Plumber says no problem with toilet tank & bowl

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Ponzu

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The front base of my toilet bowl has water which seeps out of the grouting area. Based on the stains (see picture), this must has been for more than months or even longer. It gets kind of damp & over days accumulate a little water.

The plumber suspects that it is from the long bath area but I hardly ever use the bathroom area. He grouted the side of the long bath as it also could be rain water seeping through the grouting area of the long bath, onto the floor, finds it;s way through the cracks. He said that there is no leakage of water the toilet tank/bowl. It has been raining quite a bit, so I am not really not sure if its is linked to some cranks through the wall, the floor and leads to the problem I am facing now.

He suggested that from time to time, just wipe off with a cloth, leave windows open. He told me that it's so little water and unlikely to cause a seepage to my neighbor. However, over days, a pool of water accumulates. The weather here can be hot & humid, so I am not sure if opening the windows on alternate days help to solve whatever the problem is.

However I am not comfortable that it's damp towards the front part as water appears to be seeping extremely slowly through the grout. Someone mentioned that they experience something similar and grout the area to stop this dampness accumulating to small pool of water. I also read somewhere, this could happen because water in the bowl/tank is cold & humidity can cause this. The bowl nor tank is sweating.
 

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RRW

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Dude!, you have got to lift the toilet and repair/replace the wax or whatever type of seal is between the toilet and the waste pipe!
 

Ponzu

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Dude!, you have got to lift the toilet and repair/replace the wax or whatever type of seal is between the toilet and the waste pipe!


According to the plumber, the amount of water/dampness is very little, so I shouldn't worry too much but continue to observe.
I have done my readings and I understand what you said about the replacement of wax seal. Based on the second photograph, it appears that this " slow seepage" has been ongoing for a long time as the "white" stain on the floor is probably over say months or years that the dampness is there, dries up & I am not aware until recently as the amount of water accumulated over days is probably around size of two quarter coins. .

I am not sure if it is a result of condensation. I need to obseve since I am aware of the situation. Some years back, the bathroom area used to have a puddle of water between long bath & toilet. I had the sides of the long bath sealed/grouted & this solved the problem. The bathtub area is never used, and the toilet area used infrequently. It is humid where I am living, and I am also talking note of weather condition (raining everyday)

I will not rule out the feedbacks I receive from this forum so far.
 

Jimbo

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He thinks there is water leaking out from UNDER the tub? And caulking the front of the tub solves that?? You need a new guy!!\

I cannot fail to mention the FIRST thing we think of when there is 'something' on the floor at the front of the toilet. Sounds like this is NOT your case...BUT....is there anyone who uses that toilet who has bad aim???? Every plumber will tell you how often this is the case@!
 

hj

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quote; According to the plumber, the amount of water/dampness is very little, so I shouldn't worry too much but continue to observe.

I guess he wants to wait until there is a "flood" so it will be easier for him to tell where the leak is. A "little leak" over a long time will do more damage, such as the floor rotting away and collapsing, than a big one for a few minutes.
 

Ponzu

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quote; According to the plumber, the amount of water/dampness is very little, so I shouldn't worry too much but continue to observe.

I guess he wants to wait until there is a "flood" so it will be easier for him to tell where the leak is. A "little leak" over a long time will do more damage, such as the floor rotting away and collapsing, than a big one for a few minutes.



I am getting a second plumber, & of course I am worried otherwise I wouldn't be in this blog.
 

LLigetfa

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The second pic looks like efflorescence and not just hard water staining. If this is slab-on-grade, the moisture could be due to rain and might not be a plumbing leak. That said, I would not put faith in a plumber that thinks that grouting can stop a leak.
 

Ponzu

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The second pic looks like efflorescence and not just hard water staining. If this is slab-on-grade, the moisture could be due to rain and might not be a plumbing leak. That said, I would not put faith in a plumber that thinks that grouting can stop a leak.


The plumber did not recommend to grout that area where it is damp (base of toilet bowl). He suspected that it comes from the underneath the bathtub (which I do not use, the pipe is not leaking there.) through cracks. Next to the bathtub is the sliding window. He only grouted part of the bathtub. It is damp slight on the front part of toilet bowl towards the left when plumber came. Now, water seems to be damp towards the right. (I am putting newspaper to track moist).

The plumber also scrapped off the white stain on the floor which you described as "efflorescence". I think could also be part of water which went through the grout & over time resulted in this stain. It is likely to happen over many months or could be years on & off. The fact is now I am now monitoring EVERYDAY, so I am anxious to track the pattern of this mystery to me.

In the past, when I did not grout the sides of the bathtub, water seeps through grouting of my bathtub, through the floor & finds its way through a very very tiny pipe out to the toilet floor which is right next to the back of the toilet bowl. After I had some grouting done, toilet floor does not have occasionally small pool of water. This happened occassionally about more than 5 years ago. This was definitely from rain water.

I hardly use the toilet in this room. My whole bathroom is dry most of the time. The floor is being mopped once a week. So there lies a big window where the long bath is attached to, and next to it is the toilet, then the sink area.

Question is, could this be rain water? The plumber came on Apr 4, he said that there was not leakage from the toilet tank/bowl, my bathroom/toilet floor is very dry except for that damp patch. I started to track the weather. It has been raining everyday since Apr 4 2012 till today, that's 5 days. Waiting for a stretch of sunny days to come.





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LLigetfa

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If you seldom use the bath and toilet, turn off the water supply and drain the toilet tank and lines, to see if it makes any difference.
 
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