wide based toilet needed

[pidaycare]

I have a toilet that is squeezed into a small bathroom. For that reason, we have to sit sideways in order to use it. We have had to replace our wax seal and bolts several times over the past 15 years. We have had professional installation with a new toilet, and it still started leaking and the bolt where our legs hang over came loose. The only thing I can attribute this to is having to sit sideways all the time. My belief is that the base can't handle the sitting down/up on the bolts, so it puts undue pressure on the bolts, loosening them, and then leaking. Is there any way I can give my toilet the support it needs to not have this keep happening? The toilet's about 5 inches from the wall. I thought putting a 2 x 4 between the toilet base and wall would help, since pressure would go against the wall along with the bolts then. Any suggestions? Any special toilets that might work better than a normal toilet?

 

[Reach4]

I think you are saying that the toilet wobbles. When you replace the wax ring, you might want to consider a Saniseal instead of wax. This could put up with a bit of wobble, especially if the wobble is temporary. But more importantly, shim the toilet base so that it does not wobble! If you pre-placed the shims, you could use wax. With a resilient seal, that will be a less tricky install.

 

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[pidaycare]

I think you are saying that the toilet wobbles. When you replace the wax ring, you might want to consider a Saniseal instead of wax. This could put up with a bit of wobble, especially if the wobble is temporary. But more importantly, shim the toilet base so that it does not wobble! If you pre-placed the shims, you could use wax. With a resilient seal, that will be a less tricky install.

That's the thing - our toilet does not wobble at all. Even the plumber who was here said it was flat. I bought some toilet shims, but I can't even get them under the toilet, just to see if they'd help. There's no wobble, and there wasn't when it leaked before either. The bolt just loosened, corroded/rusted and the toilet leaked underneath.

 

[Reach4]

Don't use steel closet bolts. Use brass or maybe stainless steel.

If the problem were truly the nuts loosening, which seems unlikely, you could add an additional nut onto each closet bolt to keep vibrations from loosening. If your nuts are loosening, maybe you are driving your subwoofer too much. If the closet flange is plastic and it is distorting, then there is a different cure.

Your closet flange may need repair. There is a metal thing called a repair flange that can be used to repair or strengthen the attachment point for the closet flange. Or maybe your toilet flange needs to be replaced with a toilet flange that that has a metal ring.

 

[hj]

The toilet does NOT CARE how you sit on it. If it loosens when you sit sideways it will loosen when used conventionally. Your problem is HOW it is being installed, and not all "professionals" know how to do it correctly.

 

[pidaycare]

The toilet does NOT CARE how you sit on it. If it loosens when you sit sideways it will loosen when used conventionally. Your problem is HOW it is being installed, and not all "professionals" know how to do it correctly.

This concerns me. Because I didn't watch the guy actually install it. He did it extremely fast this time. He said he did something different with the bolts than the other professional, so I hope he did it "right." Do you think I will offend him if I ask if he used a metal flange rather than plastic? Man, what a headache!!

 

[Reach4]

If there is no wobble, but there is leakage, then it is not clear what causes the problem. Maybe pull the toilet, or take pictures when your next plumber pulls the toilet, so that you might get a more relevant set of ideas.

While you are thinking about making repairs, have you considered if it is possible to get a toilet installed that does not require sitting side-saddle? A regular toilet might be able to be mounted at 90 degrees from what the current one is. You would need to take care of the water supply line, but that might be easy.

Is this one of more than one available toilet, and is used primarily by kids? Have you considered putting in a small toilet made for kids? It is not clear if the Baby Devero line is discontinued, but I expect there is something to take its place. While a children's toilet may be more expensive, it might be a sales feature for a day care. Plus it might look good in a small space.

"Little Bottom" is one such toilet. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....ilet-the-little-bottom-line-lbl-ma7000.52164/

 

[Jadnashua]

FWIW, code requires at least a 30" space across the toilet - 15" to the closest obstruction from the centerline. I think that there is also a minimum distance in front of the toilet, but I do not know that. Most toilet seats wouldn't make sitting side-saddle very comfortable!

A plastic toilet flange is much more easily broken than a metal one, but even on those, you have to actually use screws in all of the holes to help ensure it remains stable for the toilet anchor bolts to work properly.

It helps if you use a second nut/washer and anchor the bolt to the flange with it, then use the other one to anchor the toilet. SOme of the silly closet bolts aren't threaded far enough to allow that second nut, which can be a big pain.

 

[pidaycare]

I can't turn the toilet 90 degrees, because it sticks out into the doorway. I was thinking of using Z brackets outside the toilet (on the sides) to help hold it down. But I can't find 1" high z brackets anywhere. I'm sure this would help, but where do they sell them?