Intermittent Toilet Mystery Leak

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Bills_DIY

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I have a second floor toilet that leaks occasionally from around the drain pipe area. No water ever appears on the bathroom floor. Below the toilet we have cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling and can see the subfloor, drain pipe and trap. The leak appears to be around the drain and makes the plywood subfloor wet where the drain pipe comes through. I've never actually seen it leak, just the result of it.

The leak is so intermittent that the sheetrock and subfloor have time to completely dry out between leaks even though this bathroom gets used every day. Several times I have tested running each of these bathroom fixtures by themselves and at the same time and I'm not able to make it leak when I want it to. We poured water on the floor to see if there was a crack in the tile or grout but that didn't cause it to leak.

In the bathroom there are 2 sinks, a toilet and a tub/shower. There are no A/C drain lines near by. There is a window close by but it doesn't appear to be connected to rainfall. The drain pipe is pvc. It's a Crane toilet that is about 20 years old, I believe.

We had a plumber come out and he wasn't sure where the leak was coming from so, he suggested we replace the wax ring to try to fix it.

Does anyone know what would cause the leak to be so intermittent and how to reproduce it?
 

Reach4

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1. You should not see a trap for a toilet from beneath, since the trap is up inside the toilet.

2. Did you try swapping out the wax ring? I would guess yes, but it is not clear.

3. Water on the floor from a tub or shower user would seem to match your intermittent description. I wonder if you could spread some kind of powder in your kitchen ceiling hole to detect where the water flows from if it comes again.

4. Somebody might overflow a toilet but not own up to it.

5. I would get one or more BWD-HWA Basement Watchdog Water Sensor and Alarms. They have a remotable sensor. Attach a sensor to where things get wet, and the next time there is moisture there. the alarm will sign off. It will sound like a smoke alarm. Investigate while things are freshly wet.
 
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