A very good demonstration on how to get rid of a wobbly toilet on a solid floor, but in this case the floor must be repaired first. If you watch the video, when you wobble the toilet the floor moves with the toilet. Repair the floor and give the toilet a solid base, then use shims if you need them.
Yaaaaaaa Richard! I've been using that Sani Seal green foam wax ring alternative for 4 years now. Glad to see you finally adopted it also. I love it because we can re-use that green foam, sometimes we have to move the toilet a few times during construction to get things done, but put it back same day so people can use it. With wax rings you have to scrape up the mess and put a new one down each time you replace the toilet.
I had to fix this a few years back at a rental... @4:18, those plastic shims didn't work as the gaps were too much. The toilet was extremely wobbly... Several plumbers tried to fix it and charged big bucks, but eventually, I had to create an custom SINGLE large SHIM/off-set to match the entire shape of the base, as the floor was so non-leveled on all ends, but that fixed/leveled it, and it never wobbled since then... Nice video...
@6:15, I generally place something on the other side to protect the toilet just so I don't mar it with the mini-saw when cutting the bolt... Just saying in-case of those thousand-dollar pricey toilets lol.
you can also have a rocking toilet problem if the closet flange sticks up too high. my flange is one that goes down into the drain pipe and grabs on from the inside. because previous owners took out the original floor it left enough cast iron pipe sticking up so that the flange was 3/4" above the floor and no matter how hard you tightened the bolts the toiled base would not contact the floor and be stable. I shimmed around the base but eventually the shims all migrated under the base and lost contact. So bought a 1/2"x2'x4' piece of white pvc board and cut out the exact shape of the toilet base with an 8" circle cut out to fit over the flange. I put a few screws into the pvc to keep it from shifting and bolted the toilet back on top of it. Now all edges of the toilet are supported and it doesnt rock. TIP---- When you bolt down the toilet use heavier flange bolts and stainless steel nuts, and several rubber washers with stainless steel fender washers on top of the rubber. this spreads out the force and cushions the washers from applying concentrated force to the base which can easily crack it. if you dont go too big on the washers all will be hidden under the decorative closet bolt caps
This was very interesting to watch because when my late father and I installed a toilet in my bathroom many years ago. The floor was so uneven that we had to build a wooden base for the toilet to sit on and it has worked out great ever since.
Good video! I'd like to add that I really wish they would only use stainless steel for the toilet flange screws or bolts! Every time I've had to lift or replace a toilet the bolts have been rusted. I usually have to cut them because they are so corroded the nuts won't turn.
As Richard said at the end of the video it was a quick fix so they would have a toilet available quickly. Personally I sure didn't like the large spacing on right side.
Great video. Apply tile grout in the gap and it will never rock and yet easy to remove when replacing the bowl. Caulk will provide a seal but little support for the bowl; especially on an uneven floor.
Sit the toilet on a bed of plaster of paris and the shims to level. Then a nice bead of caulk around the base - Looks good and solves the problem. Works every time!
I often find on foundations with crawl spaces or basements that a plumber has cut a floor joist to get the 4 inch drainpipe up through a floor then sisters a 2x6 or 2x8 on the opposite side of the floor joist . Over time the patched joist starts to loosen in the gap and flex at the point it was cut allowing the floor to sink. If the sistered joist isnt sitting on a stem wall on both sides or at the least doesnt extend the length of the floor on both sides of the toilet and isnt secured with 3/8ths carriage bolts ,washers and nuts the length of the board the floor will flex under the toilet over time.
Those foam rings are a big issue now.. if you use any cleaner for the toilet or bleach it will dissolve the foam ring and cause a VERY smelly issue over time.. It doesnt happen overnight but people who remove their toilets a year later due to a musty smell find a ruined subfloor..
Stella smith Scary! Id replace them all with good old wax rings!
7 років тому+2
+MsUltrafox in the US, we have more than one way to seal the toilet. The standard way is using a wax ring. Now we have newer inventions like the green sponge, there are rubber type membranes and also like a flange that sticks to the bottom of the toilet, and it gets pressed into the sewer hole/ pipe. I have seen the european style toilets where it gets implemented into a wall pipe. It seems easier to do and less likely to fail due to poor installation.
this might explain the damp floor below my toilet, (will be fixing it soon, i had the same gasket and i dont remember seeing water till after i used bleach cleaner in the toilet)
Would the wax seal, if it was wax, be level with the floor not the toilet and have the potential to allow water to leak off to the side when the toilet it adjusted to have a straight angle?
Thank you! I think this is exactly what we need to know; 6 people, 1 sliding toilet, (the silicone between the tile floor and the toilet has turned slimy and useless in five years since we installed it) This leads me to believe I don’t need to put silicone between the floor and the toilet, but I can put it around the base if I choose, correct?
