How to Repair a Rocking Toilet | Ask This Old House

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Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey shows host Kevin O’Connor several ways to troubleshoot a toilet that wobbles
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Time: Less than an hour
Cost: $10 and Up
Skill Level: Beginner
Shopping List:
Plastic Shims
Steps:
1. Don’t overtighten the closet bolts, as the toilet can crack.
2. Ensure the closet flange is secured to the subfloor.
3. Use plastic toilet shims at the low points to keep the toilet level.
Resources:
All of the items Richard demonstrated, including closet flanges, wax rings, closet bolts, and toilet shims are available at home centers and plumbing supply stores.
About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers-and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
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How to Repair a Rocking Toilet | Ask This Old House
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Опубликовано:

13 дек 2018

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Комментарии : 94

@elaineperry3832 8 месяцев назад

Great video! I tried those plastic shims, but they were too thick so I used an old Delta medalian card. It worked well. You can't always get an airline seat upgrade with it, but who knew Silver medalian can get you to a first class porcelain throne ..

@scallywag1716 5 лет назад

Don’t use coins to shim. Many household bathroom cleaners contain chlorine or other aggressive chemicals which will corrode the coins. Use composite or plastic shims.

@Liverpool1616 3 года назад

I dont think he meant it as as a quick fix till you get shims. At least thats how I felt about it.

@ChefBoyareB 5 лет назад

So glad you suggested a wax ring and not those green foam rubber gaskets. Those things absorb water and squish it out like a sponge. They grow bacteria and stink over time.

@orijimi 5 лет назад

You have to use neoprene for wall mounted toilets, though, unfortunately.

@TheEgg185 5 лет назад

orijimi - LMAO. Wall mounted toilets.

@ChefBoyareB 5 лет назад

The neoprene gaskets don't act like a sponge though. Theegg185, yes wall mounted toilets. You will see them in residential sometimes. But most commonly in a commercial setting. You can't install a wax ring on a vertical setting because as the wax heats it will melt and you lose seal.

@TheEgg185 5 лет назад

ChefBoyareB - lol. I pictured a terlit with the base of it mounted on the wall.

@joaquinsuarez6090 3 года назад

He uses and recommends the green foam rubber gaskets in his other videos.

@jmay8204 5 лет назад

When the toilet's rockin, don't come a knockin.

@talderson1 5 лет назад

love the cutaway views. These guys are my heroes.

@apocalypseg0d690 4 года назад

Absolutely perfect explanation thanks !

@sgower414 2 года назад

Tried this shimming trick and it worked. Just to test it, I used two quarters and the rocking stopped. May use plastic shims in the long run. Glad this video was available.

@tommak6516 2 года назад

Coins are cheaper than shims.

@525medic 5 лет назад

I’m 4 hours away from reinstalling my toilet after tiling. This is a bad omen if I’ve ever seen one hahahaha

@faghihimohammad 5 лет назад

It is 2:26 am where I am, and knowing how to fix a rocking toilet might help me to sleep, I think!

@nikocasual5126 5 лет назад

Try melatonin and will sleep in minutes.

@Jg-lq6hs 5 лет назад

Set the toilet in plaster.

@felicialloyd8056 3 года назад

Thank you so much, this fixed my problem. Unlevel floor causing toilet to rock.

@noreenpurple8617 8 месяцев назад

Wow, that was awesome! Thank you!

@macytamura4642 2 года назад

Keeps good readings

@ThePhilandPam 5 лет назад

Definitely use plastic shims, some of those coins will corrode in a chlorine environment 👍

@Engineer9736 5 лет назад

Looks like a flextape commercial. I CUT THIS TOILET IN HALF!! 😜

@NeighborSenpai 5 лет назад

AND REPAIRED IT WITH NOTHING BUT FLEXTAPE *Phil taking a dump* YYYYEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@yo2dum268 5 лет назад

It's the willy wanka toilet.

