toilet pan wobbles with plastic bracket

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by TheGrovesy, Mar 16, 2014.

  1. TheGrovesy

    TheGrovesy Member

    Hi all,
    I have a toilet from bathstore (which I am regretting) had several problems but sorted all of them apart from this:

    It came with some plastic brackets to secure it to the floor much like this one

    I followed the instructions and hand tightened it but it still had play in it. So I tightened it a bit more, still wobbled, then a bit more, then some more and then the basket snapped!

    What am I doing wrong? Any tips on how I could secure it better? I'm thinking of screwing some wooden batons to the floor then screwing the pan to that instead of these flimsy brackets. Any thoughts?
     
  2. plumberboy

    plumberboy Well-Known Member

    The plastic brackets hold the toilet in position if your floor is not level the toilet will move,you need to pack out under the toilet where it is unlevel that should do the trick.
     
  3. itchyspanner

    itchyspanner Member

    these brackets are designed to just hold the toilet in place, they wont stop wobble as metioned above. a good MS polymer sealant should do the trick.
     
  4. TheGrovesy

    TheGrovesy Member

    Hi guys. Thanks for the answers and sorry for the slow reply, my wife has just had our baby :)

    So it is normal to sealant a toilet pan to the floor? Also we have a new lino floor laid in there. I guess i should cut out the lino where the toilet stands so I seal it to the floor directly rather than the lino?
     
  5. teabreak

    teabreak Screwfix Select

    No just seal to the lino, you need to seal around pans anyway makes cleaning easier. If you need to change the floorcovering anytime witout removing the pan, just go round with a stanley knife.

    Oh and congratulations on the baby!!:)
     
  6. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select


    If he needs to seal it to the floor to help stop wobbling, sealing to the lino won't help at all.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  7. TheGrovesy

    TheGrovesy Member

    Thanks teabreak :)

    But I do kind of agree with Andy especially as the lino isn't stuck down. I worry that if I stick to lino then the wobbling will cause the lino to lift.

    So think im going to cut around the toilet pan seal it down and then seal around the back of the pan too to the wc unit.
     
  8. Hey Grovesy. Congrats :D. Your life will never be the same again...:rolleyes:

    I would do as Teabreak says - seal on to the lino. The wobble is most likely caused by a less-than-perfect bottom moulding (ooh-er, missus) which wobbles in contact with the fairly flat floor. Sealant is indeed the simplest solution, but it's not really being used to 'stick' the pan down - tho' it is to an extent - but to fill the gaps to reduce that wobble.

    (It'll also act as a hygienic seal)

    If the lino is sitting fairly flat on the floor underneath - which it likely is - then all you have to do is fill that tiny gap bewtixt pan and t'lino.

    Much better to do this by fully removing the pan and running a nice thick bead before plonking it back down, placing a spirit level across the top, screwing up the wee screws and then wiping away the excess sealant with a small round object such as, ooh, I dunno - a pen cap? A dining knife tip? A summat like that. (If you want the tiniest visible bead - and you do - then use a small diameter thingy for this, probably only around 6-odd mm dia. It needs to have a crisp end, tho') Make sure the pan doesn't wobble as you do this - and remains level.

    If you really don't want to remove the pan to do this, then cut a small hole in the sealant nozzle so's you can 'inject' the stuff in as far under the rim as you can before then adding more to make a nice seal around it all.

    Good chance this will do the trick - the sealant will have filled any wobble gaps. Yes you can still 'move' the pan a wee bit if you really try by taking the stuck lino with it, but you'd be doing some serious a***-wiggling to do this...

    There was another thread on here about this, and the cove pointed to an ideal sealant from our hosts - I think it was solvent-free (so easy to use) but still very tough and durable.

    Can't remember what it was, tho'. Silicone will do the job, of course, but you need to get the finish done before it 'skins'.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2014
  9. TheGrovesy

    TheGrovesy Member

    Thanks for your input DA.

    I've done some more investigation and looking closer the movement appears to be in the fitting screw itself. The fitting screw, which screws through the side of the toilet pan and into the plastic bracket, goes through a plastic pug thing (so the screw isn't touching the ceramic) and into the bracket I previously described. When you wobble the pan, which moves by about 1-2cm either side, you can see the play appears to be between the screw and pan.

    I phoned up bathstores support number and they said that because the bracket is in fact over angled (it's not 90 degrees, more like 60) that the screw screws down into it to help pull the pan down. However the hole through the ceramic pan is completely horizontal so doesn't really screw downwards!

    Do you guys think sealant will stop this rather big wobble? Without wanting to be gross I have tried sitting on the loo and pretending to... wipe myself... and that movement does cause this same wobble.
     
  10. teabreak

    teabreak Screwfix Select

    While you are about it treat yourself to one of those Japanese toilets that washes and blow dries your neather regions:) I understand they also play music and have waterfall sounds to cover embarrasing toilet noises too;) I had a cheap pan that wobbled and as said the base is not moulded evenly,buy some wedges experiment to find what you need then fix them in place with silicone once the uneven base is solved the toilet should no longer rock. all the screws tend to do is keep the pan in one spot.

    http://www.screwfix.com/p/brown-wedge-strip-1-8mm-pack-of-50/54407

    Second link will not work search screwfix for packers and shims

    Magic things to have in the toolbox all kinds of uses.
     
  11. Grovesy, the wobble isn't caused by the inadequate screws - a pan sitting flat on a floor should not wobble that much even before it's screwed down.

    I know these clips - they are on my upstairs loo. The brackets are less than 90o so's the screws have a strong 'pull' on them as you tighten them up, but - as you say - this is not really a pull-down pull but a sideways.

    But that doesn't matter - do you really think these li'l plastic clips will stop your pan wobbling?! No.

    Ok, when you wobble your pan, the 'gap' movement allowing this has to be 'somewhere'. Can you see a gap opening up in the side of the pan bottom where it sits on the floor? (I mean, you are not actually 'tipping' the pan over, are you?! :rolleyes:)

    You should have either: a noticeable gap (could be tiny) opening up on either one or bath sides of the pan bottom, or else the pan bottom remains completely flat against the floor and the whole floor has some movement in it.

    Can't sort the second one for you, I'm afraid, without more major work. But, for the former, try what we suggested.

    I am really talking about a 1 or 2 millimetre gap here - that's all. If the gap is noticeably larger than this, then you'll need packers/wedges like t'break says. In this case, push the packer right in so's it can be over-sealed with stuff as before.
     
  12. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    Another clever(not) manufacturer/designer idiot idea! Fixing horizontally to keep something down?

    So to fix this designer error you need to pack it up - ALL ROUND, AFTER fixing it. Even if you fit it slack so that it 'wobbles' a bit more, then find and force(I said FORCE) in thicker packers, ALL ROUND. Finally seal with silicone which should be a thick enough bead to cover whatever packer height you got.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  13. plumberboy

    plumberboy Well-Known Member

    This is my method always works never have any problems.;);)
     

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