A realtor came to my condo unit and told me there was moisture on the ceiling below. He believed the leak was coming from my unit. I let him and a Hispanic guy in my unit to find the source of the leak. I let them turn on the bathroom sink, kitchen sink, look under the sink, inspect the garbage disposal, run the tub filled with water, splash the bathroom tile with water to see if it causes a leak. I let them pull my refrigerator to get to some panel. They found no leaks below when they were making these checks. They were here for 30 minutes. The only thing I didn't let them do was pull the toilet. I knew the Hispanic guy was not a plumber. I told them I wanted a licensed plumber to pull the toilet.

Later that day I got an email from the condo board saying that the leak was caused by a bad wax ring. Keep in mind, they didn't pull my toilet or anything. That day I called a licensed plumber who came out the NEXT day too inspect the toilet. When I made the appointment I asked the Realtor if he wanted to be there when the plumber pulled the toilet. He declined and told me to have the plumber change out the wax ring. At any rate, the plumber comes flushes my toilet and sees no water around it. He pulls the toilet and tells me the wax ring is in good shape. There were no cracks or anything. The area around the ring was dry. However, because he pulled the toilet he had to put a new wax ring on it. So, he put a wax ring on top of the old one.

I sent the Realtor the licensed plumber's receipt and the realtor still accused me of causing the leak. He said that his plumber said the leak was coming from my toilet drain. Keep in mind, I've not seen any photos or pictures. W

Nonetheless, I'm still paranoid that it could be my issue. The plumber that told me everything on my end was good was really young. He looked to be 18 years old. He did come from a very reputable and expensive plumbing company in my area that has 200 great reviews on Yelp. At any rate, he he checked the toilet for leaks, looked in the tank, flushed the toilet 5x and no leaks around the toilet. He took the toilet off and saw the wax ring. He said it looked good. There was no water around the ring or on the floor. The wax ring, flange, bolts are 12 years old. All he did was give me new bolts and put the new wax ring over the old wax ring. But he didn't take off the old wax ring to look at the flange. That's my fear. He also didn't look at the unit below. Question: is the seal uner the flange? If so, he didn't look at that.

At any rate, should I have another plumber come out? Just to double check. This time get him to look at the flange and seal. I'm sure he'll have to change the wax ring again?

If I have a good wax ring, seal and flange why would my toilet drain still be leaking? Are there other causes surrounding my toilet that are happening underneath that are due to my negligence? I'm assuming the contractor who said it's my issue may have noticed rotting of the floor boards? I have no idea. Again, I've not been provided documentation, proof, photos or nothing. I'm in a condo building built in 1964. We had a major renovation 12 years ago. Again, how can someone tell my toilet drain is causing the problem when they haven't lifted my toilet. If the floor board has rotted or whatever they find that they believe is causing the leak. If my wax ring, seal and flange our good - what have I don't wrong? How is this still my mistake?

Not a plumber (or lawyer),

If you have confirmed and have seen "moisture" damage in the ceiling below -----

1. If the ceiling damage requires replacement of dry wall the water source should/could be more easily determined. ---

2. If a toilet flange/wax ring is not leaking --- consider the following.

3. For minor "moisture" damage suspect a leak wherever a caulk seal is used, ESPECIALLY if there is a shower with a bathtub. Wherever caulk is used --- Bathtub top edge and tile wall, shower wall corners and where shower wall meets shower floor. (Caulk is commonly used wherever movement between wall corners / floor etc will occur.)

4. Over time,water will seep, find its way thru any possible very minor crack in the above, causing minor damage below. Note that cracks / defective caulk may not be obvious.

5. Replace any suspected defective caulk with ONLY 100% silicone. It is messy, and for some harder to use than the usual caulk that many use --- but it will not shrink or fully harden and will maintain a tight water seal much better than the usual caulk OR caulk "with" silicone. Wipe/clean surface with alcohol, use tape and wipe with finger to make a nice clean looking installation. Have plenty of paper towels to clean finger. Check "youtube" for pointers . There is at least one good video by (I think) a Australian demonstrating fast, simple, easy installation.

Get a good idea what is located above the ceiling moisture damage in YOUR unit Be aware that a leak may not be directly above but may travel several feet within the ceiling before falling onto drywall. (Especially a minor slow leak.)



"youtube" Tommy's Trade Secrets - How to Silicone a Bath

[www.youtube.com]



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get a strong flourescent dye that is used for leak detection and flush some down the toilet a few times.

Thank you for such a detailed response! Your advice was extremely helpful.



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Have they opened the ceiling down below to investigate and pin point the problem? That would be the first thing to do.

It could be a pipe leak, but it could as easily be poor waterproofing along an exterior wall and water penetrates near a window and run down on the inside of the wall cavity and show up in a spot below.

The condo association cannot just "decide" it is a toilet flange failure. Ask them to see a official diagnosis from a licensed plumber stating this "fact". It's OK to guess and speculate during investigation and work with the lower floor owner to isolate the issue, but you don't want a condo assoc to official rule it a toilet flange failure because it could affect how insurance companies rule on coverages.

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