I am replacing the wax ring on my toilet. I put one of the bolts in it's slot on the floor flange and it sunk in through the floor. The rest of the floor seems to be ok. It is in an older mobile home. Is there a simple fix for this soft spot?
Plumbing – do about a spot of rotten floor where I need to put in one of the toilet bolts when replacing a wax ring
bathroomflooringplumbingrepair
Related Solutions
The flange should sit on top of the finished floor, if it doesn't you'll have to modify the plumbing or find another way to achieve this.
Notice in this image how the toilet waste pipe sits just inside the flange opening, this is the proper way for a toilet to sit on a flange. Even without a wax ring, this union is not likely to leak under normal circumstances (I'm not recommending a wax ring not be used).
Wax as a waste pipe?
Some folks recommend using a thicker wax ring, or even doubling up wax rings. The problem with this, is that you end up with a waste pipe made from wax. Now this might hold up, but more than likely it's eventually going to fail, and leak.
Modify the plumbing
If you have access to the flange from below, you might be able to modify the plumbing to make the flange sit atop the floor. In most cases, however, this is not an option.
Adapters
There are adapters available, that solve this exact problem. The Set-Rite Toilet Flange Extender Kit; described in the answers to this question, Comes with different size spacers, which allows it to compensate for various sized offsets.
The flange and accompanying bolts hold the toilet firmly to the floor and keeps the seal between the toilet and the floor.
Without the flange or if it is broken, he would have to attach the toilet to the subfloor with wood screws, and if the floor is rotting out, those won't last long.
Sounds like it will need further repairs sometime soon.
Good luck!
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Best Answer
Mobile home floors are almost all chipboard of some kind. If you leave this damage it's only going to get worse and possibly soon now that it's rotten in the centre. I have come across a number of mobiles like this and I always carefully cut out a square around the toilet flange, remove the rotten piece and brace the edges underneath with plywood, then replace the rotten piece with 5/8 plywood. Works every time.