Anyone have any pointers for replacing the wax floor seal on a toilet? I have never done this before. Anyone have any tips or tricks to make this job go smoother? Any informations would be appreciated.

 

instructions are on the box. you don't really need any tricks because there's nothing to it.

 

Only thing to watch is not being to strong when it comes to bolting the toilet back down. You want enough pressure to hold it, but don't crank 'em down too tight.

Make sure the seal is "sealed". Best way is to set the toilet down, then set on it and rock gently back and forth.

Ed

 

As the others have said, it is a very easy job. Just make sure you have cleaned off all the old seal. Then after you have set the toilet back in place on the new seal, rocked it back and forth a little, sit on it for a minute to really settle it doen. Then install the holddown bolts.
It helps a little if the seal is warmed a bit first.

 

also, use a little of the wax to hold the bolts in place. Helps to keep them straight when you set the toilet down

Chris

 

One thing to keep in mind is what condition the floor is in. If the wax ring started leaking (that you just noticed), then there is a pretty fair chance that the floor is rotted. If that is the case, you can replace wax rings 'till you're blue in the face and they will still leak.
Tom

 

No chance that the floor can rot. It's our downstairs toilet that leaks. The floor there is stone tile on top of the concrete foundation.Before we moved in the downstairs area used to be all carpet with old ceramic tile in the bathroom. They replaced it with this nice stone tile all over the downstairs area including the bathroom. I bet they removed the toilet to put in the tile and damaged the seal putting it back.

 

i often use 2 of them stacked up when im remodeling. their cheap enough and sometime you need a second one any way

 

That would be the answer that you are looking for. Just get two #1 (or regular) and stack them. You could even get a #3 (jumbo) and a #1 to work too.
Tom

 

I would start the job by flushing twice just to be sure.....

 

Heres an update. I really stuck my foot in my mouth. I didn't think a stone floor would rot. Maybe it was the old sealing material (not the old wax seal. I tried the new one anyway. That part went smooth until I turned the water back on and flushed it. Water is leaking same as before. I want to patch up the rot. What should I use, a lot of concrete sealer?

 

How is the mounting flange? Is it cast or PVC? Can't see where you would have any rot if it is stone on concrete. I expect the toilet flange is bad. You'll have to pull the toilet again, but you need to make sure that the flange is not cracked or broken. If it is, you can get repair "lips" from most home repair places. They are not as good as replacing the whole stack, but they sure do make the job easier.

Another thing to try is to get a new seal that includes a rubber sleeve.

Good luck

Ed

 

It looks like a 4 inch cast iron pipe in the floor. The opening is recessed into the floor about an inch. In the recess there is a lot of silicone sealer. That appears to have rotted. I was thinking about using concrete sealer or something that forms up nice and hard to make a better sealing surface. THe flange on the toilet looked good and was not cracked. I did not look too hard at it though. The new seal I put in did have a rubber sleeve that extended down into the pipe in the floor.

 

Do your toilet bolts go in the floor or into a flange lip on the drain pipe? From how you describe the pipe, soulds like it has always had a problem. If the cast pipe is just pipe with no flange, you may have to bring it up to floor level, maybe by adding a sleeve and flange. All the toilets I have use are designed to have the mounting flange at floor level, and secured to the flange with "T" bolts. Have worked on several older homes where I had to add the sleeve and flange I mentioned, but they were all wooden floor and framing that had rotted out.

Ed

 

There is no flange on the pipe, its just a pipe. The toilet bolts to the floor. The way it is set up is the drain on the toilet extends down past the top of the wax seal. And the seal had that rubber sleeve that extended down into the the pipe. But it still leaks like it did before.