In this article, the Watermark team breaks down the most common reasons a clean toilet still smells, what’s causing each one, and what you can do to fix it before picking up the phone.
You know the feeling. You walk into the bathroom and get hit with a wall of smell. If the door is left open, it drifts into the hallway and the rest of the house. Definitely not the first thing you want to encounter in the morning, especially when the toilet looks perfectly clean.
Here’s the good news: a smelly toilet is usually an easy fix. There are a few common culprits, and most of them can be taken care of without a service call. Let’s go through them one by one.
1. Loose Bolts or a Broken Flange
Over time, toilet bolts will tend to loosen off, resulting in a wobbly toilet. You all know what I mean – you go to sit down and feel like you’re going to fall off! Not only can this create water leaks, but it can also cause sewer gas to be emitted from the base of the toilet. Sometimes, these loose bolts can be a symptom of a bigger issue: a broken flange. Since we now use plastic piping for our drains, bolts can sometimes put extra stress on the toilet flange and pull right through. If this is the case, there are steps we can take to fix that flange without breaking tile, the ceiling below, etc. so not to worry!
If your toilet has any movement to it, try gently tightening the bolts to see if that stabilizes things. Just be careful not to overtighten them. Too much force on a porcelain base can crack it, and that turns a simple fix into a much larger problem. If tightening the bolts doesn’t stop the movement, or if the toilet still smells after, it may be worth having a plumber take a look at the flange. Our Toilet Repair team handles these regularly and can assess the flange without unnecessary disruption.
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2. Gasket Failure
Between the base of your toilet and the flange sits a gasket, typically made of wax or rubber. This seal is what prevents both water and sewer gas from escaping around the base of the toilet. Over time, wax rings and gaskets can degrade, compress unevenly, or fail altogether, and when they do, the smell is usually the first sign.
A failed wax ring won’t always cause visible water damage right away, which is why a smelly bathroom with no obvious leak is a classic sign that the seal has broken down.
Fixing this means removing the toilet, cleaning the flange, and reinstalling with a new gasket. It sounds like a bigger job than it is, but getting the right size gasket matters. The wrong fit won’t create a proper seal and can make the problem worse. If you’re not comfortable pulling the toilet yourself, our Toilet Repair team can have it done quickly and cleanly.
3. Bacterial Growth Under the Toilet
This one surprises a lot of people, but it’s more common than you’d think. Sometimes the source of the smell has nothing to do with the drain or the toilet itself. It’s what’s underneath.
When we remove a toilet to investigate an odour, we occasionally find significant bacterial buildup on the floor directly beneath the base. This is almost always caused by urine that has worked its way under the toilet over time, and if there’s a young boy in the house, you can probably guess where we’re going with this.
The good news is that this is one of the easiest fixes of all: once the toilet is off, it’s a matter of a thorough cleaning of the floor and base before reinstalling. No parts, no repairs, just a good wipe down.
Still can’t track down the smell? It’s possible something else is at play, like a dry P-trap, a venting issue, or a problem further down the drain line. Our Drain Clearing team can run a camera inspection to rule out anything deeper in the system.
And as always, if you do need a plumber, we’re happy to help. Subscribe to our newsletter above before you go!
