DIY: How do I secure a toilet bowl to a tile floor? [solved]

Question

Mike Sherov1419 Asked 12 years ago

DIY: How do I secure a toilet bowl to a tile floor? [solved]

The bathroom in my house was redone right before I moved in. After moving in, I noticed the toilet is loose. It seems to only stay in place due to it's sheer weight, and it has quite a lot of jostle whenever it's sat on. The floor in the bathroom is ceramic tile.

How can I safely secure the toilet to the floor without risking ruining the title? Also, are there any plumbing issues to be corncerned about?

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3 Answers Found

Oh look... another reason to use sockets and wrenches. re: diy.stackexchange.com/questions/53/… - spoulson 12 years ago

@spoulson Yeah, I've really grown to love my Kobalt Thru-Ratchet set for jobs like these. The ability to handle any length bolt is great. lowes.com/pd_null_?productId=1097399 - Rob Napier 12 years ago

MattGrommes653 Answered 12 years ago

If tightening the bolts on the toilet doesn't work, you may have a cracked flange underneath the toilet. You don't mention how much it moves but if it's a lot, I would recommend pulling up the toilet (make sure to plug the sewer hole with a towel!) and making sure everything still looks okay underneath, including the flange and wax seal. A badly rocking toilet can lead to a leaky wax seal. If nothing is broken try to determine if the floor is just sloped or something that can be fixed with a shim or something to level out the floor.

If the toilet isn't moving that much, you can slide a metal or plastic shim underneath from the outside.

Just be aware that a lot of plumbers consider a rocking toilet to be a precursor to a leaking toilet so if it's been rocking for awhile you might want to take a look underneath just to be safe.

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Thanks for the advice. Turns out the other answer was right. +1 anyway. - Mike Sherov 12 years ago

If the toilet has been rocking, the wax seal may be uneven, and not actually forming a tight seal anymore. It's worth pulling up the toilet to check this. The general rule of thumb is whenever you remove a toilet, to replace the wax seal. They're not expensive, the biggest pain is just removing and replacing the toilet, but it's certainly less painful than dealing with the mess/damage caused by a leaking toilet (which often just damages the subfloor and/or shows up as a stain on the ceiling below). - gregmac 12 years ago

Donald1170 Answered 3 months ago

How To Fix A Shaking/Wobbly Toilet-2 Easy Ways

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score 57 · Accepted Answer

On each side of the toilet base you should find a rounded cover. Pry these off and that should expose the bolts that hold the toilet to the base plate. Start by gently tightening these bolts. You should use a wrench, but don't over-do it.