If you find a toilet leak or notice a significant increase in your water and sewer bill, don't wait to have it repaired. If you cannot make the necessary repairs yourself, call a licensed master plumber.
If your toilet is leaking from the water supply, the water supply line may need repairing. This is a common and inexpensive repair for your plumber to make. If the toilet rocks when you sit on it, your plumber may need to replace the wax seal.
Leaking Around the Base of Your Toilet
The worst-case scenario is that the toilet leaks through the floor and causes damage to the room underneath. For this reason, it's best to involve a plumber to pinpoint the cause of the toilet leak and provide a quality solution.
Do I need a Plumber? Repairing a leaking toilet is something you want completed as soon as possible. Hiring a professional plumber will mean that you don't need to worry about what parts need replacing or whether you have done the job correctly.
While leaky sinks and pipes can cause damage to your home, there's a vast difference between a tiny leak that's dripping and a considerable leak that quickly fills buckets of water. A large volume of leaking water is generally considered a plumbing emergency.
When a toilet leaks at the base, with water pooling on your bathroom floor, it's typically due to the failure of the wax gasket that seals the toilet to the floor. This seal should make a watertight connection between the toilet and floor. A leak often means that the wax seal may need to be replaced.
The most common toilet leak is caused by a deteriorated flush valve (flapper) at the bottom of the toilet tank. If the flapper does not seat properly, water will leak into the toilet bowl. Often this leak will occur without being heard.
Underneath the toilet tank, locate the two plastic nuts that hold the tank to the bowl. Tighten both of the nuts. Dry off the toilet and observe to see if this stopped the leak. If not, you'll need to replace the tank-to-bowl gasket.
Since the water flows down the sewer, leaking toilets don't necessarily leave any signs of a leak, until you get the bill. The average leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water per day. That's over 6,000 gallons a month ($70.06*) for just one leaking toilet!
While toilets are meant to last several decades, they do have a limit. If you know your toilet has been around longer than you've been alive, then there's a chance that it's likely on its last leg already. A general rule of thumb is to replace a toilet around every 25 years, though your mileage may vary.
Water around the Toilet Base
The first sign of a bad toilet ring is water forming around the base of the toilet. To test that a bad seal is the problem, grab a couple of towels and wipe up the water. Go on with your day, checking periodically to see if the water has returned.
The three most common types of toilet leaks are in the flapper, the water supply line, and the wax ring under the toilet. For each type of leak, the first way to try to identify where the leak is coming from is to do a visual inspection. Often, you'll see evidence of water leaks.
Sewage backup
While a leaking toilet may be covered by your homeowners insurance policy, a flooded or backed-up sewage system is not covered, even though it may overload your plumbing system.
Again, leaky water is a telltale and common sign of a bad wax ring. If you do not regularly see moisture or puddling water under your toilet, you may be fine. Leaks can, however, happen where you do not see them, under the finished floor and into the subfloor.
A silent leak can be caused by a fill valve set too high.
The fill valve is the part of the toilet that is responsible for refilling the tank after being flushed. Over time, a worn or out of alignment fill valve can become a problem, cause a leak, and wear on valve's components and parts.
The wax ring usually needs to be replaced because the toilet is loose. The other reason why a wax ring may need to be replaced is that it has been worn down over the years and is no longer pliable. This means the seal is no longer intact. Therefore, it causes water to seep through the base.
Every toilet in your home has a wax ring connecting it to your plumbing, which creates a waterproof seal to keep what goes down to the sewer from seeping out the sides. This piece of equipment usually lasts as long as the toilet, about 30 years.
How do I know if I need to replace my toilet flapper? If your toilet is running after every flush or the toilet won't flush fully, you may need to replace the flapper. You can see if the flapper is old or if the chain length is too long or short by opening the tank lid.
You'll be covered for plumbing leaks if it's sudden, accidental and significant enough that it's discovered right away. But again, most homeowners insurance policies exclude damages that occur gradually.
A leaky toilet might not seem like a huge problem, but the water can quickly damage the bathroom walls and floor. External leaks can cause water puddles that can damage a downstairs ceiling, while internal leaks prevent the toilet from holding water properly.
The only-when-flushed toilet leak could be caused by loose mounting bolts or a worn-out wax gasket while the all-the-time leak could be caused by a loose water supply line connection, a problematic water shutoff valve, or a faulty seal between the toilet tank and its base.
When a toilet bowl or tank starts to form a crack, replacement is the only option. Sealing it with plumbers' putty is not a real solution, and the toilet may crack further and leak water all over your floors!
A continuously running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day or more depending on the volume flow down the drain. This can cause a terrible increase to a family's typical water use, so fix toilet leaks as soon as possible. Some leaks are easy to find, such as a dripping faucet or running toilet.