Another toilet question - leaky wax ring

[BoxMN]

My son's house has a leak coming from around the toilet. Drip, drip, drip..... enough that the basement ceiling right under it got saturated. I cut hole and see the drip, from right next to the toilet drain, but not actually coming from the pipe, but just next to it. No other pipes around, and it is not condensating.

So I think we have the culprit - I drained the toilet, removed it, and drip seems to have stopped (though I did see one more, probably cause the area is saturated.)

So the old wax ring looked like it had two of the plastic collars, one black and one blue. I removed them (they were stacked) and all the wax, and cleaned it up. Waiting for him to get home from work and we will set it back - I need someone to blame if it doesn't work 

But my question is this - the bolts just spin under the main base flange (whatever that is called) and I don't see how we will be able to tighten it enough to seal it. Maybe that was the problem, is that it wasn't sealed good enough last time. So how can I get those bolts to hold fast enough to tighten up the toiled to the floor? I know I don't want to get too tight, but it has to seal without leaking over the top, right?

Thanks for any advice!

-Box

[Pat K]

When you buy the new wax ring buy a new set of toilet mounting bolts. There should a thin sheet metal nut in the package that you can tighten down on the ring to hold the bolt enough to tighten down the toilet.  Use toilet shims to help level the toilet. When a toilet leaks at the wax ring it is usually because the toilet is rocking.

It sounds like some one used 2 wax rings when installing the toilet. This is usually done when ceramic tile or another thick flooring is added later. Only 1 of the rings should have the plastic collar when 2 rings are used. You can also buy thicker wax rings instead of using 2. 

Edited July 16, 2015 by Pat K

[BoxMN]

Thanks Pat! I just looked and the new ring I got does have new bolts and hardware, ad I did get the "thicker" ring with "40% more wax", so hopefully we should be good. Maybe just need to get some toilet shims.

Appreciate the quick help!

[icehole10]

I know this is probably not the right way, but I had the same issue, and once I had the nut down on the mounting bolt, I used a small vice grip and clamped it to the top of the stud and was able to snug it down. The bolts that came with mine were plenty long, and I had to cut them down, so the part that I clamped to was removed.

 

[Boar]

They make a reusable ring now, its green rubber type, ive been remodling our bathroom and have had the toilet off three time to work and it seals evry time, pluse no mess or waxy gunk. 

[Cheers]

I think the double rings are spacers to bring the flange up to new floor level after a new floor was installed . Menards sell such a kit with different colored rings . The flange originally was flush with the subfloor but every time new flooring gets added the  flange needs to also get lifted or shimmed 

[BoxMN]

Thanks all. We got it back on and so far no leaks, and we have open area under it to keep inspecting. 

When I pulled it off, the old wax ring did not stick to the toilet at all. We did make sure that it wasn't rocking. We even bought toilet shims but could not fit any under the toilet itself. We got the bolts (used new ones) tight but not too tight, and the toilet was not cracked (only about 8 years old, a decent unit).

I learned about the rubber new style ring too late or would have used that.

There is a grad party there this Saturday so it will get a work out and we will know for sure, ha! Grandson is heading to the Navy in August - we are excited for him, and proud!

Thanks all for the advice!

-Box

[Tom7227]

Sometimes the problem is that the toilet rocks because things aren't flush.  There are plastic wedges that you can buy that help level things out.  Check and make sure that the toilet doesn't rock when in use.