I have the same problem, but my BR has a new level tiled floor, either I need a thinner wax ring or this is just common when the flange sits higher than the floor.
I like to use a toiletmaster lift jack to move toilets because I have a bad back and it makes it much easier. I added locking wheels to mine. I used the toiletmaster bolts that have caps that thread on but they have popped off and they allow the toilet to pivot on the flange (so I can't recommend them). I will have to look for those lock washers. Those would have come in handy when we were trying to install my friend's toilet and the bolts kept tipping. I would NEVER use those foam gaskets. They delaminate and then the foam inside gets saturated and its disgusting. I do use a silicone "better than wax" seal though. I haven't had any problems with it thus far. I have used those shims but because my floor is not stable (it was a replacement piece that wasn't tacked in well so it doesn't have enough support-- and its OSB so it is not as strong as plywood) the toilet still rocks a bit. I did not realize the shims stacked like that though. That will come in handy. They sell extra all toilet bolt caps if you don't want to cut or break away the long bolts.
Just after 1:30, watch how the floor itself moves when the toilet is rocked. I wonder if the subfloor plywood is rotted, allowing way more movement than you should see. I never liked hardwood flooring in bathrooms or kitchens. Repair of subflooring is too complicated.
Time 4:50 -- levelled the toilet by use of shims. BUT that does NOT stabilise the wonky floor. It will and can still wobble. That floor need the attention of a builder. The structure underneath has probably rotted.
Butch Schultz of course you do. Never said Germans didnt. Germany is the most cleanest country unfortunately it aint anymore due to many Muslim foreigners
Many people do not own a wet/dry vac. Also if they used a wet vac some moron would use a traditional dry vac and ruin it and get upset The sponge is something that can be picked up for a buck and does the job. Or just make a mess and then clean it up!
People in comments are always "experts". I guarantee they told the homeowner the floor needed fixing and had other problems. But the owner said no. And just wanted a quick fix for the toilet.
They literally brought up the stuff people are griping about in the last minute of the video when Kevin was talking. Some people just like to complain.
No actually its the guy in the video if you watch his other videos he always makes the home owner do the hard part of the work like lifting the toilet or cutting tile or getting under the sink to scrape seals. Than he does the easy part. He's lazy, and here he's showing the lazy fix
+eksine Well, it's a do-it-yourself segment of a home improvement show, so of course they'll have the homeowner do as much of the work as they can--anything that doesn't include a new skill or new knowledge, and most grunt work naturally falls into that category. Now, if you had hired someone to do the job for you, then you'd have a valid point, but this is completely different.
@@rbrtck no you don't understand this is the only guy out of all the guys on the show that makes the homeowner do the hard part of the work .all the other guys do the hard work and explain it and only make a homeowner do the easy stuff this plumber is just super lazy
+eksine Perhaps you know this particular show better than I do, then, but I think my general reasoning still stands. If I were on the show, I'd have the homeowners do as much of the work as I think they could handle, too, not out of laziness but because it's good for viewers to see laymen like themselves actually do the work; it's not the same as hiring a professional to do the work for you at all. That said, I recall seeing the gardening guy (is his name Roger Cook or something like that?) make the homeowners do nearly all of the hard labor themselves on many occasions. He'll start it and sometimes do some of it for them (or all of it on small jobs), but for example if they need to dig several holes for posts for a fence repair or gate installation, then he'll tell/show them what to do, get them started, go away, and come back when they're done for the next step. I've seen the other guys do the whole job, yes, but I always chalked this up to time (i.e. they're way faster than the homeowner would be) and/or the fact that the only way to show how certain types of work are done would simultaneously mean that the job is finished. On the other hand, lifting toilets and digging holes are things that anyone can do. I haven't watched this show in years, though, so maybe things have changed. Regardless of what usually happens on it, I still contend that the homeowners should do as much as they feasibly can on DIY segments. By the way, I just rewatched this video, and all I saw the homeowner being asked to do was to run out to the truck to get the tools and supplies. The guy on the show who you called lazy actually did the whole job--a bunch of things like lifting the toilet (both times), cleaning the old wax gasket off the flange, and sawing off the excess length of the closet bolt, that I think the homeowner should have done for himself to encourage viewers. Fixing the floor was beyond the intended scope of this segment, although it was brought up as it should have been. I guess this particular homeowner wasn't willing to go that far (since the show probably wasn't going to pay for it) and didn't mind putting up with the look of those high shims.