@jerrycat8707 5 лет назад

I cut some aluminium pieces from a soda can to shim. Worked perfectly. Free tip.

@colleendeis928 Год назад

Thank you 🙏

@eyygurke6081 Год назад

Excellent

@a1930ford 5 лет назад

Rockin' to the oldies just got a new meaning, huh?

@pateman30 5 лет назад

Steve lav uses cedar shims they work great

@orijimi 5 лет назад

What do you do if the flange is too high for the toilet?

@Jg-lq6hs 5 лет назад

orijimi, create a base for the flange underneath. Wide and long enough for the toilet to sit level and finish with a plaster of Paris for imperfections as a base

@HAMRADIOJOE4178 5 лет назад

ROCK & ROLL

@aaronshensky9385 5 лет назад

Good to know. Thanks

@1806StoneHouse 5 лет назад

My toilet loves AC/DC!

@ChrisGilliamOffGrid 5 лет назад

That's an Old School 5 gal flush toilet. The 1.6 gal flush ones are into Brittney Spears.

@jbratt 5 лет назад

I bet I’m not the only one who has taken out an old toilet and looked at pieces of the old wax seal and thought that it was something else.

@NeighborSenpai 5 лет назад

It's like: if we need to make some ring that blocks number 2 from going anywhere but the hole let's use a material that looks just like number 2!"

@faghihimohammad 5 лет назад

I fixed my rocking toilet, now it has started to jazz! Damn toilets...

@abeljuarez6313 3 года назад

I didn't use coins..!!! I folded a couple Hundred Dollars Bills I had laying around the house. ...Did the trick!!! Lol

@richardbarnes455 2 года назад

Still cheaper than a plumber!

@eckos2310 3 месяца назад

And where do you get these toilet shims?

@jej3451 5 лет назад

I use mortar instead of shims. It makes one big shim that conforms to the floor all the way around.

@manit77 5 лет назад

jej3451 yes it’s so much better than shims.

@luckyskitchen4472 5 лет назад

Won't that eventually crack?

@jej3451 5 лет назад

@@luckyskitchen4472 Yeah, probably. Full disclosure, I've only done this twice, and both toilets were on ceramic tile over concrete foundations. xD There is probably some specialty compound that would work perfectly for the purpose.

@ChrisGilliamOffGrid 5 лет назад

@@jej3451 Just don't ever use epoxy grout... :)

@theloniousm4337 5 лет назад

@@jej3451 A nice thick bead of silicone caulk that gets under the toilet also works well.

@manit77 5 лет назад

Replace the seal and use grout.

@dubwilliams7943 Год назад

Any options if you can’t secure the flange to the structure and the pipe is wobbly?

@seanbouker Год назад

Yes... Add more floor... Add cut 2x4s... Is it concrete or slab with a void? You could technically do the above cut to fit the negative space hammer in wedges and secure with screws... If it's actually a pipe in the floor with no negative space add a flange and buy a drill to tap holes to secure the screws add some epoxy in the holes... Best of luck

@king49334 5 лет назад

Put a level on the toilet when put in shim

@sativa2050 2 года назад

Umm no, that’s not the way it works. If you are shimming the toilet, then the floor or flange is not level. The point is not to level the toilet, it is to keep the toilet from moving and destroying the wax ring. You shim the base until it no longer rocks. Sometimes it will be level after sometimes it won’t.

@a1930ford 5 лет назад

Has anyone ever seen a toilet bowl base secured with plastic bolts instead of the brass ones? I am replacing a toilet which was reset just a month ago and the plumber did this. Of course, the plastic bolts snapped right off from people plopping their rears down so hard when they used this toilet. Never saw such in use before and I just wondered if things had changed since I was a plumber's apprentice about 55 years back? I see plastic bolts for the toilet lids, but not for the base of the bowl. Just curious.

@cheddacheese148 Год назад

Just googled this video due to the exact same issue. I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I popped the caps off and found plastic bolts. I've seen them for securing seats but never seen them for securing the toilet itself.

