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We have a problem with our toilet. When we flush it, water rises in the bowl, then slowly leaks away through the drain onto the floor. I took a video of the problem to possibly send to a plumber. However, firstly I wanted to know if it is possible to fix it ourselves.

The water seems to be leaking through cracks in the caulk where the drainage pipe goes into the floor. I was wondering if unclogging the toilet and re-applying the foam/paste would solve the problem, or if it would only serve as a temporary fix. We haven't tried this yet because:

  1. We currently don't have a plunger.

  2. We don't want to worsen the problem in case a plumber needs to come

All help is welcome and thanks in advance!

video of the problem, still capture:

enter image description here

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  • It seems like you have 2 problems there. A blockage downstream in the sewer pipe, and an extremely amateur hack of a plumbing job...
    – brhans
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 14:57
  • Where is this in the world?. You may not have access to the parts I mentioned in my answer.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jun 3, 2019 at 16:34
  • Hello! Thanks for your answer. This is in my girlfriends appartment in The Netherlands, so i think it won't be a problem getting those materials. Yea it seems like the people that made and fitted the toilet did a poor job doing so. WIll definitely discuss this with the landlady. The problem is solved, for now, but it will only be a matter of time until it happens again.
    – Tjeu van Baardewijk
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 21:32

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That is not at all how a toilet should connect to the floor. You'll need to remove the toilet, clean away all the caulk, and set it anew.

In my part of the world we use a ring of waxy material, sometimes with an embedded rubber flange, to make the seal between the toilet and the floor. This is a one-time use product and must be replaced if the toilet is re-set.

Anytime you encounter caulk in plumbing you can assume that something is very wrong. If it hasn't failed already, it soon will.

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Your pipe is plugged up causing the water to back up. The next problem is your “closet flange” to toilet seal is leaking” since the water is going slow it will need a snake run down to clear the problem in most cases. The toilet needs to be pulled and the seal cleaned and a new seal installed, wax rings the most common seal only cost a couple of $ maybe 5 for a urethane and wax model I think these are the most forgiving but cost more. Watch some Utube videos of how to replace a wax ring not hard but a dirty smelly job, also some on running a drain auger down a pipe, best done with toilet off. You may be able to fix the problem with a 20$ auger or snake and a 2$ seal, a plumber on the other hand is going to cost 150 or more to pull a toilet and run a snake. I don’t suggest drain cleaners on mains since if they don’t work now there is caustic in the pipe and running a snake in this makes the job even more of a nasty mess. I did not see the video prior to answering, it looks like your closet flange is short and someone used calking to make up the difference. The make adjustable flanges that fit inside the existing pipe that with a new wax seal will seal things up but the plugged main line needs to be fixed with that mess right there the plug may be at the top, but I would want to fix this not patch it as has been done in the past

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