Securing Toilet with Loose Bolt and No Closet Bolt Slot

[ERPlumber]

Hello fellow plumbing enthusiasts,

I'm facing a bit of a dilemma with my toilet and was hoping to get some expert advice from this forum. I recently discovered a leak coming from the bottom of the toilet, so I decided to take it out and investigate. What I found was that both of the bolts securing the toilet is loose, and to my surprise, there doesn't seem to be a slot for closet bolts.

I'm not quite sure how to proceed from here to secure the toilet properly and fix the leak. Could someone please provide guidance on the best approach to address this issue? Any tips, tricks, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help, and I look forward to learning from your expertise.

Best Regards,

 

[Sylvan]

Remove the CI Flange and install a new CI caulked flange.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I see two slots for closet bolts in your photo: 9 o'clock and 3.

Are they deep enough? I am not sure.

I presume you put the brass closet bolts in place, and use nuts to hold the closet bolts in place. Test fit the toilet. Position shims. Lift toilet, Drop wax. Drop toilet.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

I see two slots for closet bolts in your photo.

Are they deep enough? I am not sure.

I presume you put the brass closet bolts in place, and use nuts to hold the closet bolts in place. Test fit the toilet. Position shims. Lift toilet, Drop wax. Drop toilet.

Agreed that there appears to be slots for T bolts.. maybe they need to be cleaned out. Alternately if that is a slab, then I buy long 1/4" stainless wedge anchor bolts and sink them into the concrete.

 

[John Gayewski]

You need to buy a set of closet bolts with 4nuts on it. Clean the flange area. Nut the bolts securely to the flange. Then reset the toilet using the two remaining acorn nuts.

 

[ERPlumber]

Remove the CI Flange and install a new CI caulked flange.

Thank you for your response. I will explore alternative methods, and this will serve as my final option.

 

[ERPlumber]

I see two slots for closet bolts in your photo: 9 o'clock and 3.

Are they deep enough? I am not sure.

I presume you put the brass closet bolts in place, and use nuts to hold the closet bolts in place. Test fit the toilet. Position shims. Lift toilet, Drop wax. Drop toilet.

The slots for the closet bolts are quite deep, but they may be excessively so, as they don't securely hold the bolts in place. When I attempt to place the bolts in these slots, they feel quite loose. After multiple attempts, I manage to position the toilet on top of them, ensuring the bolts remain straight. However, when I proceed to tighten the nuts, the bolts shift and fail to effectively secure the toilet in place.

 

[Reach4]

You can tighten the nuts that are right above the flange tighter. That should keep the bolts from scooting around. These nuts are in addition to the ones that hold the toilet down.

Some closet bolts come with little clips to hold them in place while you drop the toilet. Some come with an extra set of nuts. And some come with neither, so you get your own extra brass nuts.

 

[ERPlumber]

You need to buy a set of closet bolts with 4nuts on it. Clean the flange area. Nut the bolts securely to the flange. Then reset the toilet using the two remaining acorn nuts.

Is this the approach you had in mind? I considered doing it this way too. However, wouldn't placing the toilet on top of the nuts make it unstable?

 

[ERPlumber]

You can tighten the nuts that are right above the flange tighter. That should keep the bolts from scooting around. These nuts are in addition to the ones that hold the toilet down.

Some closet bolts come with little clips to hold them in place while you drop the toilet. Some come with an extra set of nuts. And some come with neither, so you get your own extra brass nuts.

It appears that it's a common practice to secure the bolts with an additional set of nuts. I initially assumed this wasn't the correct method since the wax ring typically only comes with one set of nuts. Furthermore, I was concerned that having the toilet rest on the nut rather than the flange might make it unstable.

 

[Jeff H Young]

no the toilet wont rest on the nuts there is space under the toilet . the manufactures cheap out on extra nuts also it looks like the flange might be damaged there are a lot of diferant ways to repair if the flange is slightly broke at the slots

 

[Eman85]

I'm not a plumber. When you are cleaning the wax from the bottom of the toilet lay a straightedge across it and you'll be able to measure the depth of the recess. Then you can measure at the flange and you'll see the additional nuts will have plenty of room. Also the nuts holding the toilet down don't have to be extremely tight. Set the toilet on the flange without the wax ring first to see how it sits and if it rocks and or needs shims.

 

[John Gayewski]

Is this the approach you had in mind? I considered doing it this way too. However, wouldn't placing the toilet on top of the nuts make it unstable?
View attachment 94573

No. The toilet usually shouldn't hit the nuts, if it does they are submerged in wax and away from the seal.

This is the only way I set toilets with this type of flange and it always works.