I’ve pulled toilets that were sealed up and the entire cavity under the toilet and all around the ring was filled with something the consistency of poo pudding and rotted the subfloor in a toilet shape.
When there’s no caulk, it leaks out the side, I get a call, remove, sop it up, some spray bleach for good measure, replace ring, toilet, good to go.
The leak from a toilet bowl begins near the wax ring. It’s a very slow leak and can be unnoticed for a very long time. By the time you see it at the edge of the bowl it’s has already found its way below the tile or vinyl flooring. The subfloor may have delaminated by now.
A caulked toilet will increase the time you see it but the damage is done whether the toilet is caulked or not caulked. Professional plumbers that follow local code and must caulk the toilet leave the rear of the toilet uncaulked so you can spot the leak sooner.
I’ve simply found that any that are salvageable are uncaulked. Granted, I’ve not done near as many as you, it’s just been my experience.
When someone wants it caulked, that’s what I’ll do, leave a weep gap towards the back, out of sight as much as possible.
The difference, now that I live in Florida, is that every house(that I’ll ever work in, anyway) is slab on grade with tile. No more wood sub floors. I’m also trying as hard as I can’t to stop fixing toilets…sigh. Got a fill valve and flapper guts to replace in an hour.
When the wax rings fail here in FL, it’s often because the bolt heads have pulled thru the plastic flange from a hefty homeowner. I end up adding a steel ring and tap-conning that into the slab. No more wobbling toilet.
I also think the stupid instructions on how to install the ring leave Harry homeowner with a mis-aligned ring. The ones that tell you to stick it to the toilet and lower into place. You can tell when someone did that because the plastic forcing cone is half cocked to the side and wax is half clogging the hole.
I hate to disappoint most of you on the forum, but Friday I inspected an undermount sink with no supports under the lip of the sink. Zero, nada, nothing!