A toilet is in most cases sealed to the closet flange on the waste pipe with a wax ring. The wax ring is the weakest joint in the entire drainage system but when properly set the joint will have no problems. The wax seal is designed to be crushed creating a seal between the outlet on the bottom of the toilet and the closet flange. Once the wax ring is crushed making the seal, the toilet must not move or, rock because the wax ring is not resilient and is designed for a one time crushing action to create the seal. Even if a toilet is not leaking water, if the toilet is moving the wax seal is compromised and can be leaking sewer gases into your home. Sewer gases leaking into a home can be dangerous and unhealthy, in fact a 2003 outbreak of SARS in China was traced to sewer gases leaking into a hotel. In most cases a toilet that is rigidly mounted to the floor and not moving will not have a leakage problem unless the toilet drain line gets clogged and is aggressively plunged causing the wax ring to blow out. If a toilet leaks water around the base after plunging a new wax ring and resetting is needed.

To reset a toilet you will need a few basic tools and supplies to accomplish the job.

The tools you will need are:

• channel Lock Pliers
• Small Adjustable Wrench
• Close Quarter Saw or, Compact Hacksaw
• Putty Knife
• Caulking Gun and Latex Caulk (Matching color may be desired)
• Small Tray To Catch Water
• Spray Cleaner and Cotton Rags
• latex or, Nitrile Gloves (several pairs will be needed)
• Large Absorbent Sponge and Bucket or, Wet Vac

The supplies you will need are:

• Wax Ring (In most cases get the wax ring that does not have the black plastic horn built into the ring)
• 5/16” Brass Closet Bolts (Do not get closet bolts that have grooves to break off the extra bolt length)
• Braided Stainless Steel Closet Supply (In most cases 3/8” compression X 7/8” ballcock X the length you need available in 9”, 12”, and 16” lengths. Do not get the Watts “Floodsafe” supply lines! Get a length where they can be installed without kinking, too long with a large loop is better than too short and strained or, a small loop that kinks.)
• Latex Caulk (Do not use Silicone RTV Caulk! My personal preferences are Phenoseal or, Polyseamseal. Matching colors may be desired)
• Shims (Many manufacturers offer plastic wedges for shimming toilets to floors that are not level.)
• Toilet Bolt Caps (If the present caps are missing or broken)

The first step to resetting the toilet is to shut off the water to the toilet at the angle stop valve located below the toilet tank on the left side. Once the water is shut off remove the tank lid and set it on the floor out of the way, flush the toilet and hold the lever down allowing as much of the water as possible to drain from the tank. Put on your gloves then use the sponge and bucket or, wet vac to remove the rest of the water from the tank the also remove the water from the bowl. Place the small tray under the angle stop valve to catch a small amount of water that will spill, and use the small adjustable wrench to remove the closet supply from the angle stop valve and use the channel lock pliers to remove the supply line from the fill valve shank on the bottom outside of the toilet tank. Next use the small adjustable wrench to take off the nuts on the closet bolts securing the toilet to the floor. If toilet bolt caps cover the closet bolts, slipping the putty knife under them usually pops the caps right off without damaging them. Once the nuts and washers have been removed you are ready to lift the toilet off the floor. If the toilet was caulked with Silicone RTV Caulk make sure to cut the caulk between the toilet and floor or, you may damage the floor. Grab the toilet by the bowl and rock it from side to side breaking it loose from the floor and wax ring. Straddling the toilet lift the toilet straight up off the bolts then carry it aside and place it on the floor on top of a rag rolling the toilet onto its side. Take the putty knife and clean any wax remaining stuck to the toilet bottom off the toilet. Next clean the wax remaining on the closet flange off with the putty knife, and remove the old closet bolts, and use the spray cleaner and cotton rags to clean the floor under where the toilet set. Once the wax has been removed and the floor cleaned inspect the closet flange for defects. The flange should be mounted on top of the finished floor and be secured in place to the floor with screws so it doesn’t move. Any problems with the flange should be repaired before resetting the toilet or, the resetting will not be successful and you will have the leak return.

You are now ready to start resetting the toilet. Place the new closet bolts into the slots on the flange and secure them in place centered on each side of the flange. Place the new wax ring on the flange centered around the drain and lightly press down on it sticking the wax ring in place. With the dirty work complete you are now ready to put on a new pair of gloves. Take the new braided stainless steel supply line and using the small adjustable wrench secure it in place onto the angle stop valve. Turn the toilet upright again and straddle carry the toilet over close to where it belongs setting it down in front of the flange and new wax seal. Get into a comfortable position where you can lift it into place while looking from side to side at the base to see where the bolt holes are in relation to the bolts sticking up and stain marks on the floor from where the toilet was set before. Lift the toilet and carry it forward over the flange carefully lowering it into place with the bolts centered in the toilet boltholes and the base of the toilet covering the stain from the previous installation. Press down on the toilet with the force directly over the bolts compressing the wax ring. Place the bottom part of the bolt cap over the bolt making sure the right side is facing up. Place the metal washer on top of the bottom part of the bolt cap then the nut and finger tighten on both sides. Using the small adjustable wrench tighten the closet bolts evenly on each side until the toilet is held securely down to the floor unable to move. Next place the shims as needed under the toilet to prevent rocking of the toilet trimming the wedges flush with the base of the toilet. Using the saw trim off the bolts flush with the top of the bolts than snap the bolt cover in place over the bolts. Connect the closet supply to the shank of the fill valve and turn on the water checking the toilet for proper operation and any leaks. Place the toilet tank lid back in place. Finally take the caulk gun and run a bead of caulk around the base of the toilet smoothing the caulk with a wet finger. Allow the caulk to dry for 24 hours before wet mopping the floor to avoid damaging the caulk, but the toilet may be used immediately. Clean up the mess and the tools you have just reset a toilet.

