Tightening wall carrier bolts

[Gojira]

Hi Terry! Just bought a house built 1968/1969 with wall hung toilets. Discovered bottom bolts on a Josam wall carrier are finger loose. Toilet will flex a small amount from wall. The toilet is a 1968 A-S mounted to ceramic tile. Tile appears to go behind toilet mount except for waste hole and bolt holes. I've seen pics on your blog where the tile surrounds the toilet mount. This extends behind the toilet mount. Thanks!

 

[Jadnashua]

Is the toilet moving because it is loose, or is the wall flexing?

The toilet generally has 4 bolts anchoring it to the carrier. The magic is, you can only tighten three of them (think stability of a tripod verses a four-legged item...a tripod will always be stable, more legs, requires a very flat surface). Since porcelain isn't flexible, if you tighten all four bolts, you'll likely crack the bowl. If the tile is installed properly, you shouldn't crack the tile, but if it isn't, that could happen. If the carrier is loose, you'll never get things tight. If the wall isn't built well (i.e., not strong enough), the wall will flex.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

Sometimes the carriers are a little loose between the studs. They bolt to the double sides on each side, and depending on how large the holes were, there could be some movement.
There should be backing washers and backing nuts at the wall to hold the bowl a little ways off the finished wall.