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I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question. If not could you point me in the right direction?

How do we get rid of orange mold under the toilet?

orange mold under toilet We've tried scraping it off with a knife and putting bleach where we can, but it still comes back weekly.

There are also calcium deposits in some of the grooves in the tile surrounding our toilet.

UPDATE: The "mold" in the picture ended up being that the plumber installed wood shims when our house was built only about 1.5 years ago. The wood shims were removed.

SECOND UPDATE: The builder came back again because it really was mild (happened again with plastic shims). A piece on the toilet (not sure of its name) was defective--the part of the toilet that connects to the flange. Builder said they had never seen this before.

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    Is that mold, or is that the wax ring being blown out the side?
    – user61305
    Mar 8, 2017 at 3:03
  • Is there a way to tell?
    – thecoolmacdude
    Mar 8, 2017 at 3:57
  • Short of sending it to a lab, no... Though I will say I have never felt waxy mold before, so scooping a part of that up and feeling it may give some indication. Wax rings aren't too bad to replace, try that first. Once you lift off the loo, you'll see if it's wax or not.
    – user61305
    Mar 8, 2017 at 4:21
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    The "mold" ended up being wood shims.
    – thecoolmacdude
    Mar 10, 2017 at 4:34
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    I hate to say this, but: That is hilarious.
    – user61305
    Mar 10, 2017 at 15:06

1 Answer 1

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By scraping away the mold you are only treating the symptom, not addressing the cause.

The mold is being fed by leakage from the toilet or drain. The odds are more than 99% it is coming from a leaking waste connection.

To fix it, remove the toilet, clean it up and reinstall.

The directions for removal and re-installing are here. You'll need a $6 wax ring and a couple hours depending on the condition of the fastening bolts, how handy you are, and luck.

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  • Thanks! This is from a new(er) house so we're doing to try to get the builder to fix it for us (fingers crossed).
    – thecoolmacdude
    Mar 8, 2017 at 3:55

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