Bye bye toilet wobble

Q: Our toilet wobbles and I have been wondering how to fix it. We are also going to replace the vinyl floor in that bathroom with tile. How close should I lay the tile around the flange?

I had this done at another house I lived in quite some years ago. I removed and reset the toilet myself without any problems. I had a contractor install the tiles, but I can't remember how close he came to the flange. This time I am going to lay the floor myself.

A: First of all, congratulations on doing it yourself.

The short answer is, the tile should extend close enough to the edge of the closet flange to be covered by the rim of the toilet. It's not quite that simple, though. If possible, the flange should be adjusted to be level with the finished floor.

Kevin built his house on a tight budget. Choices had to be made and he didn't always go with what he would have liked, thinking he would replace some materials after a while. He installed cheap vinyl flooring in all three bathrooms, thinking eventually they would all be tile. The toilets he installed were of good quality for their day, but never did work that well. Plugged toilets were a regular event in the Burnett bathrooms and the plumber's helper took up regular residence.

Fast-forward 15 years. After living with a plunger in the downstairs bath for the lion's share of their marriage, Heidi finally had enough and gave Kevin the ultimatum: Get a toilet that works or I'll get a plumber to do it. That's all it took to get Kevin to replace the substandard 1.5-gallon flush toilet with a new model that actually delivers the goods in a single flush. As part of the job, Kevin replaced the vinyl flooring with ceramic tile. ...CONTINUED

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