“I’m not sure how to describe what’s happening with our toilet,” Rayna said. “It flushes and fills and does everything a toilet should. But it’s always a little bit wet at the base, right at the floor. Just a small amount of water, but it’s always there. Is this a big deal? My husband says it is just the toilet sweating.”
What Do You Know About Toilet Sweat?
If your toilet is sweating, you will generally see that it’s sweating. Look for droplets of water formed on your toilet’s tank, bowl, or base. These droplets form due to the humidity in the air, and temperature differences between the air temperature and the toilet’s temperature. Sweating toilets are most common in poorly ventilated bathrooms.
Sometimes toilet sweat does drip onto the floor. However, if you have a consistent presence of water at the base of the toilet and you don’t see the sweating – it is possible you have a small leak at the base of the toilet.
Can you safely ignore this? Well, the thing is that the constant presence of water means your floorboards and joists are continually being rotted away. Water destroys wood through prolonged contact. When the floor around your toilet rots out, you’re going to need very expensive repairs. Financially, it’s a wiser option to have your local plumber fix the leaky toilet before the damage to the floors becomes too severe.
The other reason you always want to fix leaks promptly is that water is expensive. When you’re paying for every drop of water your household uses, do you really want to finance a constant small puddle around the base of the toilet? That’s money you could use for other things.
Additionally, the water that drains from the base of the toilet may not be the most hygienic and best smelling. This isn’t the water you want the kids or pets playing in. For a quick resolution of the problem, have your local licensed plumber check the situation out.
