Cracked toilet flange

[Ben Nolan]

I had a toilet replaced. I noticed that the flange was cracked around one of the closet bolts. The plumber who installed the toilet told me that it was o.k. I asked if it would be a good idea to to repair it somehow and he again said it was o.k. He explained that toilet rests on the floor and once the toilet base was caulked the would keep the toilet secure. Does this sound correct?

Thanks,
Mark

[Retired plbg1Participant]

No he was wrong, they have repair plates for the flange, the bowl is not solid when some force is applied to it it will get loose and leak. He shoild have repaied it are put on new flange, call your plumbing insp. dept. and report him. He should have taken out a permit for replacing a fix.

[Anonymous]

Taking out a permit to replace a toilet may be required but is a little fanatical.

But the flange should have been replaced, or at least a spanner flange used under the old flange.

If the toilet bowl isn’t bolted directly to the flange, the two can move relative too each other. This will leak.

And I never caulk around a toilet bowl at the floor. This makes removing the toilet later hard to do, eventually mildews and makes the job look bad, and hides any leaks that do develop until they’re bad enough to damage the ceiling below or rot out the bathroom floor.

[mlunaParticipant]

Thanks for the replies. The plumber I hired was adamant about not correcting the flange problem and also about caulking, which I did. Seems to me that the caulking will delay leak detection long enough so that it will be past the 30 day guaranty.

Why do all the self-help books and websites state to put the wax ring on the toilet and then place the toilet onto the closet bolts. The guy that did the installation put the wax ring over the flange and the put the toilet onto the closet bolts. That seems a lot easier.

[Author]

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