Caulking around a toilet is important to keep your bathroom clean and sanitary. . . You do not want water and other liquids getting underneath the toilet and spreading germs and bacteria around your bathoom.
Many times people neglect to caulk around their toilet and this can lead to many types of sanitation and cleanliness issues on your bathroom floor. Toilets are sealed in place with a wax ring but this wax ring does not extend to the underside edges of your toilet. Dirty water and liquids that seep under your toilet can collect there and grow mold and mildew. Additionally bacteria, germs and other pathogens can grow and spread under a toilet that is not properly caulked. Dirt, debris and urine can form around the edges of the toilet if it is left uncaulked and this can be unsightly as well as unsanitary.
Many toilets that have been caulked in the past may need to be recaulked. Over time the caulking around a toilet can become moldy, black and ugly and it is usually impossible to effectively clean the caulk around a toilet. Removing the old caulk and replacing it with new caulk is the usually the only way to restore the caulk around a toilet.
The best way to remove old caulk around a toilet is to use a razor blade scrapping tool. The razor blade tool will allow you to cut through the old caulk so that it can be pulled away and removed. A high quality utility knife can also be used to cut through the caulk if it is an extremely hard type of caulk. It is necessary to remove as much of the old caulk as possible. You do not want the old caulk to still have mold and mildew growing in it that could spread to the new caulk.
After you have removed the old caulk then it is important to check for wax ring leaks that are causing dirty toilet water to leak out from under your toilet. You do not want to caulk the toilet if the wax ring is leaking. Dirty toilet water can collect under the toilet and cause leaks in the floor underneath where the toilet sits. You should check all around the toilet for any evidence that the toilet bowl wax seal is leaking. You may notice water that has collected under the toilet and this is not evidence of a leaking toilet. Flushing the toilet a few times and checking to see if water is being forced out from under the toilet is a good way to check for wax ring toilet leaks. If you see that the toilet is leaking then the toilet must be pulled and the wax ring seal must be replaced before caulking the toilet. Caulking a toilet with wax ring leaks will not seal the toilet and will only cause the leak to be forced down deeper into the floor. Leaking wax ring toilets will create floor leaks that will be noticed in the ceiling underneath the toilet.
After you have removed all the old caulking and you are sure that the toilet is not leaking then you can start to caulk the toilet. It is always a good idea to clean the floor first before caulking. Any dirty tiles and grout should be cleaned up as good as possible before caulking your toilet. You do not want to have new fresh looking caulk sitting on a dirty tile floor. It can also help to use some acetone or isopropyl alcohol to clean up any loose or remaining caulk so that the new caulk will properly adhere to the toilet and to the floor underneath the toilet. In this example the tile floor was cleaned and a grout colorant was applied to the grout to make all the grout look like new.
Taping up around the toilet is the key to ensuring that the new caulk will form a nice even and straight looking caulk line. You do not want to have an ugly thick uneven caulk joint around your toilet that makes the whole floor look ugly and unprofessional. By using small pieces of painters tape you can form a ring around the base of the toilet. Then you can use another piece of painters tape to tape around the toilet so that there will be a nice even caulking joint around the toilet.
It is important to only use a 100% silicone caulk like Laticrete Latasil for caulking around your toilet. Laticrete Latasil comes in many colors and you should pick the caulk color that best matches the floor underneath the toilet. White caulk will match most toilets but will look ugly and out of place on the underlying floor. It is best to not worry about matching the color of toilet and match the caulk color to the color of the underlying floor. In this example with a light tan looking floor we used Latacrete Latasils Antique White colored caulk to match the color of the tiles and grout. There are many different Laticrete Latasil caulk colors and you can choose a Latasil caulk color here if you need to order caulk online. Many specialty tile and grout stores will stock Latacrete Latasil caulk.
One tube of Laticrete Latasil caulk is more then enough caulk to caulk a few toilets. It is important to not use any type of home improvement store type of caulk. Many of these caulks are latex based and mold and mildew will quickly grow in them and make them look black and ugly in a short period of time. Also many home improvement store caulks can dry extremely hard and brittle and make removing this caulk extremely difficult when the time comes to pull the toilet if there is a leak or if the toilet becomes clogged for any reason.
You can apply the caulk in the grooves between the tape with a caulking gun. It is not necessary to be neat with the caulk since the tape will form a smooth caulk line after it has been smoothed over with your finger. It is important to not caulk the very back side of the toilet. You always want to leave a small opening on the back side of the toilet so that if your wax toilet ring starts to leak then pressure does not build up underneath your toilet. If the wax ring starts to leak then you will know that your toilet is leaking by seeing dirty toilet water exit through the back uncaulked area of the toilet. Then you will know that it is time to pull the toilet and replace the wax toilet ring. Of course this will also involve recaulking your toilet again.
After you are done caulking the toilet you should inspect the caulk to ensure that the caulk is all lying flat and looks straight and even. Often times you may need to smooth over a portion of the caulk with your finger again to ensure that all of the caulk looks straight and even. Then you should let the caulk dry and make sure the caulk can dry in place without getting disturbed. Any any dirt and debris that comes in contact with the setting caulk will become permanently lodged in the caulk when it dries. You should allow the caulk at least 24 hours to properly set before getting the caulk wet or disturbing the caulk while it is drying.
Caulking around a toilet is not a fun or easy task especially when the caulk is hard to remove or the underlying floor needs to be cleaned. In many cases a tile cleaning and restoration contractor can be caulked to recaulk you toilet for you.
You can read more about how to hire a tile cleaning and restoration contractor HERE.