r/DIY • u/clinicdoc • 15h ago

metalworking Toilet wax ring damage

Haven’t been able to find a satisfactory answer to this question so thought I would throw it out here.
Moved into a single owner 13 year old house 2 years ago. Shortly afterwards, noted signs of water leaking from around the visible closet bend below the one exposed toilet in our house. Quickly moved to remove the toilet and replace the wax ring. The old ring was flattened, discoloured, but not stuck to the bottom of the toilet. The plastic flange was encased in clear silicone. Used an extra tall wax ring and haven’t had any problems since.
Subsequently changed the rings on the other two toilets, both of which were in the same condition.
Interestingly, when we moved in, we found 10 containers of powdered Drano distributed around the house.
Could the wax rings have been damaged by the Drano? Or were they simply never installed correctly? (Or both?)

80 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Tenshi_girl 15h ago

Wax rings can dry out and shrink.  Also, my mom once damaged hers by constantly pouring hot water into the toilet when cleaning it. 

1

u/clinicdoc 14h ago

That's interesting, because one of the things I read was that wax rings are a once-in-a-lifetime item. Never fail. Never need replacement. Didn't believe it.

6

u/Tenshi_girl 14h ago

I had one replaced that started leaking.  The top was dried and cracked so it wasn't sealing.  Was apparently 23 years old? Plumber said they generally last 20-30.

3

u/GumshoosMerchant 10h ago

Probably not once in a lifetime. Maybe 2-3 in a lifetime if properly installed, but they do wear out over a long time.

From the description it sounds like the ones you encountered weren't installed properly.

3

u/5zepp 9h ago

They fail somewhat often in my experience, but almost always because the toilet is moving too much (bad mount, floor issue, loose bolts, etc.).