@Brian-dt4hw Год назад

“ Don’t use wood shims it gets wet under there.. Use coins” 😂 If it’s wet under your toilet you are going to need to pull up the toilet and fix the leak no matter what type of shim you use lol

@m.r.b.806 8 месяцев назад

Mopping

@renko9067 2 месяца назад

If you have a rocking toilet, it belongs on the porch.

@DOODOOMAN118 5 лет назад

Putting coins will make the caulk green

@jamesm568 5 лет назад

Always make sure when my toilet is level.

@sativa2050 2 года назад

Not the way it works

@gfdthree1 6 месяцев назад

"You don't have the shii..." "ms."

@kamilkuzmicki1687 5 лет назад

I like it when my toilet it ROCKS WEEEEEEE

@stephensnell1379 3 года назад

It's no good as your bathroom will accumulate water and your waste probably will not go down the sewer pipe properly

@jasongates- 5 лет назад

So, if you have a good toilet, it won't go down the drain. :D

@stephencody1229 5 лет назад

I would think that the coins were put in excess of pressure on one spot and chipped porcelain

@georgegilbreath1692 5 лет назад

The flange is even with the tile? It should be on the top of the tile ? Not even with it?

@KI-201 5 лет назад

I've asked one of the major companies that produces closet flanges such as this one, they state that the closet flange is supposed to sit on top of the finish flooring. Had to know for my own install. There are templates that are designed to fit under and bring it to the appropriate height without it being on the tile.

@djscrizzle 5 лет назад

The fix there, is to take up the John, put down a flange spacer or two, which brings the flange up to the proper level. Then, use a wax ring that does NOT have a funnel in it. Having a funnel wax does no good and can cause water damage later if there's ever movement on it. Then set the toilet as instructed by the manufacturer.

@Brendan9674 5 лет назад

What about a bead of Plumbers putty around the bottom of the toilet?

@ThisIsSolution 5 лет назад

I would not suggest it, it would take quite a bit of putty and im sure it would work but i don't recommend. I install about 2 toilets a week

@ChrisGilliamOffGrid 5 лет назад

Why?

@Jg-lq6hs 5 лет назад

Brendan Mathers , plaster of Paris.

@theloniousm4337 5 лет назад

Use the plastic shims then run a bead of silicone caulking around the toilet base but leave a small gap at the back of the toilet. Let the caulking set before sitting on it. Caulking holds shims in place and further supports the toilet.

@a1930ford 5 лет назад

Using putty or even latex caulk can be a problem, for it you do have a leak down there, it may be some time before you realize it, as the water would be trapped beneath the stool of the commode.

@SYKOK1LLER 5 лет назад

This toilet is only good for going #1

@Jg-lq6hs 5 лет назад

Sykokiller , and #2 and #3

@tomcole4736 4 месяца назад

Only cost me >50 cents to level my toilet

@phillyz6690 3 года назад

Shim so its solid and level. Then use a sanded grout under the outside lip of the toilet (all around).

@hsvr 5 лет назад

American toilets are weird. Here in the UK the waste goes out the back of the toilet and straight outside instead of under the toilet

@manit77 5 лет назад

Eman M yes but bath tubs are raised to line up with the drain going out the back. It’s hard as hell to get into a tub. And the tubs are so damn small.

@orijimi 5 лет назад

This arrangement doesn't defy gravity or periodically result in depositing sewage inside a wall.

@ChrisGilliamOffGrid 5 лет назад

We do have those here. I've only put them in a couple of commercial jobs, not much fun TBH.

@a1930ford 5 лет назад

@@manit77 Also, many a hot water heater in EU is mounted directly over the bathtub. When I was an officer in the Navy Nurse Corps, stationed in Naples, I treated more than one kid who got scalded when one of those tanks decided to unload into the tub. Also, Americans for the most part have no clue as to how or why to use a BIdet. :-)