Subfloor Sag Under Toilet

Thinking that the wax ring seal was bad, because of a sewer gas smell in the bathroom, I pulled the toilet in the photo. Turns out the toilet was not the problem. The smell was because the drain in the rarely used tub dried up and there was no water to prevent gas from backing up. That’s the background on why the toilet was pulled. Pulling the toilet revealed another issue. You can see in the photo that the subfloor has sagged on the right side of the drain. It has also sagged on the back side. On both sides the sag extends about two rows of tile and then it is fine. The front and left sides are ok. Judging from the look of the subfloor there was some water leaking at some point. I need to fix the floor before reseating the toilet and want to see if anyone has a better method then what I plan to do.
I’m going to remove the tile and cut the subfloor around the drain back to the joists (not sure which way they run). Then add supports to better support the toilet, replace the subfloor and re-tile. I’ll have to put the subfloor in as two pieces to be able to get it under the toilet flange but will make sure it is properly supported. Sound like a reasonable repair?
[The shims in the photo are because I need to temporarily replace the toilet because I can’t repair the floor before Christmas day and I’ve got 20 people coming over for dinner. I need that extra bathroom]?



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Incoming....

If the plumbing is cast iron you’re okay for the party 🤪


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doesn't home depot have a sale on five gallon buckets now?

Throw double wax rings on, and fix your toilet issues in another 5 years. Leave the shims they are a perfect repair!


Paying a contractor to perform the surgery is going to be expensive for you. Start saving now...also have the wife choose new tile.

What happened to the metal ring around the pvc?

Your flange is at least a 1/2" too low, so that helped it seep. But the floor looks salvageable to just replace the toilet. There are a couple ways to do it.

I’m replacing it.


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The flange is low because of the sagging. I shimmed it up more than the photo shows. So, what are the “couple ways to do it”?


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I thought the floor was sagging, not so much the flange. But anyway....

...there are flanges with "ears" where you can screw it down to the flooring outside the ring...go from there....or you can buy a flange insert with gasket...slide it into the existing ell (pipe), and screw that down....or you can buy a jumbo wax ring (which have even more wax than the ones at the big box). Go to a regular hardware store and pick one up.

And you can cut some ply and shim the edges of the ring upward, etc. Screw all that down. Then use a jumbo wax ring, flange spacers or whatever you have.

I don't think that the floor is sagging, I think the level is arched.

Andy.

2x4 cleats from the ceiling below to underpin the sheathing that's shot. Then a fat horned wax ring with spacer. Deal with the drywall patch instead.

Sometimes lead bend wastes run to the side wall instead of the back and people unknowingly drive all kinds of screws into it because it's a weak connection which adds to the problem.

Level is not arched. Floor sags


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He was kidding.

I don’t know what you mean Tom. There is no damaged sheathing and no drywall damage. The only problem is that section of the subfloor sagged. Don’t know why. Maybe it will be obvious when I open it up.


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Oh. No smiley face. I know some people who would make that their first assumption.


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The flange is screwed to a deteriorated subfloor sheathing.

If there is a ceiling below, I would open an access to underpin the floor then patch that up

What kind of contractor are you?

Hmmmmmmm?

Andy.

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