
3. From around the bolts that bolt the tank to the bowl.
4. From the supply line or shut off valve that comes out of the wall.
Any of the first three can be fixed by either tightening the nuts or bolts or replacing the sealing washers from inside the tank.
The forth one, the supply line leak possibly can be stopped by tightening the connections on the supply line and at the shut off valve. Where the supply line hooks to the tank can leak if the line is not properly inserted straight into the tank fill valve fitting.
Be extra cautious when making these water supply connections and don’t cross thread or strip out the threads by over tightening.
*Water Leaking From The Bowl.
Unless the bowl is cracked somewhere the normal culprit for a leak is the wax seal ring that goes between the bottom of the toilet and the toilet drain pipe fitting in the floor.
This wax seal ring is compressed down when the toilet is set and tightened to make a water tight seal around the drain fitting and the toilet.
If you suspect that this is the problem then the first thing to try is tightening the nuts on the two flange bolts, one on each side of the toilet base. There are two plastic covers that you lift off to expose these nuts. If this doesn’t fix the problem, then you will need to check the wax seal ring underneath the toilet.
To do this, turn off the water supply line shutoff valve on the left side behind the toilet and loosen and remove the supply line from the toilet. The two bolts on the sides of the toilet that bolt the toilet to the floor or actually to the drain fitting hub in the floor must be loosened and removed. Flush the toilet to remove the water in the tank and loosen the two nuts on the floor bolts. Pull the toilet straight up and set it to the side.
You can now see the wax ring and should be able to spot why it was leaking. Get a new wax ring and replace the old one. You may need a helper to reset the toilet and line the bolts up with the mounting holes on the sides of the toilet. After you get the bolts in the mounting holes and start the nuts back on the bolts then sit on the toilet to press it down on the wax ring until it meets the floor. Then you can tighten the nuts on the sides of the toilet.
By doing this you can avoid cracking the porcelain toilet base by not using the nuts and mounting bolts to pull the toilet down snug. Sitting on it first gets it down where it needs to be and the bolts will hold it there when tightened.
Below is a direct link to all my “How To” articles on eHow.com. More How To Articles Here!
