Life is funny and ironic sometimes. Do you remember on Thursday I declared our main bathroom finished? After waiting months to finish the vanity. Well, this happened. At 9 last night.
Consider that proclamation squashed. Friggin’ mother lover – that’s what I say in place of a four letter word. Try it, it’s fun.
Somehow the wax seal failed and water started seeping under the tile. Yeah, no obvious puddle as a sign of a leak. We noticed the grout around the toilet looked darker than the rest of the floor, but assumed it was related to a certain little boy. A good clean and we thought it was okay. Until it reappeared a few days later, this time larger. Last night, Ben noticed small bubbles coming up through the grout. Umm, that’s not normal. An inspection in the garage confirmed the toilet was in fact slowly leaking. Ben pulled the toilet. And the four tiles around it. I wanted to cry, but didn’t. We’ve cleaned up the water and now it’s drying.
Another wax ring will go in to double up our coverage. Apparently something shifted, causing the ring to loosen. What, we’re not sure. This is the first toilet Ben has installed that has leaked. Usually the wax ring squishes out, coming up through the bolt holes, but this one didn’t. Lesson learned, a waxy mess is better than a leaky toilet. At least the damage is fixable and minimal. Tonight we’ll scrape off the mastic and re-install the tile. Then grout before putting the toilet back. With another wax ring.
Before this, we had a fun and productive weekend. Way to end on a high note. Ha! How was your weekend?
ourhumbleabodeblog.com 
We recently put in a new penny-tile bathroom floor that really added some height to the floor as a whole. We bought a little extender kit for our toilet to try to head off a similar problem, and then doubled up on wax rings. Unfortunately, the darn thing STILL leaked. We finally called a plumber and he put in a fancy soil pipe extender that worked like a charm. You guys will get it right – good thing you caught it relatively early!
Hey Meg!
Gah, mother lover! That is awful. I’m so sorry to hear you’ve had the same problem. Glad you got it fixed though! 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
My dad always says to use 2 rings (or at least have the second one on hand).
Hi Leslie!
Thanks for the tip! Ben usually uses two, too. That’s the strange part. We can’t remember but we’re guessing we only had one and it didn’t leak for months. So we assumed we were okay. Obviously we were wrong. 😦
Thanks!
Amanda
We used a 1/4 inch thick spacer ring ($3? @ ACE) plus an extra thick wax ring when I removed the vinyl floor and tiled–so far 3 yrs later, no leaks for both bathrooms.
Hi Karyl!
Ooh, that’s good to know! I’ll have to look into that. Ben has used two wax rings for every other toilet he has installed and they’ve been fine.
Thanks!
Amanda
Oh no! It’s a good thing you found the culprit sooner than later!! Just when u think things are going good, huh? Oh well. It’s a good thing you guys are pros and fixing this kinda stuff.
Hi Shavonda!
Exactly, we’re thankful we figured it out before it did any real damage. Tile is fixable. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
UGH!!!! that sucks.
Hi Michelle!
I totally agree. At least we figured it.
Thanks!
Amanda
I just love your blog! Best DIY’er ever….Yesterday we put in our new flooring and toilet… today we also woke up to a leaky toilet! Welcome to our world.
Also, thanks for the tips on removing the old flooring. Worked like a champ.
Hi Yvonne!
Aww, thanks! No thanks to leaky toilets! And you’re welcome. We’re always happy to help!
Thanks!
Amanda
Oh boo! Well at least you caught it now instead of months down the line when everything was warped and rotten.
Hey Stpaulhaus!
Exactly! Things could have been much worse later on.
Thanks!
Amanda