Wax on? Wax off?

[Eman85]

Top of toilet flange is 5/16" below the floor level after tile floor install. What would be best to seal this? I see the Danco combo rubber with the wax, Fluidmaster waxless and then either thick wax or double wax rings.
Anyone gone waxless with success? It looks and sounds good but does it work good? I read posts where Terry and others stack wax rings. Any special technique? I read a suggestion of the ring with the horn on top and a plain ring on the bottom.
Since the flange should sit on the finished floor and mine is 5/16 to the face I'd say I need to make up about 11/16-3/4'

 

[WorthFlorida]

With a straight edge across the bottom of the toilet, measure the distance from the toilet outlet to the straight edge, then do the math for the thickness needed. You may find that one wax ring may be enough.

I never tried using the rubber donut rings and many on this forum never have luck with them. HD has this one that probably would be a good choice.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeff H Young]

Ive only used wax .

 

[Eman85]

Ive only used wax .

OK, in my situation 2 rings or 1 large? If 2 do you form them together first or just stack them? Horn on top and plain on bottom?

 

[Jeff H Young]

Ive put them on top or bottom , but generally think on top is better I just stack them bu on occasion ive squished them together or squezzed the sides to make a bit taller again generally not needed

 

[Eman85]

I've only used wax also but never had to set one on a flange that was below the floor. Everyone I've ever done was just flange sitting on finished floor.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

If I don't have a jumbo wax, I use a knife to cut one horizontally in half then set the first regular wax on the flange, then add the second half ring on top carefully forming them together.

I never use wax with horn anymore, they serve no purpose for sealing a toilet.

 

[WorthFlorida]

I've only used wax also but never had to set one on a flange that was below the floor. Everyone I've ever done was just flange sitting on finished floor.

Do not get too thick with the wax. It will spread where is can partially block off the toilet trap way. It's why I suggested to do some measuring.

 

[Eman85]

Do not get too thick with the wax. It will spread where is can partially block off the toilet trap way. It's why I suggested to do some measuring.

Straight edge across bottom of toilet the outlet of the toilet is same as the toilet base so the straight edge goes across and touches the base on both sides and the outlet. There is 5/8" between the straight edge and the area where the bolts go through which is where the wax ring would seal on the bowl base. So 5/8" plus 5/16" is 15/16" plus how much crush of the wax do I need?

I have a few standard wax rings as the Mansfield came with1 and all of the American Standard bowls they sent me that were broken came with them. Every one of them has the horn in it so somebody must like them.

 

[Peterson]

I have used the Korky Waxless seal before and it worked great. What I liked about it was that it had layers that you could peel off to adjust the height depending on the floor you have. You can also move and position the toilet just right before tightening it down. No leaks and it's been in place for about 4 years.

 

[Eman85]

Anyone Know what the thickness of the wax rings are? Packages say 40% thicker but not thicker than what?
How much crush of the wax is wanted? It will take 15/16" to have zero crush.

Anyone tried the Danco hybrid that has wax and rubber?

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

I just went out and measured one. A plain wax ring measures about 1-1/8" high.

I only use wax without the horn since the horn has no purpose. I don't know if there is a specific amount of contact that is required. I know that too little is bad that you might not have full contact and seal and way too much is also bad that you might clog the drain with the squish out. Most of the wax will squish out to the side away from the drain since the horn is occupying that space.

The instructions provided by Oatey are rather lacking IMO.

If I were to give a value tho, I would say about a half inch of contact before the toilet makes contact with the floor. If I install a toilet on a flange that is flush or set on top of the finished floor, then I know I can use just a plain ring. If the flange is below that height by a little then I know I need to use the jumbo or if its more than that will contact I raise the flange with spacers til its flush.

 

[Eman85]

Instructions are vague and every ring that comes with a new toilet has a plastic horn. I measured a standard ring and came up with about 1" proud. given that and the fact a flange is about 5/16 to 3/8" thick and the distance to the bottom of the bowl is 5/8" I guess a standard ring would compress almost 3/4".

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

That amount of space could be problematic with the horn taking up some of that space. Its cutting what remains of the wax in half.

Here is a pic of a toilet I pulled off yesterday. Half the wax remained on the bowl while the other half remained on the flange. Cut in half by the horn that was sitting cattywompus on the flange creating an obstruction.

 

[Reach4]

I just went out and measured one. A plain wax ring measures about 1-1/8" high.

I only use wax without the horn since the horn has no purpose. I don't know if there is a specific amount of contact that is required. I know that too little is bad that you might not have full contact and seal and way too much is also bad that you might clog the drain with the squish out. Most of the wax will squish out to the side away from the drain since the horn is occupying that space.

I suspect the horn can help with two things. If plunging, this may reduce the pressure trying to push the wax outward. During squish, it could prevent wax from squishing too far inward.

 

[Eman85]

I guess if I use a ring with a horn I'd do it like terry recommended with the horn on top to hold the wax and take the pressure if plunged, although the top part shouldn't get pressure.

 

[Reach4]

If the soil pipe below is clogged, then plunging will apply pressure to the ring including inside of the top ring.

 

[Eman85]

Figured I'd follow up on this thread in case someone was looking for info. I talked to Oatey and they are totally against stacking wax rings. Of course they recommend a spacer but the guy that answered the phone did say to no use silicon on the spacer to use wax between the spacer and the flange.
I bought a Danco combo seal that has the wax contained in rubber and then a rubber seal that goes to the toilet. I test fit it and the part at the toilet fit nicely at the horn. My tile floor I installed was mosaics and I needed to shim the toilet a little to get it right so I decided to use the Danco hybrid ring. I test set the toilet with no ring and placed my shims and marked the floor so I'd be sure everything was in the right place. Placed the ring and it set nicely. I used pure brass bolts and stainless nuts and the sealed the toilet to the floor with Red Devil caulk that's like the Polyseamseal, I didn't seal it until I was sure of no leaks after a week or so. So far so good.