Toilet Leaks - Bath Tub Fills

[fleemo17]

Came home today to find a soggy bathroom. When I flush the toilet, there's a small spout of water coming from one of the bolts. Then water starts backing up into the bath tub from the tub's drain. From reading this newsgroup I see that the leaking toilet could hopefully be repaired by either new washers around the bolts or the large opening beneath the toilet. But does the water backing up in the tub indicate a more serious problem? I don't understand the correlation between a leaking toilet and the tub backing up. :/

-Fleemo

[Dll]

You toilet sounds fine. Your sewer line doesn't. Seesm like you might want to call around for a plumber.

- Nate

[fleemo17]

I'm on a sewer system. Would a sewer blockage cause the leak at the bolts?

We've been having heavy rainfall the past couple of weeks, and folks around the neighborhood have been reporting water problems, like brown water coming from the spigots. Could these issues have anything to do with my problem?

-Fleemo

[Dave Balderstone]

If you don't mind bathing in sewage, then no, not a problem at all.

[Art]

If you are on septic you are filled to the brim. If you are on sewer you have a blockage. Try rootor rooter or a plumber.

[fleemo17]

normally, but if the outlet is blocked, it can't handle the pressure and will leak. <

Doug and Joseph, thanks for the clarification. That makes sense to me. My next question is does the leaking indicate that the seals need to be replaced? Once I snake the line, should I replace the seals, or are they functioning within normal parameters? (I've never had problems with them before.)

Thanks.

-Fleemo

[Dll]

I hope you're not considering one of those tiny hand held things. GFL. You're likely heading to a 15 ft pile of manure with a toothpick when what you really need is someone else and a big shovel.

I'd personally settle for nothing less than the entire drain snaked out to the street. We're talking pull the toilet off, snake down to the exit of the house, then open your sewer line access and cut all the way to the main.

2-300 bucks. You'll be wasting your time with some toy from Home Depot. Backing up into your bathtub isn't because of some big turd - it's likely much more serious - tree roots, decades of bacon grease, whatever. Someone looking for info on "seals" for their toilet bolts just isn't likely to get this done right on their own.

- Nate

[m Ransley]

You need your drain blockage removed and new toilet wax ring, or now that the seal is shot sewer gasses may enter your home.

[fleemo17]

Nate, you may well be right. But the problem appears to be limited to the one toilet -- the shower isn't clogged, nor is the other toilet, nor are any of the other drains in the house. This gives me a little hope that it's a problem with this one toilet, not the entire sewer line. And spending $9 on a snake rental as a first line of action instead of $200 - $300 to call out a plumber at least seems worth a try.

-Fleemo

[Joseph Meehan]

Sorry, but Nate is correct. This is almost certain to be the big one.

[Doug Miller]

Of course it could - if the water can't flow out through the drain, it has to go *somewhere*.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Joseph Meehan]

Yes. The seal where the toilet fits is not that tight. It works find normally, but if the outlet is blocked, it can't handle the pressure and will leak.

You have exactly what would be expected from a sewer blockage.

No. It could have something to do with the rain as it may be causing problems with the water supply, but that is uncertain.

[PaulJ]

I agree with you Fleemo. Except I'd get the $15 rig as it is twice as long and bigger guage. And you can amortize the cost over several decades so your cost for this job is only $1.23.

But if you do call a plumber and pay the $300 make sure you ask for a video tape of your sewer line blockage. Most respectable plumbers charge you the full cost of the video equipment even though it has been paid for a thousnd times over by other suckers/homeowners.

[Art]

You have a blockage affecting the shower and the toilet. Unlikely that you will get it with your snake. You probably need a plumber. Same thing happened to a friend. Turned out it was a flushable feminine tampon. He called the company and complained and they reimbursed him for the plumbers bill.

[RicodJour]

indicate

The toilet bolts have nothing to do with stopping water. They're there to keep the toilet secured and prevent rocking when you're really working the bowl. :)

have a communal problem, but the fact that it's only the one bathroom experiencing the problem muddies the water a bit. There are companies that more or less specialize in clearing blockages. Around here it's a flat fee of $50.

You'll definitley want to replace the $3 wax toilet ring. Now that the seal has been compromised any water seepage will start eating your subfloor and framing and you'll be in for a much bigger repair down the road. If you're not comfortable removing the bowl and replacing the ring, I don't see that you have a choice but to call your friendly neighborhood plumber.

R

[Dll]

You haven't said anything interesting in your post. Showers, sinks, etc, don't have much of a flow compared to a toilet or a washing machine. If this toilet you're having problems with is closer to where your sewer pipe exits the house (i.e. downstairs, street side of house, etc), then you can not yet rule out roots or other serious problems far down your pipe.

I'd at least drop 50 bucks and rent a 100 foot, 1/2" snake, then surf the internet to learn how to remove your toilet. For 9 bucks you are clearly looking at something that almost certainly will not solve the problem you are describing no matter its cause or location. After you've blown 100 bucks on 2 rentals because you're clueless and twice washed all the sewage spray off your walls that a real snake produces, 2-300 bucks might start to seem pretty cheap. I've seen quotes as low as 125 around here to snake out a sewer. Good luck.

- Nate

[Oscar_Lives]

Kind of reminds me of

[Marilyn & Bob]

Just one thing I'd check first before going any farther. You said that there had been some very heavy rains recently. Is the City sewer a combined (storm and sanitary) system? If so, check with your neighbors whether they have any problems like yours. It is possible that all the rain caused the city sewer to back up.

[fleemo17]

Well, that wasn't so bad. The only difficulty I had was removing the old bolts that were so corroded they were mere lumps of metal. From there on it was a snap.

A sincere thank you to those who actually contributed useful information. It came in handy and I truly appreciate your input.

A newsgroup is a lot like the pipe I just cleared -- it works great if you can just get past all the crap.

-F

[RicodJour]

You have passed the final test, young Jedi, and are now ready to face the world! I think I'm going to steal that last line - I really like it.

Where was the blockage and how did you clear it?

R