Yeah but then he gathers the remaining toilet water from inside the dirty bowl with a sponge, wrings it out into a bucket and promptly places it onto the counter top. 🤮
When I set a toilet, i trace the outline of the toilet base on the floor. I remove the toilet and mix a batch of plaater if Paris and place it within the lines in rhe floor. Then I set the toilet onto the closet flag ams rock the toilet until its leve amd wait for the plaster to harden. This makes a nice solid base for the toilet on any floor even if is not level. Those shims wont give the toilet good even support
After replacing my wax ring my toilet still leaks at the bottom front of the bowl. What you recommend to do next. Apparently the leak started after putting those blue tablets inside the tank. What should I do next to stop the leak at the bottom front of the bowl?
Always use a contractor bag on the floor to pull the toilet up and set it down onto so you don't get any water all over the floor or wax all over the flooring
seen this many times...best way is to take 1/4 cdx plywood and trace around the base of the toilet and cut it with jigsaw...cut out for the flange and screw that to the floor.. you will be close to flush with the flange but that is ok..then set toilet in place and you might need few shims but the whole toilet base is much better supported and not sitting on high shims like this..
my suggestion is not a permanent fix but can buy you time until a full floor rip out...i work in the apartment game and we come up with temp fixes until move outs..
1:32 looks like the whole floor board moves (looks like maybe there is no subflloor) - with some luck find appropriate joist underneath and nail floorboard to joist and hopefully the floor won't move anymore
I prefer double washer and nut toilet bolts. One set of washer and nut against toilet flange, other set to secure toilet. Next time someone pulls that toilet, there is a good chance that the bolts will just spin thanks to that "lock washer". Probably should of, at least, tried to caulk/hide those shims. Credentials, Kentucky Licensed Journeymen Plumber.
This video is just a quick fix for the toilet wobble. To do it right you need to pull up the sub floor and replace it and make it level. Through those dam shims away.
that was a great tip...but he should've put the shims sideways running the side of the bowl...(following the edge) so you can put calking and the shims don't stick out...lol
Take those lock washers and Kobe them to the nearest trash can. Use a washer and nut to hold the closet bolts tight to the collar. Then another washer and nut for the toilet. In other words you're double nutting the toilet. Then you can take that green gasket and throw that away too. They're nothing but a headache. Like everyone else said, this is a job for Silva.
I remember setting toilets on a bed of plaster of Paris to compensate for any floor distortions. A bed of plaster evenly distributes the load around the toilet rather than just at two points (level wedges) you can easily trim off any squeeze out that may occur
I disagree with the statement it is only cosmetic with caulking. Yes, it is cosmetic and also secures shims from moving and it gives support in all the voids. where the china is not touching the floor. I am a professional handyman and have fixed many toilets that were shimed and in time the shims moved and the toiled started to rock again. caulking stops any movements by my experience.
after doing major repair in my home to 50 y/o toilet drain hold down ring/ lead skirt etc i temp placed 3 wooden spacers at equal space .before tightening hold down bolts on new style low gpm toilet. reason is i filled space between toilet and tile with RTV to give extra structural support to prevent wobble. i sat to compress wax ring, checked for level and snugged the hold down bolts. this was at least 10 years ago and there have been no leaks or wobble since.
4:33 - "I don't think I've ever seen a floor this far out". The program is called This Old House, no? Come to my home built in 1895 and I'll show you some floors with peaks and valleys.
Is it possible for a toilet to be manufactured incorrectly? I replaced a toilet in my house, the old toilet was level without shims, the floor is level, the flange is level, but the new toilet wobbles. I had to add a shim on one side to make it level
That is why the water seal is always in the toilet bowl it's to stop both sewer gas and any say insects from crawling up the sewer pipe as they won't readily crawl through the water seal
ONE THING to make the job a little easier: Remove the toilet lid before lifting it. Removing that top heavy weight makes it a bit easier to manage that way.
That toilet WILL start wobbling again in about 3 to 4 weeks. That floor needs some massive support because as long as that is not fixed no toilet will ever stay still. At 1:33 you can clearly see the whole floor flexing when he wiggles the toilet. Also, the foam gasket should be a rubber version. If a plumber comes in-house and leaves this as his pride work he could go back to work and fix it the correct way. Shimming a toilet - HEAD SLAP. O and because you lift the toilet that far off the ground on 1 side the seal will not seal. Sewer stench incomming.
There are times when you have to take your losses and set fire to the house and walk away. When the insurance adjuster shows up, tell him the plumber was smoking on the sh*tter and burned the whole place down! 👍🚬👍👌
I wouldn't have utilized plastic shims. Instead, I would have used plaster... Mix up a batch of plaster and quickly set your tolit on top of it... Once the plaster hardened, the tolit would remain forever level... The plaster could have been cleaned up nicely around the gaps, making for a nice look all around the tolit base.....
