Shimming a toilet

[Ed Pawlowski]

What can be used to shim a toilet on a ceramic tiled floor.

My neighbor has a toilet that rocks from front to back, the fulcrum point being roughly where the bolts are. It sits on tile on top of a concrete slab so correcting the floor is out of the question.

Gravity keeps the toilet sitting to the back, when you sit on it, it rests on the front and goes back when you get off.

Temporarily, I was able to slide a paint stirrer under the rear to support it and it does not move when you sit on it. I'm thinking or a grout type material that can be squeezed in the gap and then will set hard. Wood will eventually get wet and rot. Silicone would be good to put under but may be too soft to support the weight. What about a few washers with silicone?

The nuts on the hold down seem snug and I don't want to crank down on them and break the ceramic. I don't mind helping, but I don't want to buy him a new toilet.

[Stormin' Norman]

Plastic shims. See:

[Vic Smith]

You can use a hardwood shim and silicone bathtub caulk to neaten it up. I've done it a few times. The shim won't rot unless you've got a bigger problem.

[Terry Coombs]

  Tile grout . You'll need to pull the toilet , shim in 3 places , and set it (with a new wax ring) in a bed of grout . Once the grout is set but not completely cured you can pull the shims and grout in those spots .

[Dan Espen]

Not sure I care for that solution. When he inserts those shims, it looks to me like he's prying the toilet up in the air. That could easily lead to leaks.

I'd want to know why that toilet is rocking. Is the floor moving or was the floor always bad?

Years ago a plumber advised me to always set a toilet in plaster. Put a layer of plaster down and set the toilet in it. I only followed his advice once, but if a floor is out of level it might be a good solution.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Floor is concrete slab with ceramic tile over it. There is a slight crown allowing it to move. I guess the old one was ok and this has been in for some time now.

The plastic him would be ok if not used as a wedge, just inserted enough to touch.

[ChairMan]

Some washers or I've used pennies a few times

[trader_4]

Home depot has little plastic wedges for shimming toilets. NEver had to use them, so IDK how well they work.

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip]

Used them here in a bathroom where I installed infloor resistance heating and had to contend with a bit of wobble. The wedges work just fine: impervious to moisture, non-compressible (unless you weigh a ton ;)) and are stepped to you can use a pair to get exactly the "lift" you need.

The one obvious thing you want to avoid is a large gap by the the mounting bolts. Crank down a bit too hard there and. . . you don't want to deal with the results. Best to just slip some wedges there to prevent the fulcrum effect, Still have some gaps? They should be cosmetic if you did it right. Now's the time to get out the silicone sealer to finish the job.

[Ed Pawlowski]

That sounds like the way to go. I won't have to touch the bolts. Seems like just the back has to be supported so it does not slip back, The front sits solidly with the weight of a person on it so supporting the rear stops the flop. .

[bob haller]

any chance the moving toilet has broken its flange. I have had that problem:('

its best to pull the toilet and find out whats really wrng

[gfretwell]

Best answer so far. I bet the flange is too high, maybe even a doubled up flange in an attempt to deal with some other problem. It could just be that the tile guy screwed up and did not get it flat or flush with the flange. A minute with a straight edge will reveal the problem.

[gfretwell]

Sometimes it is just that they did not clean out the old wax when they set the toilet.

[hubops]

Yep. Maybe something simple - rubber gasket vs wax ? .. only removing the toilet and looking for the cause will result in the best repair job. Be sure to examine the toilet - might be a factory reject. Shims are fine if really needed - but not just to make it quick & easy. John T.

[John Terlet]

^ Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! ^

A bed of grout is the ONLY way I'd install a toilet on a hard tile floor.

[Ed]

Straight edge on the floor next to the toilet shows the problem. Probably should have been set on grout originally.