In my office building we are having trouble with a toilet flange that is too high causing problems with the wc rocking and leaking at the flange. I am wondering if there is such a thing as a plastic outline of the toilet which could be used to raise the toilet about a half inch?

This seems like a perfect question for CMAC.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

They make plastic shims for that. First you need to make sure that the flange being too high is the problem and not a floor that is out of level. You can also use any one of several toilet flange repair kits on the market to cut out the old one and install a new one in the correct position. Which kit depends upon what your floor material and waste pipe are made of. Here is one possible way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JZvrYEBT3o

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Dave
88 300E 250K Sold
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If it's a concrete floor and the flange is too high, THAT can be hard to fix.

I use tiny square, firm rubbery shims - about a half inch square - used in tile work for small adjustments, what you are talking about is way bigger than that. Those go from a soft point on one edge to about 3/32" on the other edge.

Can be a hard fix in any floor, the old sewer pipes are mega stiff iron, it's hard to lower them down.

One wild thought off hand, if it is a half inch - one way to find out would be to make 4 or 5 small blocks of different thickness plywood, I'd try 1/4 inch first, slide them in all around, if that's enough will be obvious.

Once you know the thickness, buy a piece of cheaper type of plexi glass, could maybe even get it in white, not crucial, and cut it to the outline of the toilet, just a bit smaller. Put in a big enough hole to go around the flange with no contact, put in new wax, tighten it down and use white latex caulk all around to hide the fact you have plexiglass in there. Stuff shrinks, might need two or three coats.

As the floor rarely stays wet for long, latex works fine. I use it all the time. Lately some advise against any caulking, that way if the wax leaks you find out sooner. The down side is that urine smelling water will creep under, you can't clean it out, will start to smell.

This is the type of shim I was referring to. Really useful in tile work as you almost always need to balance odd dimesions so it looks even. Using a specific thickness for the whole thing is pretty much impossible:



Usually, part of it will stick out, I cut it off and bury it in latex caulking - hides and keeps it in place both.

If the gap is only a quarter inch, this type of tile spacer might work:



They come in varying thicknesses, I think 1/4 is the most. I'd cut off one leg, make it T shaped. If the thickness is right, maybe 8 to 10 of those all around, latex to bury and hold.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I decided yesterday that there may be a hump in the concrete floor making the toilet vulnerable to rocking. I bought some composite (plastic) shims. We put the toilet down and shimmed it on the smaller side. The wax ring seems to be sealing now. We will give it a few days to dry and then caulk it.

One of the people in that office is very large so any weakness in the wc setup will surface when she shifts her weight around.

If this doesn't work I am going to install an auger in the pipe.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I would use the seal with the plastic tube in it. So any minor seal break at the flange would not show. Kind of overkill but I use them . As well as some form of shimming like you have done.


Since the concrete may not be flat enough. Probably a custom shaped thickness adapter will not work well. Depending on how much rocking was involved the wax seal may not still be good.

There is a seal that has a black plastic funnel/tube in the center and instead of wax it uses a flexible sponge. Most hardware stores have them @ $15. Used them twice, works very well because of the funnel and the sponge expands back if the toilet moves, the wax will compress and not expand back.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

I had a flashback this morning and was thinking we should have done more to assure proper working of the seal.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I like the sound of that.

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

You can get the diablo 9 inch metal cutting blades for a sawzall which will cut right through cast iron pipe toilet flange so the pipe is even with the floor. Home Depot stocks some very nice PVC toilet flanges, one that simply screws in.

This guy shows how it is done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tJgav25l7w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNPMhrF2cQ

do a search on youtube "lowering cast iron toilet flange". You'll find what you need to know.

He does? He didn't show use of the sawsall. I would much prefer to use that same angle grinder, get a couple of those thin carborundum cutting wheels, less than 1/16", would be easier. Just go around it, cutting a couple of inches with each position. The sawsall's body thickness would make it hard to keep the blade straight. He prolly had a pretty rough surface and then ground it down with the grinder.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I generally use the type with the black rubbery plastic throat extender thing. You still want to get the wax in proper position.

I used to just set the toilet down over the two bolts, eyeball it while holding it up on either side of the upper throne, I'd have the wax pressed on to the underside of the toilet. But that can go wrong sometimes, and you can't pull the toilet up and do it again, w/o needing new wax anyway. You get one chance to compress and moosh that wax in place. I often keep a couple of those cheapo thin wax rings, no plastic thingy, in case I need to redo one. I can put some new wax on if I do.

I've seen that rocking business before. Eventually the wax will be flexed back and forth so much part of the seal will fail and it leaks. Even with the plastic throat thing it's nice to have the wax seal to the tank solid.

Those shims I showed in the pics are useful for that. They're cheap, they have them in the tile section at home depot. Toto includes about 8 of them with their toilets. Once you have it rock free, apply a bunch of the white latex caulk. The stuff is remarkably firm when it hardens. Will be insurance.

I had to re-do a couple of Kohler Rialtos for a client some years back. They're a low boy style, was popular back when - they're shaped weird, was next to impossible to place it over the bolts by sight, cowboy style. So I came up with a method, I'd bring 6 pieces of plywood, two each of varying thickness about 8 inches wide. If I put the wax on the floor, and if it was 1 inch above the floor level, I'd put a half inch and a 3/4 inch piece of plywood front and back and carfully set the toilet on that. Then I'd line the bolts up beneath the ceramic base holes, just get them perfect and carefully remove the plywood, one piece at a time. Every time I'd get the base where it's supposed to be re the bolts and the opening. Moosh it down and away I go. Prolly good to do a dry run w/o wax to check for rocking issues first.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Thanks Carl! There is some good stuff there. It is in a slab and the flange is no doubt plastic being built only about ten years ago.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I replaced an old steel toilet flange and line in a house with a crawl space a year ago. Was putting in a much better toilet, it was shaped different, plus the flange on the existing toilet was 2 inches further forward than it needed to be. Weird, wasn't a large bathroom. Crawl space makes it a lot easier - put in ABS down to the main line - 3 inches above it anyway, angled it back, new flange. Unless there is a huge reason, if I don't have a crawl space, I'll keep the old cast iron and flange. Usually you can find a way to do it.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I was the cowboy, going all macho for years placing the toilet over the wax, or over the hole if I pressed the wax on the toilet first, just freestyling it. Trouble is if you botch it slightly, you can't see it, the wax can get squished wrong. Had to redo one once because of that. The plywood method takes the worry away. Just need to be careful when you remove the pieces. I'd use a wonderbar to lift the end(s) up gently and take one piece at a time out. You can do it without shifting position.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K