Toilet Installation Instruction

Does the closet flange have to be at the same height (even) with the finish floor? I recently installed new tile in my bathroom that used to have sheet vinyl. The new finish floor is now approx. 5/16" higher than the top of the existing closet flange. I am worried about two things:
1. The entire weight of the toilet will be setting on the tile. When I tighten the toilet or if there is a heavy person on it, will the tile get cracked.
2. Will the typical wax seal still provide an adequate seal?

Mike,
Great question. The top of the flange needs to be 3/8 inch higher than the finished floor. You need to add one or two flange extenders and maybe an extra wax ring.

Man, that's no joke. Just had to tear out part of a brand new hardwood floor (which raised the floor height about a quarter inch higher than the old vinyl floor). It leaked and ruined a few of the boards. When I pulled the toilet up, the wax ring looked practically new. In other words, the toilet was setting too high on the finished floor to press down and compress the wax ring.

What distance should the center of the drain hole be away from the DRYWALL to install the esisting toilet in a diferent place in my bath remodel? You are going to tell me to measure the old one but I am remodeling while living in the house and need the toilet while I am preparing the bath for the switch. Mark

I just had a toilet installed and three days later, there is still an odor. It still smells the same as when he had the old toilet removed for several hours while he returned to the warehouse for more supplies. Is this normal for a few days, or did he fail to follow a critical step? I did see him put in the new wax ring.

Josh,
It is not normal for there to be an odor. The ring may not have made complete contact with the toilet.

my question is were putting a small building in are yard by the pool for a toliet and sink,we have a septic tank and there is a clean out pipe right there,to connect to what all do we need to install the toliet as far as venting and things like that..thanks a bunch patti

Patti,
Your comment made my night..... :-> You need some sweet plumbing skills. Or a friend like me who is a master plumber to come over and tutor you.

I just installed new toitet. When I tightened bolts connected to flange I noticed it never got tight. I took off the toilet and noticed flange had pulled out of floor. How do I reconnect flange without taking up any floor tile? Can flange be gorilla glued to subfloor instead of screws which pulled out?

I recently had tile installed over a vinyl floor in the bathroom. I reset the existing toilet with a new wax ring with plastic horn. The toilet now rocks a little from side to side. It does not leak and no oder is present. I have a shim on both sides to stop the rocking. Should I leave like this and just use grout or thin set to fill in the space? The toilet originally had a very hard "caulk" type bead between the toilet base and the floor that I had to scrape off. I could use that again if I knew what it was. It would be much harder than grout and would keep the pot from rocking.

I am installing plumbing underground at this time. I have a couple of questions about the installation;

1. Does the bathtub need to have a pee trap at teh drain, or does it simply tie into a 90 degree connection?

2. Do I need to install a pee trap at any of the fixtures?

I am having a slab on grade foundation poured for a home I'm building. I've got to draw out the locations where the toilet drains are going based on the floor plan. I saw where you wrote the standard distance from the back wall is 12 inches. Is that to the closest edge of the opening or the center of the opening? Since the bathroom walls aren't load bearing I have flexibility but I want to get as close to the plan as possible.

How far should the toilet be from the wall?

When framing a wall for a new toilet is the wall 12 inches from the outside of the pipe or from the centre?

I am finishing my basement and I would like to install a bathroom. The rough plumbing is already done but I don't think the toilet drain is far enough away from the wall to put a toilet in once the wall is framed out with 2x4's. What is the standard and minimum distance from a wall for a toilet? What are my options if there is not enough room?

Thank You!

The bolt holes on the flange do not match up with the mounting holes in the bottom of the commode. (this is a re-install d/t new floor covering) Is there ant way to rotate the flange? I need about 5 degrees in a clockwise direction for the holes to align. Thank you.

Also in addition to the above question regarding flange bolt holes, I can get the bolts into the grooves, but when I try to tighten them up, they pop right out of the groove!

just installed new toilet all went well until hooked up water. Water flow to tank is good but will not come thru the float thingy it just comes out in drops so takes tank forever to fill after flushing. Any suggestions. Thanks

I am in similar situation as Mike. We put subfloor, pinewood then vinyl on top of the basement concrete floor. Our floor is now about half inch higher than the top of the flange. The plumber said the risk of the flange extender is that he can not guarantee there will be no leak from the joints.

