Should You Caulk Around the Toilet?
www.bobvila.com
Reasons to caulk outweigh reasons not to, our pro says.

I’m currently thinking no caulk is best because it allows you to notice if the wax ring is leaking. In fact, this is exactly what happened to me recently. I flushed and noticed water coming out from the sides of the toilet.

What do the fedinauts think?

From the article:

However, leaks are usually noticed from the floor below the toilet when looking up. Leaks under the tub are often found in the same way. In apartments, it is common for the tenant below to be the one who first notices a problem. So this argument for not caulking is somewhat flawed.

This seems like a terrible reason to caulk. The first obvious major flaw with this thinking is that it assumes you have a lower floor??? I only have 1 floor and then it’s concrete below. I can’t notice it from the bottom. Also, if you’re in an apartment, wouldn’t it still be better for the owner to notice the leak from the toilet, instead of waiting for it to get so bad the the person from the bottom notices??

Caulk prevents water from seeping under the toilet.

OK. This I guess makes sense, for certain people, I guess. If your shower or sink is right next to your toilet, I could see water from the outside going in. But in my case, my toilet is not near sinks or showers. So I’m a lot more worried about water from the inside going out.

Caulking around the toilet is good for pest prevention

I guess I can understand this point. Small bugs could hide under the toilet.

Caulk looks better

Disagree.

and helps prevent unpleasant odors

Why would there be odors? The wax ring and the toilet should be making a good seal, no? If there are odors, doesn’t that mean the seal is failing? Wouldn’t that be a sign you should investigate further? Not hide the issue?

Plumbing codes require caulking a toilet to the floor

Because I said so isn’t a good reason…

Pro caulk:

  • could prevent bugs from hiding under the toilet
  • could prevent water from going under the toilet

Con caulk:

  • hides wax ring failures
  • hides poor installation

Seems like the cons carry waaaayyy more weight than the pros.

  • 4am@lemmy.zip
    0·
    20 小时前

    I was always told if you caulk to leave the back open so leaks and smells can be noticed. So, it’s mostly for looks. Some local codes might require it though, so check if your local code was amended.

    I have seen aquarium sealant (pure silicone, the clear stuff that smells like vinegar) be used around the flange to seal up any gap between the flooring and the closet flange which prevents leaks from wetting the subflooring and causing it to rot out.

    If you have an uneven floor (bad tiles/old house etc) and you don’t trust shims to hold forever, you can also seat the toilet on plaster of Paris; just leave the back open so leaks can’t build up but again this is only necessary in unusual cases.

    TLDR; if you don’t prefer the look and it’s not a code requirement and you are confident that you can achieve a solid mount, you can skip it.