Does this sound like it will fix a plumbing problem and what type caulk?

[Don Morris]

It's been years since I had to remove/replace a commode. This TOTO commode when we bought it 7 years ago was supposed to be one of the hight end types. We bought 3 of them and the other two haven't given us any problems. This one was moved about 3' when we enlarged a small powder room during a renovation. Up until last year and a half, it didn't give us any problems either. Then it started to back up on occasion. I've run a toilet snake down it multiple times. No improvement. I just got around to painting stripes in that powder room and removed the commode for easy access to the walls for doing the stripes and figured I'd use my 35' 3/8" motor driven roto reamer to find out if there was something down there the snake couldn't reach. I ran it down twice. I pulled up what looked like brown wrapping string. The largest string was the kind you tie boxes with, but of course there were small strands too. The total was about what would make up a baseball. We're very careful about not putting floss and non decomposable material down the commodes. There are no young people living here, but we do have some visit. Question 1) Would that amount of debris cause the commode to back up? Question 2) There was some small amount of caulking around the edge of the commode, probably nothing special, but just in case there is a "best practice stuff", I thought I'd ask. I bought a good quality wax ring with horn. I thought that should do the job. Thanks for any input.

Don M

[Kevin Bourque]

It's odd that that much string would wind up ( no pun intended) down the pipe, but yes it could cause a back up.

The caulking probably just filled a gap caused by an uneven floor or something like that.

[Dan Hintz]

Are you positive it was string and not fine roots?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

When I set a toilet I typically just put plumbers putty around the base and don't use caulk.

With the toilet base upside down, I make a rope of plumbers putty and cover the edge of the bottom. I put a new wax ring/seal/gasket on the main discharge. Then I invert the toilet in the proper place and bolt it in place. I will sit on it a time or two to seat the wax ring and the plumbers putty. Then tighten the nuts/bolts until they are snug. Over tightening the hold down bolts can crack the porcelain.

[Don Morris]

I looked at the garbage I pulled up from the drain pipe. It's definitely string and not roots. Have absolutely no idea where that came from. The caulk material I scraped off the bottom of the commode, the installation plumber put on, looked to me like a flexible silicone type material. It stretched a lot and was smooth. I haven't used plumbers putty in a while and I couldn't find any in my shop. I thought it was darker in color than this and a little rougher in texture. LOML probably would be happier with the smoothest looking and most white looking stuff on the marble floor, unless as I said, there was a particular commode sealing caulk that all plumbers use that I just don't know about. I'm hoping the drain is now clear, because we're tired of going up or down stairs to use a commode. I put the wax ring on and it's back in place. Have to think about what to do if the d__n thing backs up again. Real plumbers here ain't cheap!

[Lee Schierer]

The one thing that changed was you moved the toilet. Even though it was only about 3 feet, if the air vent wasn't fixed properly for the new location, you may not be getting the full flushing action you were seeing before. What type of pipe was in the floor? If it was cast iron, they used to use hemp for packing in cast iron pipe covered by a poured lead seal. Some of that hemp could have gone down the drain and hung up. Not all plumbers, just because they charge a lot, are good at their trade. Some take shortcuts to get in and out of a job quick, knowing any call backs later will likely come their way anyway.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Not all plumbers, just because they charge a lot, are good at their trade. Some take shortcuts to get in and out of a job quick, knowing any call backs later will likely come their way anyway.[/QUOTE]
It's not just plumbers. I've seen them all in a house I care take. Multimillion dollar house which is only 5 yrs old & they're still fixing screw ups from the first people who worked on it. Some major mistakes that should of never happened...

[Dan Hintz]

If it was cast iron, they used to use hemp for packing in cast iron pipe covered by a poured lead seal. Some of that hemp could have gone down the drain and hung up.

Once he verified it was rope, I was thinking along the the same lines, Lee.

Of course, if he ripped up the hemp, the joints may need to be repaired, as well. Short term he's okay, but long term, leaks along those joints could be real problematic.

[Don Morris]

Long term...I'm 73. I hope you mean 30 years or more.

[Andrew Fleck]

Just a thought on the caulk around the base of the toilet. I was always taught to never caulk there or put any kind of plumbers putty. The reason being that if the wax ring ever started leaking it would seep out under the toilet into your bathroom giving you a chance to replace the wax ring before it began to leak through your ceiling. If you contain all of that water under your toilet it only has one place to go.

[Jason Roehl]

Just a thought on the caulk around the base of the toilet. I was always taught to never caulk there or put any kind of plumbers putty. The reason being that if the wax ring ever started leaking it would seep out under the toilet into your bathroom giving you a chance to replace the wax ring before it began to leak through your ceiling. If you contain all of that water under your toilet it only has one place to go.

I fully agree with this.

As for the string issue, there is another potential source--a monthly source, if you know what I mean.

[Dan Hintz]

As for the string issue, there is another potential source--a monthly source, if you know what I mean.

That's... disturbing ;) There would have to be a lot of monthly visitors to equal a huge wad of string.

[Don Morris]

Ya know, I kinda thought about not putting caulk around the periphery because I had heard that reasoning somwhere and it makes sense, but there was some caulk around the visual areas and I sure didn't put it there. Must have been put there by the plumber who did our whole home and he has a great reputation. So I figured he knew what he was doing. However, I figured he must have been lazy in not caulking towards the back/non visual part of the commode where it would be difficult for anybody to see. I betcha, that's why he didn't caulk there. He knows how my LOML well and she likes a finished look. That was his solution.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm wondering if there are small humans in the household.

It's amazing how many plastic gimcracks my Boys
have "buried at sea".