I will be adding blocking under a toilet flange to fix my wobbly toilet. The original builders cut the hole in the sub-floor so big 4/6 flange screws weren't even completely surrounded by wood.
I have a wobbly toilet but its not the type that uses a wax floor seal. It flushed out back through the wall. I have a tiled floor but what's happened is from constant mopping of the floors some water has made its way under the pan and down through the screw holes and rotted the sub floor so the screws don't bite into anything anymore. What can I do about this WITHOUT lifting up all the tiles?
Yo my man just told the home owner to go get his tools outta his truck. 😎
Haha that's one way to get respect from your customers, eh? Also was surprised to see him using a foam ring plus, who uses a level on a toilet?
not only that, he told him to RUN down to the truck
Like a boss 😎
Hell yeah !!!😎
You don’t?
in the top 10 youtube channels of all time--love this show and no unneeded drama!
A true professional always gets the homeowner to go grab his tools from the truck.
😂😂
Words you never want to hear from a plumber. I don't think I've ever seen a floor this far out.
A very good demonstration on how to get rid of a wobbly toilet on a solid floor, but in this case the floor must be repaired first. If you watch the video, when you wobble the toilet the floor moves with the toilet. Repair the floor and give the toilet a solid base, then use shims if you need them.
Captain obvious over here
You can't do that and cash in on a video in 2 minutes. The floor is already rotten or worse has termites eating their way thru the floor joist
Yaaaaaaa Richard! I've been using that Sani Seal green foam wax ring alternative for 4 years now. Glad to see you finally adopted it also. I love it because we can re-use that green foam, sometimes we have to move the toilet a few times during construction to get things done, but put it back same day so people can use it. With wax rings you have to scrape up the mess and put a new one down each time you replace the toilet.
I read on UA-cam that if the green outside gets punctured, the foam becomes waterlogged and disintegrates.
I saw a Old House episode we're thing through a template or pattern on some plywood. Do you remember that one? DaveH
Thank you very much for the very helpful tutorial. I am surprised the fix is far more simpler than I thought it would be.
I don't envy anyone doing a 'mind over fecal matter' job. you have my utmost respect.
I had to fix this a few years back at a rental... @4:18, those plastic shims didn't work as the gaps were too much. The toilet was extremely wobbly... Several plumbers tried to fix it and charged big bucks, but eventually, I had to create an custom SINGLE large SHIM/off-set to match the entire shape of the base, as the floor was so non-leveled on all ends, but that fixed/leveled it, and it never wobbled since then... Nice video...
@6:15, I generally place something on the other side to protect the toilet just so I don't mar it with the mini-saw when cutting the bolt... Just saying in-case of those thousand-dollar pricey toilets lol.
@@TheKingofHowTos_TKHT gotta have control 😀
you can also have a rocking toilet problem if the closet flange sticks up too high. my flange is one that goes down into the drain pipe and grabs on from the inside. because previous owners took out the original floor it left enough cast iron pipe sticking up so that the flange was 3/4" above the floor and no matter how hard you tightened the bolts the toiled base would not contact the floor and be stable. I shimmed around the base but eventually the shims all migrated under the base and lost contact.
So bought a 1/2"x2'x4' piece of white pvc board and cut out the exact shape of the toilet base with an 8" circle cut out to fit over the flange. I put a few screws into the pvc to keep it from shifting and bolted the toilet back on top of it. Now all edges of the toilet are supported and it doesnt rock.
TIP---- When you bolt down the toilet use heavier flange bolts and stainless steel nuts, and several rubber washers with stainless steel fender washers on top of the rubber. this spreads out the force and cushions the washers from applying concentrated force to the base which can easily crack it. if you dont go too big on the washers all will be hidden under the decorative closet bolt caps
Wish u had video of that
This is exactly what I need to do. Where did you find the PVC board?
This was very interesting to watch because when my late father and I installed a toilet in my bathroom many years ago. The floor was so uneven that we had to build
a wooden base for the toilet to sit on and it has worked out great ever since.
Riding high, eh
@@Johnnynbk Haha, yes! My dad used to say that it was like "sitting on the throne!"😀
@@jeffthewhiff niiiice
@@JohnnynbkHow God intended it
1:31 *Floor Flexes like Godzilla is trying to punch through from the bottom*... "I think the bolt is your culprit"
I was thinking the same thing
Good video! I'd like to add that I really wish they would only use stainless steel for the toilet flange screws or bolts! Every time I've had to lift or replace a toilet the bolts have been rusted. I usually have to cut them because they are so corroded the nuts won't turn.
@6:40 - "The beauty here is that if this puppy leaks, you will be the first to know."
