Water leaking from under toilet

We have had a slow water leak that seems to be coming from beneath our toilet. I pulled it last night and replaced the wax rings (flange is on wood, with backer and tile on top, so I used two rings.) Today, we still have the leak. Nothing from water supply, or tank bolts. I am stumped. There was no moisture around flange.

What is involved in shimming the flange up to floor grade? PVC work, or are there different depths of flanges available?

Thanks for the great forum!

Toilet Leaking

I had the same problem eccept in my case it was the water supply, I can only suggest, maybe a crack in the toilet?

andyprius said:

I had the same problem eccept in my case it was the water supply, I can only suggest, maybe a crack in the toilet?

Click to expand...

That's what I am thinking. It is the weekend, so I am trying to learn about toilets before I order a new one, or figure out what is wrong with this one.

Thanks for the response.

I think you know what the problem really is. The flange should be set on top of the finished floor, and it sounds like yours is recessed perhaps as much as 1/2" below floor level. I can think of two ways this might be repaired. If you unscrew the flange from the floor you might be able to jack the drain pipe up so the flange is high enough. Then fill in under the flange so it will rest on solid floor when the jack is removed. The patched in floor doesn't have to be pretty and match the finished floor in appearance, only in height. The alternative would be to replumb with new parts, but you'd still have to fill in the floor under the flange. You could have a problem with the flange setting level after raising the drain, so some shimming might be necessary.

amateur thoughts...

if it is a recessed flange, and you are a D.I.Y. person, the FERNCO waxless gasket (at least for me and my friends) works GREAT. You have to seriously clean off any wax (I used wd-40 and a scraper, then used a degreaser to clean it off.

If it is some kind of micro crack, you may be able to try the dye capsule thingies? Maybe crepe-paper or t.p. positioned around the tank and bowl to see where originates?