Toilet terrors. House with on-standard everything. Help!

[vintshave]

I had some water on my floor by the toilet. Classic symptom of a failing wax ring, right?
Went to my local HD and got me a standard wax ring. Gonna empty the water, disconnect the water feed, spin up the nuts, pull the toilet, scrape and replace the ring, replace the post and bolts reattach the water, turn it on and sit down and read me a magazine.

not so fast.

This is a 1905 Philadelphia double. Nothing is standard. Nothing. I pulled the toilet and there was a wax ring stuck to it, which I scraped off. Then I noticed this thick rubber donut thing on the floor. I pull that off and there is another, much older hard wax ring that I have to chip out. I’m now about 3/8” below the floor. The threaded posts have another nut on them to hold them to the ring in the floor. I have to remove that too and wiggle those out.

Now I’ve got the toilet upside down in my tub and a rag in the floor. HD is closed now. What do I need to pick up tomorrow to finish this job properly?

Also, the toilet wasn’t running well recently. Any recommendations on how to give it a thorough cleaning while I have it out?

Suggestions are more than welcome!

 

[Jeff Handy]

No big deal. Very common issue.

Your 115 year old house probably has two or three layers of bathroom floor tile.
So the floor flange is now too low.

That is why there was a plain wax ring stacked onto the bottom wax ring with the plastic horn.

Just do the same thing again.
Get every bit of old wax off of everything.
Scrape, wipe with rags, old dirty wax can leak.
Then I like to sacrifice one plain wax ring, and use a few chunks to rub over everything as a primer, and to fill up divots and around the floor flange.

Putting retaining nuts and washers on the toilet bolts is a great idea, it keep the bolts from flopping around while dropping on the toilet to the new stacked rings.
Measure to make sure they match the hole spacing on the toilet.

Stack the new wax rings carefully on the flange, plain ring on top.
Get them slightly squished down and perfectly centered.
Drop the toilet while holding it very level, looking through the bolt holes to line up the bolts coming through.

It is critical to drop the toilet evenly onto the flange, and set it down with even pressure while compressing the wax.
Otherwise, the top ring can scoot to the side, and either fail to seal, or wax can partially block the drain.
I always buy extra sets of rings in case I fail on first attempt, not often but it happens.

You might need a few coins here and there to use for shims, if the floor is un-level, or if the toilet is rocking or not supported all around.
Don’t use pennies, they make stains from tarnish.
Stacked coins will hold better with a little caulk or superglue gel.
Before putting on any wax rings, dry fit the toilet and plan for shims or coin shims in advance.

Watch some Youtube videos on stacking two wax rings to get more used to it.

And finally, sometimes water on the floor is coming from the tank.
The tank to bowl gasket can leak.
Or the gasket under the flush valve can leak.
A common leak is from the tank bolts, but the fill valve connection can leak, or the supply hose, shutoff valve, etc.
And after pulling the toilet, the old tank bolts and washers often start to leak from being flexed.
Plan on replacing them, buy extra bolts and washers, return them if not needed.

Sometimes an old fill valve starts spraying up onto the tank lid, and water leaks out to the floor from that.

Clean your hands very thoroughly before lifting the toilet, waxy hands will slip!

Good luck, I hope some of this loooong post was helpful!

 

[Jeff Handy]

“Toilet wasn’t running well recently” does not describe your toilet issue at all.
What were the problems, was it a flushing issue?

The holes around the rim of the bowl can get filled with minerals, so try poking a coat hanger in each hold to ream them out.

It is also just as likely that it was an issue with your flush valve or fill valve, bad flapper, tank water level too low, lots of other possibilities.

Before you reset your toilet, make sure the drain line in the floor is not clogged.
Run a thick snake down there as far as possible, while you have easy access.