I've seen plenty of uneven flanges cause headaches, wax-free or not. Had one job where the homeowner tried every fancy seal out there, but nothing worked till we shimmed and leveled the flange properly...sometimes it's not about the seal at all.
"sometimes it's not about the seal at all."
Couldn't agree more. I've seen this happen countless times myself—homeowners chasing their tails with every new gasket or wax-free ring on the market, thinking that's the silver bullet. But you're spot-on: if that flange isn't sitting level and stable, you're fighting a losing battle from the start.
Had a similar scenario recently where the homeowner was convinced it was a faulty toilet design causing leaks. After checking everything twice, turned out the flange was off-level by almost half an inch...no seal was ever gonna fix that. Once we shimmed it properly and reset everything, problem solved instantly.
It's always worth taking that extra time to get the basics right. Good catch on your part—sounds like you saved someone a lot more frustration down the line.
Had a similar issue last year—thought I'd tried everything until I realized the subfloor itself was sagging slightly. No seal or shim alone was gonna fix that. Sometimes you gotta step back and look at the bigger picture...
"Sometimes you gotta step back and look at the bigger picture..."
Yeah, learned that lesson the hard way myself. Spent an entire weekend messing with wax rings and shims, convinced I was just installing it wrong. Turns out the flange itself was cracked underneath—couldn't see it until I pulled everything apart completely. Sometimes it's worth biting the bullet and checking deeper before you waste more time (and sanity) chasing surface fixes...
Been there myself, thought I was being clever saving cash by patching up a quick leak. Ended up spending way more in the end because the real issue was deeper down.
Exactly right. Learned my lesson—if something keeps acting up, better to rip off the band-aid early and fix it properly. Cheaper long-term, trust me..."Sometimes it's worth biting the bullet and checking deeper before you waste more time (and sanity) chasing surface fixes..."