Toilet wax ring replacement

Never mind. We bought a second wax seal, tried again, and there was no problem.

Did you put plumber's putty on the base ?

Yes, I know about plumbers putty. What solved the problem--for reasons I do not understand--was buying a different brand of wax seal. The second one worked fine. Both were at room temperature, but with the first one, the toilet would not seat properly. I was sitting on the darned thing--and I'm not light, about 125 pounds-- and one side would not go down level with the other. With the second wax seal, it went into place effortlessly. ???

I was sitting on the darned thing--and I'm not light, about 125

Ahh, there's your problem...my 260 pounds would've done the trick first time.

Tom.

The only thing I can think of is that when you took off the toilet originally, some of the old wax was still clinging to the bottom of the toilet (did you tip over the toilet to completely clean off any of the old wax ring?), therefore when you put a new wax ring on the flange, then placed the toilet back into place, there was too much wax under the toilet to let it compress completely to the floor.

You, and me, both, skinny. (280 here)

I just had this job done at work by a professional, thinking it couldn't cost very much since he could literally walk to the job being in the same building. He sent my company a bill for $204 and then called ME a thief when I said that it was too much.

You're not a thief. You are a CHEAP BASTARD.

I have just simply got to raise my prices. Wax ring takes typically about half an hour. That makes for four C-notes an hour?

I may be cheap, but he's still a thief. For a job that takes less than an hour, no travel time, a $2 part, no experience and a pair of slip joint pliers for tools, anything over $85 is robbery - even in this century. He did put new bolts in, but he left them sticking up two inches above the nuts - too busy making money to cut them and cap the nuts I suppose. I offered him $100 which was more than it was worth, and he looked like he wanted to kill me.

Is there any wonder why people want to do these jobs themselves?

You are entirely correct about over-charging for such a small job.

I have found that what helps a lot is to ask for a quote before the job starts. If they can't estimate because the job involves conditions that are not visible (e.g. inside a wall, decking under roof tiles, etc) then ask what their hourly rate is. If they won't quote an hourly rate, then find someone else.

Quite right. Normally, I would've done this, but what I didn't know was that the plumber I used was under new management. The old guy would've done it for $50, especially since he's less than 50 feet from my back door, so why would I assume that the new "flat rate for service minimum" would be over $200?!