seat

[Jeremytl]

I know this may be a very elementary question... my toilet seat has loosened and slides across (back and forth) the top of the bowl. I can feel the plastic wing nuts underneath at the rear and on both sides and it seems that they won't tighten down. Do I just need to go buy a new seat?

Also, I noticed gradually over time the actual entire toilet has loosened from the floor and now rocks a little. Whats up with that? Anything I need to do?

Thanks~

Jeremy

 

[Gary Swart]

You have two problems. It is likely you can't tighten the seat because the plastic nuts have been over tightened and their threads stripped. Easy to fix. The rocking toilet is a more serious concern. Once a toilet rocks, the wax ring seal is broken and you are in danger of a leak of sewage and/or sewer gas. This problem must be fixed. The concern I have is why the toilet as developed this movement. It may be there has been a leak for sometime and the floor has rotted under the flange. No way to tell for sure until you pull the toilet. Not to be "Gloomy Gus", but you might find a real mess under there and once you open it up, there's no turning back, you will have to fix it 100%. Now it could also be just a rusted out flange bolt which is simple to replace. No matter what you find under there, the wax ring must be replaced. You should be aware that the flange is supposed to set on top of the finished floor and be anchored through the subfloor.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

If some part rusted, there has to be leaks, so you'll probably need to do some fixing up. Better now rather than sitting on it and having it fall through the rotted floor while you're sitting on it .