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Need help with plumbing vent problem Andrew 08-06-2007
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Posted by Andrew on August 6, 2007, 8:54 am
Hello,
I have an odd odor coming from my upstairs toilet. The smell is
sort of sulfur/stinky. It could be a vent issue. I have two other
toilets in the house (1 is exactly below the stinky one) and neither
of these has an odor. The smell seems to be coming from the water in
the bowl. I am assuming that there is a venting issue, but how would
the smell be able to come up through the water? If anyone has any
ideas what is causing this, and how to fix it, I would appreciate some
suggestions.

thanks,
Andy


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Posted by Speedy Jim on August 6, 2007, 11:40 am
Andrew wrote:
> Hello,
> I have an odd odor coming from my upstairs toilet. The smell is
> sort of sulfur/stinky. It could be a vent issue. I have two other
> toilets in the house (1 is exactly below the stinky one) and neither
> of these has an odor. The smell seems to be coming from the water in
> the bowl. I am assuming that there is a venting issue, but how would
> the smell be able to come up through the water? If anyone has any
> ideas what is causing this, and how to fix it, I would appreciate some
> suggestions.
>
> thanks,
> Andy
>

It would not come up thru the bowl water.

But it might be escaping underneath, at the wax ring.
It's common for the wax to fail in such a way that
it is no longer gas-tight but still doen't leak any
visible water.

Far less likely is some freak crack in the porcelain
passage in the bowl.

Jim

Posted by Andrew on August 6, 2007, 11:54 am
> Andrew wrote:
> > Hello,
> > I have an odd odor coming from my upstairs toilet. The smell is
> > sort of sulfur/stinky. It could be a vent issue. I have two other
> > toilets in the house (1 is exactly below the stinky one) and neither
> > of these has an odor. The smell seems to be coming from the water in
> > the bowl. I am assuming that there is a venting issue, but how would
> > the smell be able to come up through the water? If anyone has any
> > ideas what is causing this, and how to fix it, I would appreciate some
> > suggestions.
>
> > thanks,
> > Andy
>
> It would not come up thru the bowl water.
>
> But it might be escaping underneath, at the wax ring.
> It's common for the wax to fail in such a way that
> it is no longer gas-tight but still doen't leak any
> visible water.
>
> Far less likely is some freak crack in the porcelain
> passage in the bowl.
>
> Jim

Is there a way to check the integrity of the wax ring? If I caulked
around the bowl, would this serve as a temporary fix?

thanks,
Andy


Posted by on August 6, 2007, 12:08 pm
> Is there a way to check the integrity of the wax ring? If I caulked
> around the bowl, would this serve as a temporary fix?

You have to remove the toilet to check the wax ring. At that point,
you may as well replace it. It's not that difficult.

If you want to do the half-a$$ed hillbilly fix, go ahead and caulk.
Just keep in mind that there's probably more wrong than just gas
leaking. Right now there's probably just a little bit of water
escaping, enough that it hasn't soaked through the ceiling downstairs,
but that ring is probably on its way out. Caulking around the base of
the toilet may block the gases, but the water is still going to drip
and destroy your ceiling at least.


Posted by Andrew on August 6, 2007, 2:51 pm
On Aug 6, 10:08 am, mkirs...@rochester.rr.com wrote:
>
> > Is there a way to check the integrity of the wax ring? If I caulked
> > around the bowl, would this serve as a temporary fix?
>
> You have to remove the toilet to check the wax ring. At that point,
> you may as well replace it. It's not that difficult.
>
> If you want to do the half-a$$ed hillbilly fix, go ahead and caulk.
> Just keep in mind that there's probably more wrong than just gas
> leaking. Right now there's probably just a little bit of water
> escaping, enough that it hasn't soaked through the ceiling downstairs,
> but that ring is probably on its way out. Caulking around the base of
> the toilet may block the gases, but the water is still going to drip
> and destroy your ceiling at least.

Remember, I did say the caulk could be TEMPORARY fix. A true
hillbilly would make this a permanent fix. Thanks for your help. I
will replace the ring this weekend.


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