SAS
Member
My wife's parents, who are in their 80's, live in an apartment building in Brooklyn, NY. There is a persistent urine smell around the toilet bowl in one of the bathrooms, even if the bowl and floor around it have been thoroughly cleaned. At one point there was some slight leakage around the bowl, but the super replaced the wax ring and that solved the obvious leakage. However, it still stinks in there!
We did get the super to change the wax ring a second time due to the smell, but it didn't solve the problem. My guess is that there is a small crack in the bowl near the wax ring and the new ring is keeping any water from seeping onto the floor, but some is leaking under the flooring causing the smell. Or could the flange have a crack in it?
The super is not going to do anything if he doesn't see water on the floor - he says it's just a matter of keeping the bathroom clean - so either I have to change the bowl myself or get a plumber to do it. I've installed toilets before; the only difference here is that it's a flushometer. Can I safely just disconnect the pipe that enters the bowl?
Or if I have to call a plumber, how much should I expect to spend?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We did get the super to change the wax ring a second time due to the smell, but it didn't solve the problem. My guess is that there is a small crack in the bowl near the wax ring and the new ring is keeping any water from seeping onto the floor, but some is leaking under the flooring causing the smell. Or could the flange have a crack in it?
The super is not going to do anything if he doesn't see water on the floor - he says it's just a matter of keeping the bathroom clean - so either I have to change the bowl myself or get a plumber to do it. I've installed toilets before; the only difference here is that it's a flushometer. Can I safely just disconnect the pipe that enters the bowl?
Or if I have to call a plumber, how much should I expect to spend?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.