New toilet install

[gregt]

I'm putting in a new toilet and read it is to be laid over a morter bed. I guess to stop it moving around. It is on wooden flooring and I guess the cement won't stick to that too well. Are a hanfull of Tek screws in the floor before putting the moter down acceptable practice?
Regards
Greg

[Bloss]

Mortar will break up very quickly laid on a timber floor regardless of what you do.

The answers depends - I assume you are replacing an existing toilet?

The better practice would be to lay cellulose fibre board (fibro, villaboard hardiboard etc) over the timber (glued & screwed) then use mortar over that - and tiles etc can also be laid onto it.

But . . . you can use silicone between the pan and a timber floor (or onto compressed sheet or fibro too for that matter). I reckon mortar is not the best even if you are onto concrete floor and will be using mortar for bedding tiles too.

Screw the pan into the right position (height & level) using suitable waterproof spacers (eg plastic strips or wedges, vinyl flooring off-cuts, fibro or laminate pieces etc) pushed in around the edge and in sufficiently to not be visible when you run a good bead of silicone around the outside.

Use masking tape to get a good clean edge on the silicone (white coloured or to match the pan colour). Pan and floor have to be clean and dust free.

Wooden floor in a toilet area still not a good idea IMHO.

[ozwinner]

I havent seen pans bedded down with mortar for ages, maybe 20 years.

Everyone uses silicon now.

Al

[gregt]

Sorry, it is not on floor boards but waterproof flooring sheets. If the floor is level enough why not liquid nails?

[Tools]

are you going to be tiling the floor?

[Honorary Bloke]

Sorry, it is not on floor boards but waterproof flooring sheets. If the floor is level enough why not liquid nails?

Because, for one thing, you might need to take the toilet up again!

[China]

As mentioned above pans are now bedded with high grade silcon, liquid nails does not have the bonding strength that is required

[Bloss]

I havent seen pans bedded down with mortar for ages, maybe 20 years.

Everyone uses silicon now.

Al

My tag is old chippy

I too have not seen mortar used for more than 20 years, but no accounting for taste.

As we have all said, silicon is the go - not a contact building adhesive. For the reasons given, and because silicone is waterproof - building adhesives are water resistant at best. Silicon is also forgiving too - if you have to fill gaps, uneven surface or if you make an error and have to pull it up.

[gregt]

So should I still aim for 10mm build up, lay on floor and tile up to it or silicone it to the tiles?

[Tools]

You should be tiling first,then install the pan.

Tools

[bricks]

What most people don't seem to know is that if you contact your manufacturer about installing their pan with silicone- they will tell you one thing- it voids the warranty and all legal obligations they have. I still set with mortar have always done and hopefully will always be able to do.

reasons- some silicones can heat up during cure- this weakens the pan
also without a decent amount of mortar in the base of the pan there is considerable loss of strength in the pan, If big fat aunty flo sits on it it might just break and cut her big fat butt to pieces.
If you use silicone then the entire inside of the pan is air, this air will contract and expand with the changes in seasons as it does so it may become weaker and break.

These occurances are rare, but regular enough to warrant me writing this.



I know heaps and heaps and heaps of plumbers who set their pans on silicone, usually in new housing type jobs where they are in and out as fast as possible. I am a plumber, my boss would sack me for doing it.

[ozwinner]

reasons- some silicones can heat up during cure- this weakens the pan

.

You cant be serious, clay pans are fired at around 1200 degrees c, and the heat from silicon is going to affect it?

If you use silicone then the entire inside of the pan is air, this air will contract and expand with the changes in seasons as it does so it may become weaker and break.

You need to do some research....

Al

[Honorary Bloke]

If you use silicone then the entire inside of the pan is air, this air will contract and expand with the changes in seasons as it does so it may become weaker and break.

Am I missing something here? Exactly what are Aussie toilets made from? You'd be hard pressed to break a fired pan pumping in air with a high-volume compressor, let alone natural air expansion and contraction. The pan would lift off the floor before it would break.

On a more serious note, can someone explain to me, or provide pictures, of how Aussie toilets are fastened to the waste pipe? I have followed this thread from the start and am still puzzled over the whole process. It sounds very different from what is used in the States and I am curious.

(No, I do not have a dunny fetish--so keep those remarks to yourselves. )

[China]

Toilets are connected to the waste pipe by a push fit rubber sealing ring, as for the manufactures vioding the warranty if mortar, the instalation instructions for the Australian made tiolet I installed 7 weeks ago recomended bedding with slicon

[OBBob]

Hey there Bob ... how do you connect them in the states? Now I'm interested ... hope I don't end up with your litlle pass time!