dando wrote:

"B" wrote in
:

Yes, do what Tom Baker says.

"Tom Baker" wrote in message
om...
dando wrote in message
. ..
Replacing flooring in my bathroom, so eventually I will have to
make
this
choice.

As I see it, the pros to caulking are extra assurance of sealing in
sewer
gases, and cleanliness around the floor (if junior goes hog wild
with
the
pee pee for instance, it doesn't find a nice hard to reach home
under
the
toilet.) Yuck.

Negative is if the toilet leaks under the base, how would you know
it? Yuck.

So could a solution in my case, assuming the floor is level, be to
drill
a
hole in the subfloor somewhere in the area that will be covered by
the toilet, so that any leak will be noticed dripping into the
brickfloored
old
cellar? (I could even use a hole with a rubber stopper that I
could remember to check periodically?

What do you think?

More toilet and subfloor questions to follow no doubt.

Thanks all.

Caulk and leave an inch or two in the back where water can escape.
That location should not going to get too much water shoved into it.

TB




Yeah, that solution had occurred to me as well. Downside is if the toilet
ever gets stopped up so that it overflows, that location probably will get
some water in it, and then then might get moldy underneath. Still worth
considering. Its a rental unit, so odds of things like a toilet getting
stopped increase due to idiots that don't care what they attempt to flush
down it.

Caulk it! The caulk adds structural integrity* to the
installation and helps keep the toilet from rocking until
the wax seal expires. This is ESPECIALLY true if you will
have no idea who will be living there, since the above
becomes much more relevant if the occupants weight is well
over average.

As to consequences, they are a fact of life - if the seal
goes, hopefully the smell, or a lower than normal water
level accompanied by periodically refilling water closet
will clue someone in. If it didn't, either toilet movement
as the floor rots away, or finding your tenant and your
toilet on a lower floor would be a sure sign of a problem
s... .

If this concerns you greatly, why not pass the
responsibility of prompt notification onto your tenants in a
lease?

As to the inspection hole, do you really think after a few
years you will remember to check? Even if you did, there
would be other signs of a problem too, rendering that hole
simply a (very, very minor) breach of the structural
integrity of the toilet mounting. IOW, only do it if it
gives you piece of mind.

Best,

Stephen Kurzban

* presuming the flange is properly secured and the toilet
properly mounted to it