I have situation where there is space between tile in shower and the platform on which the toilet is. (This is shower room with sink and toilet) Toilet drain is not sealed and clamped to rubber pan as is normal with shower drains. Question: what is best way to seal this opening from the finished tile side? I have tried caulk, covered with thin layer of cement, thin set and tile. I still have leaks on the outside of the toilet drain pipe. Is there a membrane that can be made fast to tile and porcelin and then covered? I could tear the toilet out and reinstall if I could find toilet drain that clamped rubber pan in the way shower drains are designed to do.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
I'm not exactly follwoing you, but if you have a leak around the base of the toilet, the wax ring would be the first thing to suspect. And the easiest to fix.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Hi Fast Eddie
Sorry. My explanation could have been a lot clearer. The wax ring is fine. No leaking in or out.
The toilet is mounted on a small wooden slab slightly larger than the toilet base. Water coming from shower floor is entering into the seam between the shower floor and the toilet base. This seam runs around the perimeter of the toilet base.
The water leaking into this seam is exiting below the drain emplacement that holds the ring and on which the toilet sits. Shower water is exiting between the waste pipe and the floor and runs down the outside of the waste pipe.
I am looking for a way to seal the seam around the toilet so that all shower water exits down the shower drain.
I would like to find a way to seal the seam from the "outside".
If this is not possible then what?
Advice much appreciated.
100% silicone caulk."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Thanks F.E.
That is the next thing I will try.
Rule: Try simplest solution first
Everything you are describing just sounds so wrong............is there a membrane under the floor tile substate?
I would think a stone slab under the toilet would be the way to go. Wood is a no go.
would stone slab prevent the leaking?
would stone slab prevent the leaking?
No, but it will solve a problem that you are inevitably going to have with the wood one.
And I second the 100% silicone caulk. And waterproofing under the stone slab.
No Coffee No Workee!
Edited 11/24/2008 9:02 pm ET by Jed42
The toilet is mounted on a small wooden slab slightly larger than the toilet base. Water coming from shower floor is entering into the seam between the shower floor and the toilet base. This seam runs around the perimeter of the toilet base.
The water leaking into this seam is exiting below the drain emplacement that holds the ring and on which the toilet sits. Shower water is exiting between the waste pipe and the floor and runs down the outside of the waste pipe.
Your floor assembly is not properly detailed. I've never done what you are describing, but there must be a way to couple the waterproofing membrane to the toilet flange..............I suppose.
I see this wet floor/open shower space thing is all the trendy rage now.
If you had more pitch to the shower drain it would help. I have no idea of the proximity of the shower drain to the toilet. The wood is gooing to constantly shrink and swell with available moisture breaking the joint at the tile.
Short of a tear out and proper re-do, I would try to get a stone slab in place of the wood beneath the toilet and seal it up well. Older homes with wood floor baths often had toilets sitting on a white marble slab. This will eliminate the expansion/contraction/absorption issues you have with the wood.
Look for 3M's Marine Sealant instaed of any other caulk including sillycone (not a mispelling). It is tenacious as all get out and may well do the trick for you.
Eric
Edited 11/24/2008 9:10 pm ET by EricPaulson
Dear Eric
Thank you for your reply. Did not know that this was the rage. I do a lot of international work and find this arrangement in East Europe, Middle East, China, and Africa. It solves some maintenance and space problems...if done correctly, I should add. We are pretty much locked into West European styles here.
I don't think it is a problem of styles, but rather a problem of execution. I am a do it yourselfer who often learns the painful way.
Your comment about substituting marble slab makes sense. How to make drain fitting fast to marble or stone? I can't screw it in as with wood. Is there a way of doing this?
I will try the caulk you suggest.
I may wind up tearing everything out and staring over, but what is correct way of fitting everthing together? Does anyone have experience with this type of system?
Shower drain is about a foot from toilet perimeter and the drainage slope is good. It is because the slope from wall to drain is rather pronounced that there had to be a horizontal emplacement for the toilet. This is what is now breaking up the integrity of the shower floor.
I WAS being a bit sarcastic about the arrangement..........I tend to be sarcastic when I encounter something I consider to be perhaps not the best arrangment.
I don't know where you are from. Fill out your profile so we all know and can answer your ?'s with some accuracy.
The stone slab can be set to the floor without mechanical fasteners. Think thinset etc. It will need to have a hole in it though, I'm sure you know that.
Set the toilet flange on top of the stone. You can over size the hole and place solid shims under the flange to raise it to the proper height so it is proud of the slab.
As far as connecting the waterproofing membrane of the bath floor to the toilet flange I am at a loss. I will try to find out from one of our plumbers tomorrow.
Eric
Dear Eric;
Thanks. No offense taken. If these kinds of bathrooms are trendy , it means that it may be possible to see how some of the problems I have encountered could be worked out. I didn't think the whole thing through carefully enough, but, if i had thought the whole thing through carefully, I am not sure what I would have done differently.
Using stone is very good idea and I will make that change in near future. The immediate problem is the water going through the space I described.
I left the NJ house this afternoon and will be in DC for at least a week so I will not be able to carry out any suggestions, but I sure like to hear suggestions.
Try the 3M Marine Adhesive I mentioned.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2002
Edited 11/26/2008 5:55 am ET by EricPaulson
Thanks, Eric for the link. I have ordered a tube and will apply when I get back to NJ. Hope to be able to give you a report. I did fill out profile, but they do not ask for much information. I have old house built in 1880 by my great grandfather. I am trying to preserve and make it more comfortable. I am ignorant, but I know that I am ignorant and that is great advantage. I also like learning and like (most of the time) what I am trying to do.
I really apreciate the advice and help I get from you and other readers.
Jim Keyser
Did not get to see the plumber today.
Be careful with that sealant. A little goes a long way and it get really goey. Perhaps mask off around the caulking area.
From QA Piping Specification WAP-007 regarding holes
"All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal centered around the hole"
"All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length"
"All pipe is to be supplied with nothing in the hole so that water, sewage, or other stuff can be put inside at a later date"
Last but not least
"All pipe is to be supplied without rust, as this can be more readily put on at the jobsite"
Can u install a curb to separate the shower from the toilet
Hi, Spd
Thanks. That is good idea and I will put curb on the list. First to try the 3m marine caulk. If that fails, move on to other things.