Leaky toilet and a rinky-dink shower drain...

10 years ago

Hi all! My husband and I continue to try to get our foreclosed house as livable as possible (for those who haven't read my posts, we're building but have to live in the foreclosed house on the lot in the meantime loeschhomestead.wordpress.com) and yesterday my dad was helping with the bathroom situation. Last time we tried to flush the toilet after fixing pipes in the basement, it leaked under the toilet and onto the bathroom floor (don't worry, we tested it with water ha). So, we got a new toilet, and everything went smoothly with placing it on the wax ring. We gave it a try and no water leaked. The flushing wasn't as strong as it could be, but it went down and the tank refilled and shut off. My dad went downstairs to make sure it wasn't leaking underneath, and when we flushed again, he said it was leaking in the basement near the bathroom floor above. Any ideas? We set the toilet/wax ring as centered as possible, made sure to apply lots of pressure to set it, and got rid of the leaking problem in the bathroom. My dad isn't sure what to do other than rip the toilet back out and try a thicker wax ring, but honestly I don't know if that would do anything.

Second issue: we have a super shoddy shower drain--the previous owners just stuck a 2" pipe into the 1.5" sewer pipe with no connection haha yes, it's just stuck up in there and it leaks around it. Genius. Easy peasy right? We can just get a reducer. Wrong. It's literally 2" pipe, not standard 2" pipe which is 2 3/8" pipe, so our trip to Lowe's was unsuccessful. Anyone have any bright ideas of how to get these two pipes together properly with non-standard sizes? We'd love to avoid replacing the drain and piping but that's the best idea we have so far...

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

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Comments (5)

Kivi
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
it is not at all uncommon for plumbers to use a thicker, or add a second wax ring to a toilet if it happens to be a quirky fit for whatever reason. Just add a second wax ring and seat the toilet again properly. Its a pretty easy and cheap fix.

For the shower... did you try to find a rubber reducer coupling that would fit over your pipes. It should work for the time you are in that home.
PRO
Cero Project management
10 years ago
I am going to suggest, what is most likely the last thing you will want to hear. Hire a licensed plumber. Leaks can create more damage in dollar value, than the cost of hiring a plumber. The toilet leak can make the subflooring rot away and other framing members too, like the joists. Not to mention mold. It sounds like the basement area is unfinished, yeah! It will make getting to these issues now easier and less expensive. For others reading the thread. Even on foreclosed you can have a home inspection. If the leak is visible to you in the basement, it most likely would have been for an inspector as well. Inspections do not allow you to tear open walls so there can still be hidden items not detected by an inspection. Also, even if a home is being sold "as is" and the seller will make no repairs or concessions, you can still purchase a home warranty for yourself. These warranties can be renewed as well. There is a deductible, but $100.00 out of pocket and peace of mind are worth much more.
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Bri
Original Author
10 years ago
I should add that we are demolishing the house as soon as our build is complete (late spring/early summer), so we are trying to put as little money as possible into it and aren't too worried about damage.
Kivi
10 years ago
Try the thicker wax ring. If you don't see leaking from the pipes themselves, and you have a new toilet... it is most likely just the wax seal that needs to be more robust.
PRO
Solar Texas
10 years ago
The wax ring is there mainly to prevent sewer gases from leaking back around and smelling up the bathroom. It's not really there to prevent water leaks. Check the seal between the cistern and the toilet when you flush first. It's probably not the cause, but it's the easy one to check before you pull the toilet up again. When you pull the toilet, it's possible that you could have a partial blockage in the pipe, so you might want to check for that. Have a look at the toilet flange and how it joins onto the sewer pipe. Is the toilet flange flush onto the top of the floor? You could try a thicker wax ring. It's cheap, but if it doesn't resolve the issue, then I'm out of ideas. Next step is to hire a plumber or avoid using the toilet until the house is demolished.