Why You Should Never Ignore a Base-Of-The-Toilet Leak

Noticing that water is seeping out of the bottom, or base of your toilet can be annoying, but it can do more damage than you might suspect. If you're tempted to just ignore this problem for a while or to at least put it off until after normal business hours, you might want to reconsider that position. Here's why.

It's Unsanitary

First things first: the water that's leaking out of the base of your toilet is not clean water. Instead, it's whatever you're flushing down the toilet. In other words, there's sewage and wastewater spilling out onto the floor of your bathroom.

Needless to say, this is completely unsanitary and can put the health of you, your customers, and your employees at risk if you continue using that bathroom. Simply wiping it up isn't an option, either, as the bacteria will still remain. E. coli is something you should avoid being exposed to at all costs, as it can make you very, very sick, and it's likely present in wastewater.

It's Damaging

A leak anywhere in your bathroom is a problem, but a leak under the base of the toilet is particularly troubling. This is because what you're seeing spilling out all over the floor is likely only a part of your problem.

If the seal on your toilet has weakened to the point that it's leaking, chances are that some of the fluid isn't visible. Instead, it's seeping out under your linoleum, tile, or wooden floor, where it can directly damage your floorboards and cause wood rot. A leak coming out of a toilet like this only needs a few hours to cause permanent damage to your property, which could mean having to hire someone to completely repair your bathroom floor.

What to Do

Regardless of what time it is, you should call a plumber. If it's outside of normal business hours, contact a 24/7 plumbing service for immediate help. In the meantime, stop using that toilet if at all possible to prevent more fluid from seeping out of the bottom of the toilet.

Your plumber will arrive quickly and will fix this problem for you by removing the toilet, sopping up the fluid that's leaked out, and then replacing the toilet with a fresh seal on the bottom. This should immediately stop the leak. If your plumber thinks that damage has already been done to your flooring, they'll let you know. Otherwise, the toilet should be as good as new at this point.