Need help understanding the "foam" that was set under a toilet...??

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eahp99

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Since you were all so helpful with my leaking Toto Drake II toilet...i have another question for you.
We are in the process of tiling bathroom floors and we just pulled off two older toilets out of a condo my son just purchased. Once they were pulled off, we are finding some sort of foam padding that was sprayed(?) or formed some way under the front area under the toilet bowl, all the way towards the flange area, directly adhered to the floor. What could this be--and why is it there? It scraped up easily, but not sure if i am supposed to find something like that to put back down once I reattach the toilet.
Anyone ever see anything like this before??
 

Jadnashua

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Did the toilet rock? THey may have tried the foam to keep it from rocking, but shims are better. If a toilet rocks, it will break the wax seal, so you must first check that it sits flat without rocking, and if not, add shims BEFORE you fully seat it on the wax, as rocking back and forth will compromise that seal.

 
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eahp99

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Thanks Jim--the toilet did not seem to rock before taking them off, but truthfully, i don't think i ever sat on one. When we took them off they seemed pretty solid. If needed, do the shims go under the floor closet flange? or under the edges of the toilet bowl itself? We have not gotten back to trying to install these two toilets yet, as we're still working on the tiling in the condo.
 

WJcandee

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The sticky above on installing the Drake should be helpful in answering these questions.

Short answer: typically, you want to slide the shims under the edges of the porcelain towards the rear. They are wedges, so you push them in until there is enough thickness under the porcelain that the toilet is stable. Then, after you install and secure the toilet, you just break the protruding parts off and add a little caulk around them. The HD plastic window shims are good at this. Although my local ACE claims that you never use shims with a toilet (they are hacks and morons), ACE in fact produces a specific "toilet shim" product, which is kinda like the plastic window shims and is designed so the protruding part just snaps off easily.
 

JerryR

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I've used both the Home Depot brown composite window shims that have been suggested and Home Depot white toilet shims. I prefer the white toilet shims. After inserting just score them and the extra material just snaps off. Then I use Terry's recommended Clear Polyseamseal http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/17/40/pss_seal_ap/overview/Loctite-Polyseamseal-All-Purpose.htm around the base. It goes on white but dries clear. The hardest part is masking the floor before caulking. I don't caulk all the way around and leave the rear uncaulked so if there is a leak you can see it.

The last toilets I replaced at my home needed to get inspected by the city inspector to get my $100 low flow rebate check from the city. The inspector said he fails most homeowner installations because they are not caulked as the city requires. He was fine leaving the back uncaulked.
 
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