Toilet base not flat

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Dustbunny

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This is my favorite forum for plumbing help ! I just joined but have read lots. Thanks.

I bought a house that the waste lines had no pitch and the ejector pump vented indoors. :rolleyes: So starting from scratch.

I was married to a master plumber for 30 years so I have a clue and since he has died, I have lots of parts.

My current problem is the Eljer Emblem toilet that I want to reuse ( it's dark blue and matches shower) The base is not flat. Have about 1/8" gap front and back using level when it's upside down. Can I just grind it down ?

Other ideas are to use thin plastic cutting board pieces to shim it up.

Thanks.
 

Terry

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Sorry to hear that. Did he leave any toilet shims around?

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I like to shim the back of the bowl if needed, making sure the front of the bowl is touching the floor.

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I can then trim the excess off with a box knife blade.
And then use some clear polyseamseal caulking.

 

Dustbunny

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Thanks for the quick reply, Terry. I've seen them mentioned before, do they stay in place ?

None of them around but I can always send away.
 

Reach4

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Other ideas are to use thin plastic cutting board pieces to shim it up.
You could take the pieces to the belt sander to give them a taper. With a taper, the amount of thickness gets changed as you push the shim in.

Or buy shims if you don't have them handy.

Dry fit the toilet without wax. Place the shims to prevent any rocking. Lift the toilet off of the shims. Drop the wax. Drop the toilet onto the wax.
 

Dustbunny

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I dry set it. It's a very low toilet.

Flange is not set/plumbed yet. Think I'll buy a piece of 1" HDPE and bring the flange and the toilet up. Already had an Oatey flange shim set to get above the tile.. Will make another with excess HDPE so flange can screw down tight to plywood threw all the shim ( about 1+5/8"). Then I can dig out the HDPE a little to hide the rocker.

Sound like a plan ???
 

Reach4

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I dry set it. It's a very low toilet.

Flange is not set/plumbed yet. Think I'll buy a piece of 1" HDPE and bring the flange and the toilet up. Already had an Oatey flange shim set to get above the tile.. Will make another with excess HDPE so flange can screw down tight to plywood threw all the shim ( about 1+5/8"). Then I can dig out the HDPE a little to hide the rocker.

Sound like a plan ???
Are you saying that the toilet will not sit atop the tile?
How far below the level of the finished floor level will the top of your closet flange be?

This new post #5 seems to describe a rather different situation than post #1, but I might be misreading.

When I think of HDPE, I think of the thin plastic grocery bags. Presumably you have access to blocks/ thick sheets of the material.

If the flange is not in yet, most people would use mortar or wood, depending on current construction, to raise the floor level under the flange.
 

Dustbunny

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The toilet will be 1" above the tile on top of the plastic sheet. Have also found PVC sheet 1/2" thick. Might use 2 thicknesses of that cause it's cheaper. I need to find out if it's porous. Porous would make it hard to clean where the 1" thick HDPE sheets are solid and food grade ( cleanable)

I don't really want mortar or wood under the flange. Neither are waterproof.
 

Dustbunny

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I saw those, Terry. Would be cheaper to buy a new toilet !

I'm not tall. Keep a brick in front of my toilet so my feet will touch the ground.

This blue toilet is the secondary bathroom. Will get 'comfort height' and a brick for the primary. It has a big window with lake view right in front of it :)
 

Reach4

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The toilet will be 1" above the tile on top of the plastic sheet.
Why elevated higher than the floor?

Is the closet flange sticking way up, and you don't want to move that down to floor level? Or what?
I don't really want mortar or wood under the flange. Neither are waterproof.
You will have a floor-mounted closet flange, right? This is not a rear exit toilet.

The closet flange and the toilet together with the wax ring are waterproof. The flooring does not have to be waterproof. Tile is fairly water resistant, but if you wanted waterproof, you could use shower-like construction.
 
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