help! wax ring question

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 10:16 AM

I believe that there are mold problems within my apartment. There is a graying area under the tile near my toilet that is growing. I had my maintenance fella come and take a look; he changed the wax ring for me. There was quite a bit of black substance around the wax ring area and for some reason the wax ring literally melted when set down, prior to the toilet being replaced. Can you please tell me if this is normal for the wax ring to just "melt"? I ask because I have been having some health problems and am concerned about the potential mold lingering underneath; I am clueless but also trying to to assume too much. Thanks for any feedback or guidance.

My photo file is too big to attach to this post, but if you would like it emailed to comment, please let me know.

**Cass** · 04-25-2006, 10:39 AM

If the guy placed a wax ring on the flange and it melted there must be a heat sourse for that to happen. I have never seen that B4. If it did melt then the ring would not be doing it's job as it must remain between the toilet and the flange.

Did the new ring melt or was it just plyable, or were you talking about the old ring being melted.

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 11:08 AM

to melt. To be specific, I went in to take a photo as he placed it down, it was a perfect circle. I went back in about 10 minutes later and one side was basically gone and the rest no longer a solid material.

Thanks to Cass for the comment.

**jadnashua** · 04-25-2006, 11:10 AM

Does a hot water, steam, or heat duct run near the toilet? Do you have in-floor heat?

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 11:12 AM

This is after 10 minutes, not knowing for certain if he placed the toilet down or not.

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 11:13 AM

when he first set it down.

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 11:56 AM

We definitely do not have heated floors and there is no warmth surrounding the area that I notice.

Thanks for your questions.

**Cass** · 04-25-2006, 11:58 AM

While it does appear to have melted it looks like the toilet was set on the ring. If he pulled the toilet up he should have cleaned the ring off the flange and replaced it with a new one. Do you know if he did?

It also appears that the wax only stuck to a small portion of the bottom of the toilet.

**hmarshallbooth** · 04-25-2006, 12:10 PM

Once I asked if I could take a picture, you can see that he moved his arm in the way so that you could not see the whole region under the toilet. Whether or not that was deliberate, I do not know. It is a small bathroom so the second picture was taken when he went to his car. I am assuming he got another wax ring, but as I meant to say in the first posting, I am trying to NOT assume since I know so little about all of this.

I do not expect any of you to know what he did, I am simply hoping you may have information/ suggestions based upon the pictures. Cass, does it look like a heat source problem to you?

Also, I can tell you that the graying area has spread over 2 inches since his visit yesterday.

**plumber1** · 04-25-2006, 03:17 PM

Everything that I see looks perfectly normal for a toilet seal that didn't stick to the base.

I've always thought that the discoloration is in a direct relationship to how long the seal has been leaking...black and grey

clean up the bottom side real good with hot water and soap and let it dry then check to see if some of the old wax sticks. And if it does, then make the area that sits on the ring real tacky before sitting it on a new seal.