What is the best floor seal when installing a toilet

[mr blizzard]

Happy New Year

 

I promised my wife I would redo her bathroom for a Christmas present. All was going well till we installed the new flusher.

 

I never had one leak before, always used the wax seal with the plastic insert.

 

When we took the old one out we noticed the floor flange was considerably higher than the ones in our old house in Barrie.

 

Once installed water was leaking between the flusher and the floor, trickling. The wax ring was spread out like pizza dough.

 

the plastic was literally against the porcelan. Tried a wax ring without the plastic, same result.

 

Tried a newer product from the hardware store a rubber flange that sticks to the horn still leaks.

 

We are in a mobile up here with no basement, it has a belly pan underneath which I do not want to cut. The hardware store sells thinner flanges which would allow some of the wax to stay inbetween but I cant get under neath to cut the old one out.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as the ice fishing gear is feeling very neglected.

 

Thanks

john

[bigbuck]

Try two wax rings without the plastic flange.

[Spiel]

Try two wax rings without the plastic flange.

 

[mr blizzard]

Thanks for the advice, but the clearance from the top of the floor flange to the bottom of the horn is virtually none existant thats why all the wax is being squeezed out, has anyone tried those rubber seals.

[lew]

If I'm understanding your problem correctly, your toilet is sitting too high above the flange ??

 

If so, you can get another flat flance from the hardware store and simply screw it on top of the existing flange to raise the toilet up enough to fit the wax seal in.

 

I installed a new ceramic floor in the bathroom recently and it left the toilet too high, but the additional flange worked perfectly.

[skidoosafari]

Blizz- you have got yourself between a rock and a hard place couple thing you can do- shim the toilet up,which will leave an unsightly gap between the floor and the bottom of the toilet or rip out the flange and pipe below and lower it down. You are a little bit out of my travel area so offering my help in person is outta the question. Lol The rubber seals won't help either. You won't be able to tighten the nuts down enough to make the toilet solid. You will probably cracks the bowl first.

Happy New Year

 

I promised my wife I would redo her bathroom for a Christmas present. All was going well till we installed the new flusher.

 

I never had one leak before, always used the wax seal with the plastic insert.

 

When we took the old one out we noticed the floor flange was considerably higher than the ones in our old house in Barrie.

 

Once installed water was leaking between the flusher and the floor, trickling. The wax ring was spread out like pizza dough.

 

the plastic was literally against the porcelan. Tried a wax ring without the plastic, same result.

 

Tried a newer product from the hardware store a rubber flange that sticks to the horn still leaks.

 

We are in a mobile up here with no basement, it has a belly pan underneath which I do not want to cut. The hardware store sells thinner flanges which would allow some of the wax to stay inbetween but I cant get under neath to cut the old one out.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as the ice fishing gear is feeling very neglected.

 

Thanks

john

Edited January 2, 2013 by skidoosafari

[mr blizzard]

Blizz- you have got yourself between a rock and a hard place couple thing you can do- shim the toilet up,which will leave an unsightly gap between the floor and the bottom of the toilet or rip out the flange and pipe below and lower it down. You are a little bit out of my travel area so offering my help in person is outta the question. Lol

 

Its only 14 days by sled lol.... Your right on, If we had a basement I would have cut the abs in the basement taken out the flange and put a thinner one in. The belly pans are approx $3000 its the insulation blanket that keeps your pipes from freezing up. It covers the entire underside of the house. Thats why I hate to cut into it. Maybe i will have to check the hardware store to see if another manufacturer has one with a higher clearance. Thanks for the help,

[Ron]

I have done repairs similar to this as well.

 

First i would see if you can remove the screws securing the flange to the floor, raise the flange enough to cut the subfloor (1/4" underlay I would assume), and then re set the flange back in place.

 

OR

 

You can cut the ABS with a dremel tool from the inside provided there isn't a 90 directly below the flange. Available from my suppliers, is a flange that will set inside 3"ABS. Once you have the flange out of the way, you can remove the underlayment to lower the flange.

 

Quite honestly though, you would be better off returning the toilet and replace with a different brand. Seems odd that the toilet you purchased has a lower rest for the gasket.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Ron

[aplumma]

The height of all toilets are the same. The issue of a flange to high can only be corrected by lowering the flange. If the flange is level or below the floor then by adding a wax seal could help but is not correct as far as being permanent. The Flange when correct is the backside of the flange is flush with the floor with 1/4 inch of flange for pvc or abs above but supported. If you want remove the 4 screws holding the flange to the floor see if they are stripped out. Push the flange and see if without excess force it will rest on the floor. If so recess drill 4 new holes and install 4 S.S. screws that are flush with the flange top don't over drill the tapper holes. If you can get the flange correct you can set it with 1 regular wax seal. Adding more wax makes it more likely to compress inward and interfere with the toilets throat. In some cases the flange can be cut out from the top with a special cutter and or a special bit can be used to extract the pipe from the fitting. Using a inside flange on 3" pipe usually gives you a toilet that doesn't leak but clogs easily. If you don't want to cut the snow skirt and the price of the tools for one use will make this a job that is cost effective for a plumber to do.

 

 

Art

[skidoosafari]

14 Days eh, ha ha. If only I hadn't taken the Xmas holidays off I could be 1/2 way there. Lol. Good luck with the fix.

[mr blizzard]

Thanks Bigbuck, Spiel,lew,skidoosafari,Ron,and aplumma for all your help, if all else fails she will get an outhouse for her birthday, with an insulated seat of course.