I live in a 3-unit condo. One of my toilets started leaking from underneath so I shut it off and we have stopped using it. (I did slightly tighten the bolts several weeks ago.)
Coincidently my upstais neighbor reported noises within the walls. His comments – “A few times in the past 7-10 days or so there’s been a very loud noise – it seems to be shaking the plumbing and carries through the plumbing. It’s loudest on the north wall (30 West Cedar side) near the back of the building.It starts suddenly, lasts for about 10 minutes then stops.”
He found something on the internet about air in the pipes – “If you’ve lived in the house for a long time and the hammering effect has gradually gotten worse, it could be that you have air chambers connected to your pipes behind the walls. Air chambers help cushion against water hammer, but they fill with water over time and need to be drained to allow them to refill with air. This can be done easily by most homeowners by shutting off the water main valve, opening up the faucets and flushing the toilets starting at the highest level of the home and working their way down to the lowest level until all the pipes have drained. Once the lowest pipe runs clear, close that drain and turn the water main back on.”
I believe that location is where the vent to the leaking toilet would be.
Is this just a coincidence or is there a connection?
Or did it take a couple of weeks for the seal to fail from the tightening?
It’s a nuisance not having this toilet available but I don’t want to just replace the wax ring if its something else.
I would appreciate any and all comments.
Thanks,
Richard
Replies
What you're describing is not "water hammer", nor is it related to having the toilet shut off. It's most probably a chattering valve somewhere.
Based on the long duration a valve in either the hot water heating system (if present) or the irrigation system (if present) would be the main culprit.
The leaking toilet will never be fixed by tightening the bolts (in fact, doing so might damage something) -- the gasket under the toilet must be replaced. It is necessary, though, that the toilet be reinstalled so that it absolutely does not move or rock when sat upon.
Leaking toilet
Thanks for the response.
First of all, I tightened the toilet (1/4 to 1/2 turn on the nuts, max) because my 100lb wife thought it was rocking. I;m well aware that overtightening may crakck the toilet.
So., I will replace the wax ring and see how it goes. I just didn't want to do that if there was another reason - the noise.
Thanks,
Richardi
Tightening bolts is not how you stop a toilet from rocking. You either shim it up somehow (using purpose-made plasic wedges or some sort of grout), or you make the floor flat (set the toilet down on carbon paper to mark the high spots in the floor, then grind down those high spots).