Recommendation on loose toilet repair

In the process of purchasing a home. The home inspection stated the toilets where loose at the floor. So I had the inspector show me the problem.

One of the toilets is loose. But it takes a good bit of twisting to get it to move. It might move 1/32” left to right. And you really have to grab the bowl and twist it. It DOES NOT rock.

The inspection stated to remove toilet, replace seal, and secure toilet to floor.

My question is, can I just tight the bolts up and calm it good?
The toilet doesn’t leak. And to get the toilet to move, you really have to twist it by hugging the bowl and turning fairly hard.

 

Id do as instructed. You want to make sure the mounting platenin the floor is ok, either way, an easy enough thing to fix. But if it came up in the home inspection, and thats the worst thing, make the seller have it repaired.

It WILL leak, just a matter of time. How do i know? Same thing happened to my spare bathroom, toilet had a little wiggle, that was enough to make it leak.

Also, dont think that just because you had a home inspection the inspector didnt miss anything. Mine was a pos.

 

it is an easy fix but still has to be done right. Typically the bolts rust and need new bolts and wax seal. Id just have the owners fix it.

It will leak eventually. Not a major issue though unless the flange is broken

 

I agree with all other posts also don’t crank them down super hard they can crack toilet
Depending on how old the house is could be rusted/frozen

 

Remove the toilet, Clean all the old wax off the bowl and toilet flange. you might need to put some screws throught the flange into the floor so it stops the turning of the flange Just be careful not to crack the tank or bowl in the process.
All you need is a wax ring with the horn and a new set of Jonni bolts. and reinstall. Use a large sponge or toilet sucker to get the remaining water out of the tank or it makes a mess everywhere.

 

I'm the last person to be giving plumbing advice. I can do electrical and mechanical all day, but plumbing seems to be a challenge for me. That said, I've replaced wax rings and toilet guts without an issue, it's not a big deal. But, I'd try to have the owners do it anyway. If they won't, probably not the end of the world.

 

I’d just tighten the bolts. If they are still loose after, replace the wax. I’m sure YouTube has how-to vids but it’s easy. Just try to avoid sloshing water everywhere.

 

If I were a betting man, I’d say tightening the bolts will stop it from moving.

I mean, it’s only loose if you physically grab the bowl and twist it. And it ain’t easy to get it to move.

Truth be told, I doubt any normal person would ever know it was loose. Because I have no idea why anyone would try and twist the toilet. Let alone with enough force to make it move.

I just hope this yahoo inspector isn’t the one that made it “loose”. Because I couldn’t make it move, not until he told me to bear hug the toilet and twist it.

Who TF does this

 

1/32"?

That inspector was bored and need to put something on paper...I could fart on my toilet and move it .031"

 

Tightening it will either stop it from moving or crack the porcelain, if it was installed correctly it wouldn’t move.

 

It’s been installed since 2007.
That’s when the house was built.
It was a one owner. The man and woman that owned it were in their 90s. He died and she is now in assisted living.

As for being installed right?
I can’t say. All I can say is, that to me that toilet would have been tight. As I would never have considered checking in the manner he did.

For reference, I just checked the toilet in my apartment. And good thing I did, as I can literally lift/rock it up and down off the floor. How it isn’t leaking is beyond me. But I’m definitely letting maintenance know about it.

I can honestly say, I have never checked a toilet. Not unless it was loose when I went to sit on it. And then, those normal rock back and forth. So it’s obvious.

 

Now I gotta go check all the toilets and hope nobody sees me so I don't have to explain why I am toilet-hugging.

 

Raised or "T" Foundation...or concrete? If the former, could be rot in the subfloor panel allowing movement. Experienced it many a time and generally leads to a bath renovation.

 

They make shims to level them.

 

Tile over concrete slab.

 

It doesn’t rock. It turns like you left and right. And again, you really have to shove it hard to get it to move.

I think the inspector had nothing else to find other than 1 shrub touching the house. Other than that it was all good.

 

Could be corroded fasteners into the concrete. Probably just loose bolts.
Personally, I would replace the 15 year old toilet anyways so I wouldn’t sweat it.

 

I would probably keep the toilet.
Only because it is NOT a low flow. I hate these new low flow toilets. You have to flush before you wipe. And then after you wipe.

 

My recently installed toilet is a low flow, and it works just fine. You need to buy name brand with these things.

OP, if you can't reset a toilet, home ownership is going to be hard and expensive. Watch a couple of youtube vids, and do it yourself.

 

I understand that bud.
And I applied the advice.
I’ve set 1 toilet in my entire life.
And that was about 20 years ago.
I was in high school and had to do it myself.

I remember having a hell of a time getting the bolts to line up with the toilet.

Things haven’t changed any.
I’m still all by myself. Maybe I can talk a buddy into giving me a hand with the toilet. Mostly getting the bolts started as I sit the toilet down.

My question was more about trying to tighten the bolts vs pulling the toilet.