Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Fastening toilet flange to concrete slab

Good Morning All,

This is my first post here, and with several projects up my sleeve, I may visit often. ;)

Right now I'm in the process of fixing a "rocking" toilet. This is a new house (less than four years old), and the toilet has never really been tight. I expected that I would just need to change the wax ring and possibly add shims. But when I pulled up the toilet last night, the entire flange came up with it. Apparently the builder did not fasten the flange to the floor. :wall:

Let me add that this is in a tiled bathroom on a concrete slab. I plan on anchoring the flange with concrete screws (Tapcon). But I was advised by someone else to install concrete anchors and bolts for the flange. Which do you advise?

Also, should I also plan on using some sort of adhesive for reinforcement? I do plan on leveling the toilet (if needed) with plastic shims and caulking around its base when I'm done.

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

Are you telling me the flange came right off when you lifted the toilet?

Did someone forget to glue it to the piping?

If your tap-con screws get a good bite they should be fine. If they strip when installing them, I would find some other way to anchor the flange. If the pipe itself does not move, then it will also help holding down everything, but you cannot rely on that.

Plastic shims are a good idea if needed. Unless you have a large gap that shows, I recommend not using any caulking around the toilet base as it only gets dirty and breeds bacteria.

I think I have caulked 2 toilets in 25 yrs of plumbing.

IMO, the toilet caulking requirement is the stupidest things in the entire IRC.

Thanks. I'll plan on using the Tapcon screws. By the way, I plan on drilling a pilot hole for the screws. Is that recommended? I've used Tapcon screws to anchor various things to brick walls, but never into concrete floors. The reason I bring this up is that I did try using a small masonry bit on the floor last night, and even though I worked it slowly, it broke on me. It was a brand new bit so it wasn't wore out.

I'm just trying to cover my bases before I get back to the project.

Thanks!

It's been a while since I've used a tapcon screw, but I thought they came with a pilot bit.
Here is the web site for tapcon screws. Yes, you pre-drill

http://www.tapcon.com/concreteAnchor.asp

A hammer drill is recommended, but not required. You must be careful not to bend the bit while drilling.