The Jacuzzi Espree WaterSense High Performance Elongated Toilet is a 2 piece toilet and is available in white only and comes in the taller ADA height which many adults find to be far more comfortable to use. Young children however will probably need a step stool to comfortably use the toilet. The Jacuzzi Espree has a clean looking skirted design which many manufacturers are now producing models with. The skirted design makes cleaning an easy task with clean lines that extend straight down to the floor with no place for dirt and dust to accumulate. The design does have some drawbacks though as it makes setting the toilet much more difficult and when the skirt is extended back close to the wall as is done with the Jacuzzi Espree the connections for the water supply and fill valve replacement can only be accomplished with the toilet removed for its setting. The positioning of the angle stop valve is also critical and when the Espree is replacing an existing toilet the water supply coming out of the wall or, floor may have to be moved to avoid interference with the skirt. In addition you will be facing higher costs whenever a repair of anything more than a flapper replacement is required. The Jacuzzi Espree has a fully glazed 2 1/8” trapway and a 3” flush valve, which is the norm for achieving high flushing performance with low amounts of water usage. The Jacuzzi Espree is a complete kit with the tank, bowl, seat, wax ring and closet bolts for mounting the toilet. The Espree is designed for a 12” rough-in and has a bowl rim height of 16 1/2 “ with the top of the tank 32 5/8” high off the floor, weighing in at 112 lbs.

The Jacuzzi Espree WaterSense High Performance Elongated Toilet is rated buy most purchasers as average with complaints about a difficult installation and difficult access to the connections for water supply, fill valve and tank to bowl nuts. While there were almost no complaints about the flushing ability of the toilet there were many complaints about the bowl wash and streaking in the bowl after use making frequent cleaning of the bowl necessary. The purchasers also complained about the quality of the seat and the wax ring and closet bolts included in the kit. While toilet comes with a 5-Year Guarantee, purchasers will discover that the stores where they purchased the toilet do not carry the replacement parts and they are only obtainable by calling Jacuzzi often with a 5-7 day wait for parts to arrive. The Jacuzzi Espree is available priced in the $230 range at Lowe’s and other locations including On-Line. One of the possibilities of flush-related complaints is probably due to the toilet being installed with a wax ring that has a plastic funnel shaped horn built into the ring. Many people erroneously see the plastic horn being something useful in preventing leaks however they often end up causing leaks and in some cases may cause interference with the fit of the outlet from the toilet and closet flanges where the plastic horn pinches closed causing clogs to form. While the Jacuzzi Espree has decent flushing ability and an attractive appearance, purchasers should carefully consider the lack of bowl wash, difficult installation and maintenance caused by the design and replacement parts availability.

The Jacuzzi Perfecta High Performance Round Complete Toilet has gotten fairly good reviews from consumers with slightly lower grades for design and quality. Some users did not like the seat provided with the toilet and when trying to obtain replacement parts found they had to be special ordered with a 5-7 day wait for them to arrive. Also getting bad marks was the closet bolts and wax ring, which many users elected to upgrade to a higher quality by purchasing separately. I would also suggest doing that using a set of 5/16” brass closet bolts and a wax ring that does not have a built in plastic horn. The wax rings with plastic horns have many people thinking that they help prevent leaks with the funnel shaped horn but the reality is they often cause more leaks than they ever prevented. The funnel often interferes with the fit of the outlet horn into the closet flange often causing a leak or, pinching closed obstructing the outlet of the toilet causing clogs to form. Overall people will probably think this is not too bad of a toilet for the lower priced ones available and other than the parts supply problem be relatively satisfied with the Jacuzzi Perfecta.

When you pull a toilet that has a leaking wax ring very often you find the closet flange had a painted steel ring and the ring is rusted badly enough that the closet bolts can no longer be secured in the ring. Until recently the repair options were either time consuming and expensive or, shoddy and inexpensive. On the expensive side it consisted of removing the old flange and installing a new one, this sometimes required a hole to be cut in the ceiling below to allow the plumber access to the toilet drain pipe. The inexpensive repair consisted of using aftermarket repair rings and spanner that although they would secure to the floor they did nothing to secure the plastic part of the flange and the strength of their ability to secure the closet bolts is doubtful at best.

Fortunately recently Oatey introduced the Moss Bay Replacement Flange P/N 42777 that is a strong stainless steel 2 piece ring that in addition to locking the closet bolts securely in place also grips onto the plastic part of the closet flange just like the original one piece ring that originally came on the flange. It is by far the best repair I have seen yet.

To use the Moss Bay Replacement Flange the flooring must still be in good enough condition that the wood flooring can still solidly hold a screw that is screwed into it. Cut the old rusted steel ring off the plastic part of the closet flange without damaging it. Remove all of the old ring from the locking groove in the plastic and the flooring. Remove two pieces of the new ring from the packaging. Do not use the closet bolts that come with this product. The only bad thing I can say about this product is that it comes supplied with ¼” zinc plated steel closet bolts. Instead use 5/16” solid brass closet bolts purchased separately. Place the two halves of the Moss Bay Replacement Flange into the locking ring of the plastic section of the flange and put the closet bolts in place securing them with a nut and washer. The flange is now firmly locked onto the plastic section of the flange yet can still rotate. Rotate the flange until the closet bolts are square to the wall and then secure the ring to the floor using six #12 brass or stainless steel wood screws that are long enough to grip through all the layers of flooring.

Once this is complete your flange repair is better than the original and you are ready to reinstall the toilet with a new wax ring. Make sure that you use a new closet supply, shim the toilet to prevent rocking if needed, and caulk around the base of the toilet with Phenoseal or Polyseamseal caulk. Do not use a Silicone RTV based caulk.