Smelly bathroom—bad toilet seal?

August 3, 2023 4:46 AM

A bathroom in my house always smells of stale urine, despite regular cleaning and flushing. It has always been this way. Is it possible that the toilet is not well seated or has a bad seal?

Now that I’m writing this, it definitely will shift I’m you lean on it, so perhaps it is not well seated on the floor and leaks from below.

Two questions before I commit to rolling up my sleeves this weekend—

First, is it it possible that a leak from below the toilet would smell just of stale urine? I would have thought that a leak from below might smell even worse than it does, i.e., of feces. WDYT?

Second, I consider myself handy, strong enough to move the toilet, and not squeamish about the ick factor. I Will obviously turn off the water and know to put a rag in the pipe to block sewer gas. However, while I’ve done other homeowner plumbing projects before, I’ve never worked with a toilet before. Toilet enthusiasts, is there any reason why I shouldn’t tackle this overdue project this weekend?

Thanks!

posted by myaskme to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

Urine might be getting trapped under the hinge(s) of the seat, if you have people in your household who stand up to urinate. I had the same thing happen in my household once and that was the source.
posted by Janta at 5:34 AM on August 3, 2023

It could be that a leaky seal or even years of people missing the toilet have let liquid seep into the sub-floor. Is there a basement under the bathroom? If so, check the area around the toilet from there.
posted by mareli at 5:35 AM on August 3, 2023

We have people who stand to urinate and had the same problem. I discovered that there was a tiny gap between the floor and the toilet. Using a lysol wipe, I slid it under the toilet and found the source of the odour. The wipes work best, as thin and strong.

I've changed out a wax seal on my own, and it wasn't a big deal. The only thing before you get started is to check if you have turn off valves at the toilet. If you don't, I'd get a plumber. If you do, it's reasonably easy.

Tips- two wax seals in case you fudge one and start early on a day on which shops are open so you can run out if necessary. Depending on the age of the toilet, you may want to replace it.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2023

Have changed many toilets. The sewer smell from a bad wax ring is very different from the persistent urine smell. My money is on Janta's solution: start by taking off the seat.
posted by booooooze at 7:13 AM on August 3, 2023

Also, if the household has people who stand to urinate, make sure to clean the walls and floor around the toilet as well. You might be surprised just how much fine overspray misses the bowl and lands on the surrounding area.

But, definitely, if the toilet shifts when you lean on it, this needs to be corrected. While you've got the toilet removed to replace the wax seal, I'd also replace the mounting bolts.
posted by xedrik at 7:47 AM on August 3, 2023

We have people who stand to urinate around our house and a wobbly toilet (unlevel floor). So we de-urine frequently, including: removinging easy-to-remove toilet seats, scrubbing adjacent floors, walls, and cabinets. I love the Lysol wipes idea and will definitely add that to my game (currently q-tips for me).

For leveling the toilet, toilet shims might work for you, then seal the edge with caulking. I don't love caulking around toilets but I don't love cleaning up urine either.
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 10:19 AM on August 3, 2023

From unfortunate experience, I can tell you that the smell that comes up from the sewer doesn't smell as much like feces as you would think it would. That's because the pipes are basically empty, you're smelling a very diluted mix of all the grey and black water in your household, from fairly far away. So I wouldn't assume that you would recognize it right away.

But if the base (not the seat, not the tank, but the thing that bolts into the ground) is wobbling, and you have a traditional wax ring, you definitely don't have the seal you would want.

I definitely would give replacing the toilet a go, assuming you have another one in the house to use in the meantime. If things go well, you can have it back in place in under an hour. Before you start, make sure your shutoff valve works. Turn it off, drain the toilet, and make sure you can't hear anything running. The valve doesn't have to work 100% as long as there's not more than a few drips. Get a rubber ring (get two actually, sometimes you need extra spacing between the flange and the toilet) and new bolts. Also consider the age and quality of your toilet, while ceramic lasts forever it can clog with minerals, and newer low-flow toilets flush extremely well with little water. It's like 75% of the work to re-seat a toilet with a new ring as it is to assemble a whole new one. Very carbon intensive to replace ceramic, but that's up to you. If you can't get a solid fit with the bolts on the existing flange, it's probably time to call in a plumber. My plumber charges $250 in a high-cost area, to set expectations.
posted by wnissen at 3:53 PM on August 3, 2023

I had that issue (even though I sit down to pee) and it turned out to be a urine-adjacent ammonia odour coming from some kind of chemical reaction in a damp shower curtain.
posted by brachiopod at 5:47 PM on August 3, 2023

Do you happen to also have a floor drain in the bathroom? If so that can smell. They usually have a P trap and you can remedy it by just pouring some water into it.
posted by Jungo at 5:58 PM on August 3, 2023

It may well be the toilet seal, and it's well worth looking into that...but if there's a bathtub in that bathroom with a plastic curtain liner, you might want to check that as well. We recently had this issue and it turned out to be mold on the shower curtain liner (apparently, some types of mold can smell like wee). We replaced the liner right away, and the urine-esque stank was gone.
posted by aecorwin at 3:10 PM on August 4, 2023

We have a similar problem, and it's due to the design of the toilet bowl, where the upper inside rim, where the water flushes through and runs down the bowl, is narrow and high. The rim is too narrow and high for the toilet brush to get up there adequately, and despite frequent cleaning with brush and bleach, clumps of vile gunk grow in there that has a strong urine odor. If I flatten an empty toilet paper tube, I can just fit it into the gap to slide it around and knock the gunk loose. You would think frequent flushing would keep anything from growing in there, but apparently not.
posted by amusebuche at 6:00 PM on August 4, 2023

If you haven't already, it is worth scrubbing the walls near the toilet really well. That improved things around here.
posted by kadia_a at 2:33 AM on August 5, 2023