Post a photo, any photo

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I tend to agree with you. The wax ring in the house grew up in was there with no problems for decades. The houses I've lived in since then have never had a problem with the wax seals.
I've never had a wax ring fail after it was successfully installed.

Keep in mind this activity is something I do once every 5 to 8 years, so it's not like I'm gonna build up proficiency through practice. 🤪
 
Disagree. They can crack from something as innocuous as the house getting too cold in winter.
I had not considered that, but it makes sense. A couple of decades ago we had various hurricanes and ice storms that knocked out our power for 1 to 3 days, and the only warm place was the middle of the house where the fireplace is. The master bath didn't go 50 F, but in a colder state that could happen.

After a series of hurricanes and ice storms repeatedly devastated the power infrastructure, the local power authority made numerous improvements, so (knock on wood!) we haven't had the power out for longer than 8 hours in a very long time.
 
We have a mobile home that is unheated in the winter in Saskatchewan. Have not had a toilet problem in the 19 years its been sitting there. It is properly winterized each year. Knock on wood.
There are a lot of "if's" in this discussion.

A big one is "is the toilet being used while the wax is frozen?". If so, the weight of a person may crack the wax, leading to a leak. If not, the wax may freeze, but it thaws and softens prior to use.

Another one is "how thick is the wax around the drain?" I buy only the over-sized wax rings because the regular sized ones didn't seal properly. Keep in mind my previous statement that I don't remount toilets all that often, so my expertise in the subject is not stellar.

I can walk through most of my remaining crawl space, and can see the master bath's drain when I open the door. I'll be keeping an eye on that area, to catch it if the seal I used does not work.
 
There are a lot of "if's" in this discussion.

A big one is "is the toilet being used while the wax is frozen?". If so, the weight of a person may crack the wax, leading to a leak. If not, the wax may freeze, but it thaws and softens prior to use.

Another one is "how thick is the wax around the drain?" I buy only the over-sized wax rings because the regular sized ones didn't seal properly. Keep in mind my previous statement that I don't remount toilets all that often, so my expertise in the subject is not stellar.

I can walk through most of my remaining crawl space, and can see the master bath's drain when I open the door. I'll be keeping an eye on that area, to catch it if the seal I used does not work.

One more tale: When my Dad lived in his house, he kept it at 70-71. When he died, my sister lowered it in the Midwestern winter to 55, since no one was there. When we sold, we had to replace the wax toilet rings because they had cracked and now they leaked. Of course, we replaced them with wax - we were selling and that was cheapest! But for my own house? Nope.

Wax can work if your installation is perfect: the flange is level with the floor top, it is not slanted, not damaged, the toilet base mates with it perfectly, etc. Also, important that on installation, the toilet is squarely placed atop the wax ring (because many a wax seal is ruined on installation). But introduce any flaw and ...

Yet to me, the crux of the whole issue is this: If there is a partial blockage in your line or incorrect drop, causing a slow draining of the water, then it's possible any seal will leak. Likewise, if your line has adequate drop and is clear, even a broken seal probably won't leak. That's the key. I keep me mentioning this because very few people even think to check it when they replace a ring. Then they blame the ring when the floor gets wet.
 
Back
Top