What's wrong with my toilet?

Are you sure someone did not miss?

The seal can deteriorate. You can fix this yourself. It involves draining and removing the toilet, scraping up the old seal, and reseating the toilet. Everything needs to be dry.

It could also be that your tank is leaking. There is another seal where the tank and the base of the toilet meet. If you are having running water issues, it could be that you have a leak at that point.

Yes, shut the water off to the toilet, BUT be sure the tank and the toilet bowl are empty. if the ring has deteriorated, the remaining water will greet you on the floor, when you return.

I just replaced to inside guts to my toilet, including the ring. Home Depot has the entire kit for about $24 dollars. read the instructions carefully. to replace the ring, you will have to take the tank off the seat by unsrewing two nuts underneath it. just follow the directions.

Possibly, if there has been a change in the weather, it is condensation. If the toilet is running all the time it may be drawing in cold water from outside making condensation more likely.

Could it be condensation on the bowl? I don’t know where you live but if it is warm and humid outside, and your toliet bowl is cool because the water is running slightly, the outside of the bowl can easily reach the dew point and cause water to condense. Think of a glass of ice water and all the condensation dripping on the outside.
If the water is not running, the bowl will eventually come up to temperature and you will not get condensation. Shut the water off.

@marinelife Honestly, that was my first thought when I stepped on a damp bath mat – “How did I do THAT?”

@flutherother @worriedguy It has been getting cool at night here lately and the toilet is next to an outside wall and a window, so I did think that had something to do with it. It did it last fall as well. The water on the floor is a new development, though. There’s no water on the toilet itself. I didn’t think about a tank leak, @BarnacleBill so thanks, I’ll look into that. Would that make water drip on the floor behind the toilet?

The wax seal that seals the toilet to the floor is shot. The wax seal costs a few bucks but it will cost you time to replace it. Barnaclebill and John65 are on track.

I know you don’t think it’s running down from anywhere, but before you go to all the trouble of pulling the toilet up, lift the lid of the tank and just lake sure the little rubber hose has not popped pot of the tube that holds it down. I’ve been in the apartment business foe a gizillion years and nine times out of ten that is where a leak is, even when people swear it’s not.

sorry for the typos. I’m on my iPhone and can’t edit all of it.

@judi no probm Thanks all. I have to go out of town so I’ve turned it off and drained the tank. All the attachments in there look fine. I put newspaper on the floor around it last night, and the ones on the right side of the bowl were wet this morning – nothing under the tank. I’ll examine the bolts before I do anything drastic.