I am remodeling our first floor bathroom. When I went to remove the toilet I found that it was help in place with 4 bolts! There were the standard 2 bolts that connect the toilet to the waste flange but there were also 2 holes near the front of the toilet that the original owner (or installer) used self tapping screw to further anchor the toilet to the floor. Anyone ever heard of doing this?
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When I started the project I really didn’t think too much of this odd detail. Now the bathroom is nearly done, new tile floor, paint, etc. I am about ready to re-install the old toilet. But I really don’t want to drill through my new tiles for the “additional†anchors, but on the flip side I don’t want to have a toilet with holes in it.
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Should I just spend $60 and get a new “standard†toilet? Or go to the effort of trying to re-install my old pot?
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Thanks!
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Trevor
Replies
My guess is that the 2 extra bolts on the old potty were installed to steady it. Maybe it developed a wobble and the “solution” was to give it two more anchors. On your new potty, if you have a level, solid subsurface; install it using traditional methods and you should be fine.
If the toilet is rock solid with just the flange bolts let the front go. Older toilets would sometimes take 4 bolts, the holes were cast into the base. You can use dummy caps with a short bolt bedded in caulk or putty if you want to cover the holes.
Yep, most older toilets (older than about 1945 or so) used four bolts, similar to what you describe. It's really a superior system in many ways, as it greatly reduces rocking and possible sliding of the stool.
But if the toilet is stable (absolutely no rocking) with just two bolts then you can skip the extra bolts and put dummy caps over the holes.
Great! Thanks for the quick replies!
Trevor
The forum is right, you don't need four bolts. That is old, old, and old, the way its done now is to use two bolts to secure the toilet. Don't over tighten them, only to the point that the toilet will not slide side to side. Be gentle. Lots of luck.
Huh,huh....huh...huh......you said.....sliding of the stool.....huh,huh....huh,huh.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
I'm not a plumber, but it' always seemed to me that the two small bolts that are meant to hold the toilet still are kind of a joke, particularly seeing they are attached to a plastic flange ( I have not met many cast iron lately). I can understand that they maintain a relationship between the flange and the toilet.
Last toilet I installed on some pricey porceland floor tile that were a little out of whack. I placed the toilet over the flange, shimmed it level and wobble free, taped the shims to the floor so they would stay put, re installed the toilet w the wax ring, snugged the bolts, ran a bead of caulking ( caulking matched the grey floor grout) around the bottom of the toilet to "grout it in place", pulled the shims out the next day and filled in those spots w caulk. The thing is rock solid and looks like it grew out of the floor.
Trimming out the receptacles on a house I once saw a plumber set a toilet in a manner that that was quite interesting. I'm not sure if it is 'correct' but he seemed to know what he was doing and it turned out rock solid.The way he did it was he coated the bottom of the toilet with petroleum jelly. He then laid out doughnut shaped bed of plaster of Paris and set the stool down into it. He had the bolts positioned as reference I guess. A lot of the plaster squeezed out as he forced it down and checked the bowl with a small level. He troweled the plaster a bit under flush. Scraping the joint a fraction deep. He then went to lunch. When he got back he lifted the toilet bowl off the plaster and chiseled the squeezed in plaster from around the flange and knocked out the plug in the toilet flange. A wax ring went on and he dropped the toilet in place and made up the bolts. He then installed the tank. Once he was satisfied he sealed the floor joint with some caulk thumbing it smooth.His helper installed the water feed, seat and adjusted the toilet guts. First one I ever saw that used plaster of Paris to seat the toilet stool. This unit came out dead level and as solid as any I have seen even though the floor was wavy hand made tiles that were nothing like flat. Made worse because they were also relatively soft.
All of my toilets have silicon around the base. It stops all rocking (especially on tiled floors) with 300# patrons. Some people leave the back unchaulked so that any leakes will come out the back. Rocking toilets breaks wax ring seals all the time.
Before chaulking the base in place, flush the toilet, you will hear water noise if the wax ring fell off or got misaligned.
Well, you got all kinds of great tips on re-using the old toilet. Let me suggest that this is the time to get a modern unit. That old toilet might be using about 5 gallons of water per flush. The new low-flow toilets conserve water and work pretty well.
Be a conservationist!
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Let me second the motion of replacing the toilet now. Here in my "new" home, an 1835 farmhouse, I'm busy fixing a lot of stuff. Every day there is a new repair. I recently had to replace a very old toilet--one of the old 7 gal/flush lazy river models. I did the research and found that Toto makes a lot of very good flushers. Here on the farm where we eat well, a good flush is important! I installed a Toto Drake, and it is great! I would highly recommend it. The tile floor was a bit uneven, so I used 3 plastic or rubber shims which seemed to really make it solid. I used a knife to trim the shimsthat protuded outside the edge.
Good luck.
Marc