"hard flush" causes leak?

[brucet99]

Friend of mine said he had to fix an old Kohler toilet that leaked at the base, so he was going to change the wax seal. I said that I did not think you could get a leak at the flange unless water was backing up from a clogged waste line, and that the purpose of a wax seal was primarily to prevent escape of sewer gas into the room.

He had Mike Diamond Plumbing check out the waste line for their advertised $99 price, and they pronounced it fine on basis of turning on faucets and observing no backing up. They told him that "those old Kohlers flush hard and that makes them leak past the wax seal", then they offered to re-seat the toilet for $340.

How could a "hard flush" from a 2" diameter toilet trapway push water back up past the flange as it drops into a 4" waste line?

[Terry]

If the wax seal is bad, you will get water on the floor during a flush.

Some flanges are below the finished floor, requiring two wax rings for a complete seal.
Sometimes just plunging a bowl can force a leak in the seal between bowl and the flange.
It's very common to pull a bowl and reset with new wax if the water leaks under a bowl during a flush. If it's a main water backup, then that has to be taken care of first.

Just so you know..........$340 to reset a bowl?...........must be pretty slow.

[jimbo]

He had Mike Diamond Plumbing check out the waste line for their advertised $99 price, and they pronounced it fine on basis of turning on faucets and observing no backing up. They told him that "those old Kohlers flush hard and that makes them leak past the wax seal", then they offered to re-seat the toilet for $340.

?

UH-OH.....you have exposed a trade secret!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gary Swart]

I'm just an old DIY, but I'd "unretire" and reset toilets all day for $340 a pop!