What is the better and proper way to install the toilet in my case?

thanks

Sorry, I mean flange spacer, not flange extender. The problem is the plumber couldn't find a flange extender that fit into the flange that he used.

Here is the picture of the rough-in.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/AndyHWC/Anchor?authkey=0pdhkvnlNiw#5275301374981 361618
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I am in similar situation as Mike. We put subfloor, pinewood then vinyl on top of the basement concrete floor. Our floor is now about half inch higher than the top of the flange. The plumber said the risk of the flange extender is that he can not guarantee there will be no leak from the joints.

What is the better and proper way to install the toilet in my case?

thanks

I am getting ready to install a new toilet in my bathroom. There is no new flooring or any extra things to worry about but I have only done this one other time. I dont remember using caulking after the installation of the last one. Is this necessary on all toilet installations? Also, just so I am clear, can I use the exsisting water lines? I know I need to use a new wax ring but do I need to replace all of the lines, etc?

I am installing a new toilet.the toilet sits about 3/4 of an inch off the floor with no sl in yet. What should I do?Subfloor? Grout? It is a new install in a basement.The previous owners may have been planning ceramic tile.

I have an offset flange that drives me crazy whenever I replace the wax ring. If I use a regular ring, a portion of the opening remains exposed and water just leaks out, I've tried using two rings and molding them to fit and cover the opening with limited success. Any tips or suggestions?

how much distance is required between the end of a toilet and a wall or tub

Some time ago I had to remove the water closet on one of my toilets and when I re-installed it I thought it needed to be bolted down to the bowl so that it was "Rock Solid". When I tried to pull it down solid to the bowl, it cracked the water closet. Needless to say that became an expensive lesson. Now I am paranoid about pulling down the water closet solid to the bowl.

I recently bought a new toilet to replace the one that was broken. The instructions say to pull the water closet down to where it just touches the base of the bowl, but also says DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN. I have tightened the bolts to where there is very little movement if you push on the front of the water closet, but it is not "rock solid".

None of the water closets rest against a wall.

My question is this: while free standing, is the water closet supposed to be "Solid" against the base of the bowl, with no vertical movement if you put some pressure on the front of it?

I have a flush master, installed,
the rubber flapper at times does not
drop and water continues to flow what am I doing wrong?

i want to put a bathroom in my basement. My drain pipe for my sewer is up above the floor of the basement. Will I have to have a sump pump connection to install the commode, sink and shower?

Hi ... I'm having a bath renovation done, and the new toilet has been installed with a 4-1/4 inch gap between the back/top of the tank and the wall. The gap is not crowding me for space in front, and I realize that some gap is nice for cleaning and painting, but this seems way too much.

Is there a standard distance the tank should be from the wall? It seems as if most tiolets I see are 1 to 2 inches ...

Thanks, Rick

I am trying to replace an old toilet. The rough-in distance is 13.25" from the wall, so if I install a 14" one, it will be too tight against the wall. I currently have a new 12" one in place (that I'm trying to replace), but the tank rocks back and forth when you sit on it (American Standard Cadet 3), because it doesn't sit against the wall, it's about 1.5" from the wall.

I really don't want to install an offset flange in the new tile flooring.

What would you suggest?

Mr. Holmes,

I re-installed a toilet that is only 2 years old, it will not siphon, it flushes ok, it is sealed on the floor, do you think it could be leakibg air inside the trap????

I would appreciate your input.

Thank you T Rupert

We are trying to install a new toliet. We took up the old one and when we went to put on the new one we noticed that the flang wasnt going to be adjustable on one side. What do we do?

the best way to install a toilet in my opinion is to also replace the closet flange and first 6 in of cast iron with pvc and a rubber collar connector. add to that a thin sub-floor to to solve any rot or leveling issues, lay your new floor first then install your closet flange, use the rubber connector for a perfect fit from below. now feel free to sit on your throne like a true king.

we just had ur toilet re-installed. How long after installation do you have to wait before normal usage?

I recently installed a new toilet in an old house that has a lead 4" pipe into the iron sewer. I used an expandable seal flange and secured that flange with stainless steel screws. The next day the sewer started "singing", no one was using the toilet at the time, meaning it wasn't being flushed. I'm not sure what to do. Someone told me to stuff a towel in the open end of the sewer line where the noise seemed to be coming from. Is this okay to do?