As Richard said at the end of the video it was a quick fix so they would have a toilet available quickly. Personally I sure didn't like the large spacing on right side.
Can fill it with plaster of Paris and water
"Yeah I changed the wax ring" ... "hmm wow look at this. some idiot ran the nut and mangled this washer. I think thats our culprit" ...
Lmaooo😂😂
I know this was 6 years ago but this has me laughing so hard 😂
Great video. Apply tile grout in the gap and it will never rock and yet easy to remove when replacing the bowl. Caulk will provide a seal but little support for the bowl; especially on an uneven floor.
THANK YOU! Excellent, I will
Sit the toilet on a bed of plaster of paris and the shims to level. Then a nice bead of caulk around the base - Looks good and solves the problem. Works every time!
The homeowner is now a Pre-Apprentice; grabbing the Plumber's tools and guiding him when installing the toilet.
I often find on foundations with crawl spaces or basements that a plumber has cut a floor joist to get the 4 inch drainpipe up through a floor then sisters a 2x6 or 2x8 on the opposite side of the floor joist . Over time the patched joist starts to loosen in the gap and flex at the point it was cut allowing the floor to sink. If the sistered joist isnt sitting on a stem wall on both sides or at the least doesnt extend the length of the floor on both sides of the toilet and isnt secured with 3/8ths carriage bolts ,washers and nuts the length of the board the floor will flex under the toilet over time.
Yep, instead of placing a 1/2" of shims, there should have been a floor joist/foundation inspection.
Those foam rings are a big issue now.. if you use any cleaner for the toilet or bleach it will dissolve the foam ring and cause a VERY smelly issue over time.. It doesnt happen overnight but people who remove their toilets a year later due to a musty smell find a ruined subfloor..
That's why in Europe we use rubber rings.
Bleach, Acid or something else rubber has no problems with it.
Stella smith Scary! Id replace them all with good old wax rings!
+MsUltrafox
in the US, we have more than one way to seal the toilet. The standard way is using a wax ring. Now we have newer inventions like the green sponge, there are rubber type membranes and also like a flange that sticks to the bottom of the toilet, and it gets pressed into the sewer hole/ pipe. I have seen the european style toilets where it gets implemented into a wall pipe. It seems easier to do and less likely to fail due to poor installation.
this might explain the damp floor below my toilet, (will be fixing it soon, i had the same gasket and i dont remember seeing water till after i used bleach cleaner in the toilet)
Interesting observation. I had not thought about it. I know the bleach tablets for the toilet tank attack the plastic flush valves over time!
Would the wax seal, if it was wax, be level with the floor not the toilet and have the potential to allow water to leak off to the side when the toilet it adjusted to have a straight angle?
Betting game: which will shatter first, the shimmed toilet, or the sagging floor?
Ticonderoga Dixon right, can't shim in two spots and think a 300 lb man can sit on it. Maybe long door shims
Water resistant ply full size of bowl bottom until level. My fat ass would split that bowl in first use.
Ding ding ding the toilet
Yeah, this is a bad fix, need to pull up the floor, and replace it so it's level.
Toilet
Thank you! I think this is exactly what we need to know; 6 people, 1 sliding toilet, (the silicone between the tile floor and the toilet has turned slimy and useless in five years since we installed it)
This leads me to believe I don’t need to put silicone between the floor and the toilet, but I can put it around the base if I choose, correct?
I have the same problem, but my BR has a new level tiled floor, either I need a thinner wax ring or this is just common when the flange sits higher than the floor.
I like to use a toiletmaster lift jack to move toilets because I have a bad back and it makes it much easier. I added locking wheels to mine.
I used the toiletmaster bolts that have caps that thread on but they have popped off and they allow the toilet to pivot on the flange (so I can't recommend them).
I will have to look for those lock washers. Those would have come in handy when we were trying to install my friend's toilet and the bolts kept tipping.
I would NEVER use those foam gaskets. They delaminate and then the foam inside gets saturated and its disgusting. I do use a silicone "better than wax" seal though. I haven't had any problems with it thus far. I have used those shims but because my floor is not stable (it was a replacement piece that wasn't tacked in well so it doesn't have enough support-- and its OSB so it is not as strong as plywood) the toilet still rocks a bit. I did not realize the shims stacked like that though. That will come in handy.
They sell extra all toilet bolt caps if you don't want to cut or break away the long bolts.
Just after 1:30, watch how the floor itself moves when the toilet is rocked. I wonder if the subfloor plywood is rotted, allowing way more movement than you should see. I never liked hardwood flooring in bathrooms or kitchens. Repair of subflooring is too complicated.
