I came home tonight and there was a puddle of water underneath our downstairs toilet. Best I can tell the water is coming out from between the tank and the bowl, or there could be a crack in the tank in the back. I think it is most likely the seal between the tank and the bowl.

We are going to replace that toilet anyway but is it a reasonably inexpensive job to replace the seal? I'm just wondering if it is worth it to buy some time with a band aid fix until we can get a new toilet.

I turned off the water supply to the toilet, but a little water was still filling the tank. So I jammed a bunch of paper towels between the tank and the Fluidmaster 400A cup so the toilet tank won't refill.

Thanks.



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The tank to bowl gasket should only leak when the toilet is flushed. A "static" leak would be from a cracked tank, bad sealing of the tank to bowl bolts or bad seal of the flush valve to the tank. Any of the washer/gasket leaks are an easy repair. Dry everything and keep an eye on what starts getting wet first. You might put some food coloring in the tank, to help see where the leak is coming from.

replacing the gasket and bolts is NOT a bandaid fix. done properly it is a 100% professional job and will last for decades.

Thanks.



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The tank to bowl gasket can and does wear out over time. It's an easy fix. If you ever use any of the in-tank toilet sanitizers (2000 Flushes or similar), the oxidizing nature of those santizers will quickly degrade said gasket.

The gasket should not leak unless the toilet was flushed or the water was flowing in to the overflow pipe, which is not likely if you could stop the flow through the FLuidmaster with paper towels. Therefore, the most likely cause of a leak, while you were not in the residence, would be a crack in the tank or leaking tank to bowl bolts.