If you see water on the floor around your toilet, it could signal a plumber-sized problem, like a cracked bowl. Most of the time, however, the culprit is a faulty wax ring.
The wax ring is the seal between the toilet and the drain, and it can wear out if your toilet rocks back and forth on it because it isn’t bolted firmly to the floor. To stop the leak:
- Turn off the water to the toilet and flush a couple of times to drain the water from the bowl.
- Use a big pair of pliers to disconnect the water supply tube from the bottom of the toilet, and loosen the mounting bolts on either side of the toilet base.
- Lift the toilet straight up; you’ll see the wax ring. Remove it, scrap and clean off all the old wax ring residue. You’ll be able to buy a replacement at a hardware store for $3 or so. There are different sizes of wax rings so you may want to bring a picture of the toilet drain to the hardware store for help selecting the correct size.
- Place the new wax ring where the old one was after thoroughly cleaning the area first, and set the toilet on top of it. Sit on the toilet to position it into the right place; then bolt it back to the floor. Be gentle because it’s possible to crack the porcelain while tightening the bolts.
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