Time 4:50 -- levelled the toilet by use of shims. BUT that does NOT stabilise the wonky floor. It will and can still wobble. That floor need the attention of a builder. The structure underneath has probably rotted.
I used a wet / dry vac to remove the bit of water left in the bowl
Nice work.
How dose the sani green seal hold up Compared to a wax ring
Thank you! I happened to have some rubber shims, those will have to do
At 0:28, I thought Richard was actually "picking" out something to help him with the repairs, Haha!
I had those toilets at my school, they always clogged, but they have been replaced since.
WOW!! Absolutely fabulous video! This is a saved to home projects video! Thank you so much!❤️🙌🏻☕️
It's not tested until someone drops a duece through it. Any other experts would have to concur or just laugh like hell 😂🤣
I am allays worries about breaking the toilet when tightening these bolts. Does anyone know if there is torque setting recommended for the bolts
Thank you how Do you fix floor toilet which may be blocked thank you
Nice. Helped me fix the problem in 20 minutes.
Thank you …. For your instructions….
I love this guys ,good memories, excellent video,thanks for sharing
drains toilet with sponge then puts sponge on counter....ew
Jaime F if youre irish, english or American then no
Guitar covers, I'm German and that's disgusting.
Butch Schultz of course you do. Never said Germans didnt. Germany is the most cleanest country unfortunately it aint anymore due to many Muslim foreigners
N2LADIES55 plunge 90% out and then just move it..
Many people do not own a wet/dry vac. Also if they used a wet vac some moron would use a traditional dry vac and ruin it and get upset The sponge is something that can be picked up for a buck and does the job. Or just make a mess and then clean it up!
Wouldn’t anyone be worried why it happened to the floor?
I would talk to a structural engineer right away :)
I picture someone sitting down doing their business, then the floor creaks loudly and that one board gives way.
It's probably a 100+ year old house it is what it is...
It’s just a unlevel floor board it’s not dangerous and won’t get any worse
Shims . Ghetto ... fix it right
People in comments are always "experts". I guarantee they told the homeowner the floor needed fixing and had other problems. But the owner said no. And just wanted a quick fix for the toilet.
They literally brought up the stuff people are griping about in the last minute of the video when Kevin was talking. Some people just like to complain.
No actually its the guy in the video if you watch his other videos he always makes the home owner do the hard part of the work like lifting the toilet or cutting tile or getting under the sink to scrape seals. Than he does the easy part. He's lazy, and here he's showing the lazy fix
+eksine Well, it's a do-it-yourself segment of a home improvement show, so of course they'll have the homeowner do as much of the work as they can--anything that doesn't include a new skill or new knowledge, and most grunt work naturally falls into that category. Now, if you had hired someone to do the job for you, then you'd have a valid point, but this is completely different.
@@rbrtck no you don't understand this is the only guy out of all the guys on the show that makes the homeowner do the hard part of the work .all the other guys do the hard work and explain it and only make a homeowner do the easy stuff this plumber is just super lazy
+eksine Perhaps you know this particular show better than I do, then, but I think my general reasoning still stands. If I were on the show, I'd have the homeowners do as much of the work as I think they could handle, too, not out of laziness but because it's good for viewers to see laymen like themselves actually do the work; it's not the same as hiring a professional to do the work for you at all.
That said, I recall seeing the gardening guy (is his name Roger Cook or something like that?) make the homeowners do nearly all of the hard labor themselves on many occasions. He'll start it and sometimes do some of it for them (or all of it on small jobs), but for example if they need to dig several holes for posts for a fence repair or gate installation, then he'll tell/show them what to do, get them started, go away, and come back when they're done for the next step. I've seen the other guys do the whole job, yes, but I always chalked this up to time (i.e. they're way faster than the homeowner would be) and/or the fact that the only way to show how certain types of work are done would simultaneously mean that the job is finished. On the other hand, lifting toilets and digging holes are things that anyone can do. I haven't watched this show in years, though, so maybe things have changed. Regardless of what usually happens on it, I still contend that the homeowners should do as much as they feasibly can on DIY segments.
By the way, I just rewatched this video, and all I saw the homeowner being asked to do was to run out to the truck to get the tools and supplies. The guy on the show who you called lazy actually did the whole job--a bunch of things like lifting the toilet (both times), cleaning the old wax gasket off the flange, and sawing off the excess length of the closet bolt, that I think the homeowner should have done for himself to encourage viewers. Fixing the floor was beyond the intended scope of this segment, although it was brought up as it should have been. I guess this particular homeowner wasn't willing to go that far (since the show probably wasn't going to pay for it) and didn't mind putting up with the look of those high shims.
