Why You Need To Caulk Your Toilet

When something is going horribly wrong with your toilet, you'll want to find out about it as soon as possible. This, in essence, is the primary argument of many DIYers and plumbers who claim that caulking around your toilet can cause more problems than benefits. According to them, applying caulk to the base of your toilet will make it harder to see some leaks when they occur, allowing the leak to cause damage to your home before you have any clue that a problem exists.

While this theory definitely isn't absurd by any stretch of the imagination, it overemphasizes the minimal risk of caulking your toilet to the floor while overlooking the many benefits. According to Bob Vila, most toilet leaks are small, so whether or not your toilet is caulked, your bathroom floor won't be the first place to show signs of the leak. Instead, it would take a major pipe breakage to cover your bathroom floor in water. Thankfully, this is a scenario that few homeowners will ever experience.

On the other side of the debate, the benefits of caulking around your toilet are well documented. As such, it's understandable why caulking your toilet is required by the International Plumbing Code, per Family Handyman, as well as most state building codes. One of the most obvious benefits of caulking your toilet is to prevent water from leaking under it. If your toilet is situated near your bathtub or sink, chances are that well-administered caulk will prevent quite a bit of water from entering the floor around your toilet.

According to Toilet Haven, there are also compelling aesthetic and sanitary reasons to caulk the area around your toilet. For one thing, a caulked toilet will always look cleaner and more presentable than an uncaulked toilet, especially for homes with uneven floors. On the other hand, the dank space under an uncaulked toilet can become an attractive hangout for pests such as cockroaches.

As if you didn't already have enough reasons to caulk around your toilet after a fresh installation, adding caulk can actually provide important structural benefits. Per Bob Vila, caulking your toilet to the floor provides padding for your toilet, which will be especially noticeable on an uneven floor. If you've ever experienced a relentlessly wobbly toilet and wondered if there's a way to settle it down, expert caulking might just do the trick. According to Family Handyman, an unsecure toilet can actually cause injuries or toilet malfunctions under the worst circumstances, so leaving things up to chance might not be the wisest move, especially if you've already tightened the bolts as much as possible.

Thankfully, caulking around a toilet is a fairly easy project that any aspiring DIYer can learn to do in a single afternoon. While it does require some planning and supplies, the time and money spent on caulking your toilet is a necessary investment that every homeowner should take seriously.