flooring wet under toilet in bathroom?

Question

I am trying to figure out a way to help my mother, she had purchased a 35 year old mobile home and in the back bathroom , she had noticed carpet was wet around the toilet, so I pulled up the toilet and carpet(why anyone would put carpet around toilet is a good question) and noticed that there were wedges of wood under toilet (probably due to fact that the floor had gotten wet and had warped) also I noticed that there is alot of wax , I would guess, this is for extra sealing or trying to take up for warpage, not really sure, I do know one thing , I would like to try and fix this myself, due to fact its hard to find someone that can do a job without overpricing it, I was wondering if I need to change the whole sub floor and would I need to replace or remove drain for the toilet? I have never tackled anything like this and was wondering if I shouldnt even attempt, on a scale of 1-10 , how would someone with experience with this rate it ? somthing for professional or what? should I attempt

Answer 1

There are two things that have not been mentioned that may help you here. The root of your problem appears to be an uneven floor surface that makes a good seal with the closet flange (hole in the floor) difficult. The blocking under the toilet, as others have noted, broke the seal created by the wax ring, which you need.
If you can make the floor level AND level with the flange, everything's groovy. If not, there are two products to help , a toilet flange extension, and an extra thick wax ring. Both are available through Ace hardware. You might not need both. To find out, you need to figure out how much lower the flange is than the surrounding floor. To do this, just place a piece of level 2 by 4 across the floor by the flange and measure the distance from the bottom of the 2 by 4 to the flange. If its not very much, the wax ring will be enough. Bigger, you'll need the flange extension. Both products list the gap they are designed to compensate for.

Answer 2

Wet Flooring For Bathroom

Answer 3

I can't say that I've ever replace a toilet in a mobile home, but I've worked on replaceing toilets and plumbing about 4 times now (I say about since I'm helping at my dad's house currently to replace one.)

It is a really unfun job to do honestly, and I'd rate it at a 7. You can do it if you have a free weekend. The drain should be fine depending on the material it's made out of. PVC or metal, wasn't clear up top. If it is PVC it should be fine, a metal trap and drain, you might want to replace due to cracking and what not. You probably should replace the whole sub floor. Doing so will save you a big headache in the furtue. The wax seal you buy should be around $5.00 depending on where you buy it and that just gets slipped on real easy to ensure no further leaks.

Um, without knowing other facts about the bathroom it's hard to say a lot more honeslty, but I think that you could handle this.
Good luck, hope this helped.

Answer 4

The job is fairly simple. You already have removed the toilet.
The wax is a seal between the toilet and the sewer line. It will need to be replaced with a new wax seal. You can buy one at any hardware store for a few dollars.
Clean up the old wax from the toilet and sewer mount with an old rag. Place the new wax seal on the sewer line and install the toilet back in place. Wiggle the tiolet slightly while pushing down on it to help seat it in place. Then install and start to tighten the holding nuts on each side of the toilet at the bottom flange. If it rocks, then you may need to place wooden shims under the toilet to help stabilize it.

Answer 5

1. remove the toilet
2. remove the carpet
3. find the floor joists
4. cut out a section of floor between the joists so the new wood will rest about 1/2 inch on the joists
5. put in blocking if the joists are running the other way
6.make the adjustments to the trap if necessary
7. Screw down the new wood and replace with flooring of choice.
Think you can do that?? I would rate it at a 5 not to hard.
Please note: this is the Ideal situation if you get the wood off and the joists are rotted (from your description sounds like they will be) or damaged a bit more work will be involved.
If you have misc wrenches, a skill saw, hammer, crowbar and a drill you can do it. good luck

Answer 6

if you have a wet floor around the toilet its probably because the wedges lifted the toilet off the wax ring that seats the toilet on the drain.you would have to undo the water supply turn it off first,then take the bolts loose on the sides of the toilet there are two.get something to sit the toilet in so you dont get the carpet any wetter than nessary.it will still have a good bit of water left inside.you will see a wax ring in the drain you take the old one out but first if the floor is damaged cut the old wood out and replace it.then seat the toilet on the ring and preesing down on the toilet give it a slight movement side to side to seat it.make sure the bolts are standing in the wax ring just like when you took them out snug them down just enough so you dont have any wobble replace the water supply.on a scale of one to ten i would say a five or six depending on your skill.take your time and i dont think you will have any problems.

Answer 7

Make sure the floor is solid first. Replace sub-floor or whatever you have to do. Then go to the hardware store and buy a new wax ring seal. that is what seals the toilet to the drain line. If you mess with it the toilet will leak. Good luck

OH, when you replace the toilet be sure to drop it straight down and do not move it any more than necessary or you'll mess up the wax ring

Answer 8

the wax ring underneath the toilet probably needs replacing. if you remove the toilet you can tell more. it's really not that tough, jost basic plumbing anyone should be able to handle.

Answer 9

Try replacing the wax ring seal.

Answer 10

replace the toilet o ring and double it up , that will be a cheap fix