This old house plumbing guy finally uses rubber gloves. 🎉🎈
Actually the type of rubber gloves Richard uses in this video is Latex Rubber
Hahahahaha
Yeah but then he gathers the remaining toilet water from inside the dirty bowl with a sponge, wrings it out into a bucket and promptly places it onto the counter top. 🤮
@@RichardTurlington toilet water is clean so long as you dont leave a deposit right before you work on it. clean it regularly and youre fine
@@mikel3520 Would you drink it? No? Then it's not clean. Interesting you'd be ok with bacteria from inside your toilet being placed on your counter. 🤮
Nice one, helped our family out for sure. Thank you
Thanks a billy. Real help. Solid
When I set a toilet, i trace the outline of the toilet base on the floor. I remove the toilet and mix a batch of plaater if Paris and place it within the lines in rhe floor. Then I set the toilet onto the closet flag ams rock the toilet until its leve amd wait for the plaster to harden. This makes a nice solid base for the toilet on any floor even if is not level.
Those shims wont give the toilet good even support
my dad uses that exact tactic too
Hey Rich use a small wet dry vac to get the water out of the toilet instead of a sponge or a rag
I tried this product with listing floor, and LOVE IT!
Was that sink counter top sterilized after that bowl sponge was laid on it?
Toilet bowl water IS ALWAYS clean and safe to touch as long as a person washes their hands afterwards
Welcome to my Saturday afternoon.
This is great 👍. .!!
Thank you gentlemen..
After replacing my wax ring my toilet still leaks at the bottom front of the bowl. What you recommend to do next.
Apparently the leak started after putting those blue tablets inside the tank.
What should I do next to stop the leak at the bottom front of the bowl?
Good job! But, did you need to shield around the toilet?
I don’t ever use shims. It’s just a bandaid. Fix the floor in this case. In most all other cases of a toilet that wobbles, the flange is too high.
My left leg can't reach the floor anymore as it's 1/2" taller now... 😂
Caulk please. Provide some stability to those shims and cover up those gaping holes
You will need to order a case of caulk for that gap.
Always use a contractor bag on the floor to pull the toilet up and set it down onto so you don't get any water all over the floor or wax all over the flooring
If you shim a toilet like that it can create pressure points and crack. Don't do it
That’s exactly what I was thinking
yes, they have to fix the flor with some wood cuz the gap is pretty bad!
I would have filled the gap with dark brown sanded tile grout. It would give much support and not be noticeable.
seen this many times...best way is to take 1/4 cdx plywood and trace around the base of the toilet and cut it with jigsaw...cut out for the flange and screw that to the floor.. you will be close to flush with the flange but that is ok..then set toilet in place and you might need few shims but the whole toilet base is much better supported and not sitting on high shims like this..
my suggestion is not a permanent fix but can buy you time until a full floor rip out...i work in the apartment game and we come up with temp fixes until move outs..
Thanks for the tips
Dam. how high can I use the shims???
What about plaster of paris? That would've been hard as a rock for general stability purpose.
1:32 looks like the whole floor board moves (looks like maybe there is no subflloor) - with some luck find appropriate joist underneath and nail floorboard to joist and hopefully the floor won't move anymore
I prefer double washer and nut toilet bolts. One set of washer and nut against toilet flange, other set to secure toilet.
Next time someone pulls that toilet, there is a good chance that the bolts will just spin thanks to that "lock washer".
Probably should of, at least, tried to caulk/hide those shims.
Credentials,
Kentucky Licensed Journeymen Plumber.
Excellent video
anyone see the floor flex at 1 minute 30 seconds. How about fixing the floor instead of putting a band-aid on it
Eric Ouellette yes it was terrible. The floor needed to be secured properly.
Who use wooden flooring in their bathrooms ? Lol
Very observant. They should have done a little more work researching the problem rather than a quick fix that is short term.
Maybe you guys should watch the whole video? They discuss this fact at the end.
Just needs a bit of blocking under the area where the floor flexes or could be something worse
This video is just a quick fix for the toilet wobble. To do it right you need to pull up the sub floor and replace it and make it level. Through those dam shims away.
He said that at the end.
Great job!
that was a great tip...but he should've put the shims sideways running the side of the bowl...(following the edge) so you can put calking and the shims don't stick out...lol
Take those lock washers and Kobe them to the nearest trash can. Use a washer and nut to hold the closet bolts tight to the collar. Then another washer and nut for the toilet. In other words you're double nutting the toilet. Then you can take that green gasket and throw that away too. They're nothing but a headache. Like everyone else said, this is a job for Silva.
The shims and the gasket will last longer than you think
"double nutting" 😂
1:23 Eric O has entered the chat: THERES YOUR PROBLEM LADY!
