This project has turned into an expensive leak repair!! Once I discovered I could remove, I decided to pry on the flange to see if it would move. Fortunately, there was enough "give" in the pipe that I could pry it up by a good half inch. This gave me enough room to slip the flange spanner underneath. (This repair part had two screw tabs on the outside radius--a trip to the cutoff wheel took care of those!) The flange spanner is now acting as a large washer, and holding the bolt just fine! With that out of the way, I took the toilet bowl and tank outside. Got out the power washer, and cleaned the bowl until it looked like new. Then I did the tank. Inside, outside...then turned it over to clean the bottom. Whereupon I noticed the tank was cracked, likely when the previous owner over (or the builder) overtightened the bolts to the bowl. The crack was blue, and this explains where all that water was seeping from for all those years! (It was odd--the floor behind the toilet never felt wet, but the blue gunk kept accumulating.) So, it was back to Home Depot to return a bagful of repair parts, and off to Lowe's to buy a Bold New Look Of Kohler "Wellworth" toilet. After all this fussing around, it took me all of a half hour to plop the new toilet onto its new seal, bolt it down, attach the tank and water supply, and give it a test run. Aside from needing a new supply line (bought a nice braided line with rubber gaskets), it works great! This Wellworth came well recommended for about ~$100, and it seems to flush better than some I've seen. So, rather than the rubber rotting out on the old toilet, it was a nearly invisible hairline crack causing the leak. If anyone's in the southeast Michigan area wants a free, cleaned-up Mansfield No. 15 toilet bowl with a cracked (repairable?) tank, come and get it! Thanks, all, for the help! -= N =- |
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