Toilet And The Flange

troyamuso

I'm installing a new toilet on a renovation. I have the flang sitting on top of the new ceramic tile floor. I ran the piping drain up to the floor and then glued the top of the flange to the pipe. When I fit the pipe with glue I had a hard time getting the flange flat to the floor. The join is good but the flange is not flat to the floor. It's up about 1/8 on the back side also mking it not level. Should I redo the flange or will it still seal with wax? Also, should the toilet sit directly on the tile? I've herd some guys say it should be 1/8 off the tile and sit on grout.

Ron The Plumber

1/8" off is fine, wax will still seal it, toilet will sit on tile floor.

troyamuso

Just to clearify, The flange rim is 1/2" thick. So with the flange up 1/8 puts the total height of the flange 5/8 high from the floor on the back side the front is sitting on the floor 1/2" high. it looks like to toilet has 3/4" depth for the flange to fit into leaving 1/8" of wax to seal it. Is that enough? I just want to be sure it doesn't leak.

Ron The Plumber

You can add extra wax, or just get a wax ring that is extra thick.

troyamuso

Will 1/8" of wax make a good enough seal. I'm not concerned that the gap is to big requiring more wax. I'm concerned that the gap might be to tight for enough wax to seal it. Is that possible?

Ron The Plumber

Give it at least 1/4", just get a extra wax, and build up the wax to the desired thickness

Mike Finley

I want the flange even with the finished flooring or just a bit below. I think you are heading for trouble, but Ron is the plumber.

troyamuso

Once the toilet is in do you like to grout or caulk the base?

Mike Finley

Nobody grouts a toilet base. Well, I should never say never, of course somebody does somewhere.

Never grout anything that is a joint that has potential to move at some point, always caulk it. If you are tiling the floor, we use the same color matched caulk to caulk the toilet, also it's a good idea to leave the back of the toilet un-caulked so if there is a leak the water has a chance of showing itself instead of doing damage to the sub-floor over a long time because it is un-noticed.

Double-A

The flange is designed to sit on, and be attached to the finished floor. As long as its properly attached, then the WC is not going to move much and 1/8" gap for wax is more than enough. Just be sure to set the WC straight down on the wax, no sliding, wiggling or other silliness and it'll be just fine.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Teetorbilt

I still set toilets the way that I was taught. I use sheet lead (3 places)to level and use grout all around except for a weephole in the back. Grout will add a lot more stability especially for larger people. Seal the grout as well.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Ron The Plumber

Ever pull a toilet that was grouted to floor?

Steve Unkie

Yeah, I would think the grout would crack and crumble out over time but I'm still a pup and still learnin. I caulk and leave gap behind for finding leaks.

Steve.

Double-A

Or tried to clean urine out of it?

Grout is not, nor will it ever be part of small plumbing projects. Level with sheet lead all you want, its a good trick, but caulk the potty with your favorite flavor of caulk, latex or silicone or a mix of the two.

Potties are not forever.

If you really want a potty to last forever, set it the way the Australians do, set it in concrete. They 'pull' a 'dunnie' with a sledge hammer. So much for forward thinking.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Mike Finley

I'm not sure yet, but I'm analyzing your response and trying to figure out what the secret message is in it, you broke every law in the book by a grown man using the word potty 3 times in a paragraph. I'm reruning your sentences through my secret decoder ring until I break the code.

Double-A

If I use the word 4 times in one post, ProWallGuy's paste bucket explodes.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

troyamuso

OK Toilet's in, came out great, so far no leaks!
Thanks for everyones input.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all!!!

smellslike$tome

If properly attached the flange will not move at all. No one mentioned exactly what type of flange was used but if it is pvc then it should flex easily for 1/8" without damaging the flange and be in complete contact with the tile floor around its entire circumference.

Please tell me that you did in fact properly anchor the flange to the floor. Those little equidistant holes located around the perimeter of the flange are there for screws (brass wood screws for wood, tapcons for concrete) to pass through and be screwed into the subfloor or slab. If it is not properly done you should expect at the very least a rocking toilet and you should not be at all surprised to find a broken flange one day when you go to stop it from rocking.

nywoodwizard

1/8' is nothing,even with another 1/4" for the flange there should still be more than enough wax,i've always install my bowls with a bed of plaster and mix a little of the floor grout in so it matches the grout in the floor,no cauking,looks shi--y after a while,its nice and solid and never rocks,and even if you had only a 1/8" after adding another wax ring,you will still only have a 1/8",if in doubt you can get more height by adding a little more plaster,i've never had a wax seal leak yet.

__________________
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Ron The Plumber

Yea, the way you set toilets you won't see any leaks, at least thats what you can say now, your garanteeing your job in the future, out of sight, out of mind, no leaks till the floor needs replaced.