Howard glatt from chicago i love yur show. I leadernd a lot fro yu guys .thanks
I feel like the floor being that off leveled is a bigger issue than the toilet being wobbly....
I remember setting toilets on a bed of plaster of Paris to compensate for any floor distortions. A bed of plaster evenly distributes the load around the toilet rather than just at two points (level wedges) you can easily trim off any squeeze out that may occur
This is so very true. Great advice. :) (Shelly)
@@DrainMedic yw :)
Huh. You might have just solved my concrete floor problem. Thanks!
At least he's started wearing gloves,saw one sponging the toilet, removing the wax ring, no gloves. Living dangerously LoL.
patrick cowan it isn't dangerous just unhygienic
@@stephensnell1379 Uh, yeah, like those "onions" at McDonald's.
Lift with ur arms and ur lower back.. take ur legs completely out of the equation .. always amazing work!
I disagree with the statement it is only cosmetic with caulking. Yes, it is cosmetic and also secures shims from moving and it gives support in all the voids. where the china is not touching the floor. I am a professional handyman and have fixed many toilets that were shimed and in time the shims moved and the toiled started to rock again. caulking stops any movements by my experience.
@this old house would the hard ware store have the pieces the home owner didn't have ?
after doing major repair in my home to 50 y/o toilet drain hold down ring/ lead skirt etc i temp placed 3 wooden spacers at equal space .before tightening hold down bolts on new style low gpm toilet. reason is i filled space between toilet and tile with RTV to give extra structural support to prevent wobble. i sat to compress wax ring, checked for level and snugged the hold down bolts. this was at least 10 years ago and there have been no leaks or wobble since.
Anyone have pros and cons about the green gasket he used
Wouldn't this be a temp fix until fix the floor???
Caulking around the bottom is not suggested, but if you really want to, don't caulk the back area so leaking water can escape and be visible.
1:56 when you take your cat to the vet
4:33 - "I don't think I've ever seen a floor this far out". The program is called This Old House, no? Come to my home built in 1895 and I'll show you some floors with peaks and valleys.
I was taught to bed it in plaster if the floor is that uneven
Is it possible for a toilet to be manufactured incorrectly? I replaced a toilet in my house, the old toilet was level without shims, the floor is level, the flange is level, but the new toilet wobbles. I had to add a shim on one side to make it level
mank this is exactly what I am looking for! thank you!
First rule plumbers don’t put their hands near their face, he picks his nose and goes at it😂
These comment sections never fail to make my day.
Note to homeowner... clean the vanity countertop. He set the sponge he used to soak the toilet water on it! Haha!!!!
This is great! Big help!!
Wow this is a master plumber
What about bugs coming up because the toilet has gaps underneath now?
That is why the water seal is always in the toilet bowl it's to stop both sewer gas and any say insects from crawling up the sewer pipe as they won't readily crawl through the water seal
ONE THING to make the job a little easier:
Remove the toilet lid before lifting it. Removing that top heavy weight makes it a bit easier to manage that way.
That toilet WILL start wobbling again in about 3 to 4 weeks.
That floor needs some massive support because as long as that is not fixed no toilet will ever stay still.
At 1:33 you can clearly see the whole floor flexing when he wiggles the toilet.
Also, the foam gasket should be a rubber version.
If a plumber comes in-house and leaves this as his pride work he could go back to work and fix it the correct way.
Shimming a toilet - HEAD SLAP.
O and because you lift the toilet that far off the ground on 1 side the seal will not seal.
Sewer stench incomming.
You are an idiot
The water seal in the bowl will stop sewer gas smells coming into the blokes home
There are times when you have to take your losses and set fire to the house and walk away. When the insurance adjuster shows up, tell him the plumber was smoking on the sh*tter and burned the whole place down! 👍🚬👍👌
Yes, the plumber was sweating pipes next to 150 year old dried out wood and said " It'll be fine, stop worrying".
The shims will move eventually. Use rubber gasket with silicone to attach to base of toilet.
I wouldn't have utilized plastic shims. Instead, I would have used plaster...
Mix up a batch of plaster and quickly set your tolit on top of it...
Once the plaster hardened, the tolit would remain forever level...
The plaster could have been cleaned up nicely around the gaps, making for a nice look all around the tolit base.....
I will be adding blocking under a toilet flange to fix my wobbly toilet. The original builders cut the hole in the sub-floor so big 4/6 flange screws weren't even completely surrounded by wood.
I have a wobbly toilet but its not the type that uses a wax floor seal. It flushed out back through the wall.
I have a tiled floor but what's happened is from constant mopping of the floors some water has made its way under the pan and down through the screw holes and rotted the sub floor so the screws don't bite into anything anymore.
What can I do about this WITHOUT lifting up all the tiles?