I have house built in 1917 with wood flooring that was probably replaced at some point. However, some of the boards under the toilet are warped leading to a rocky situation.

The toilet had a slight leak at the floor line. One plumber removed and resealed the toilet with a new wax gasket, installed wooden shims under the toilet to stabilize it, and bolted it down commenting that the floor needed to be replaced. Two weeks later the toilet was rocking again.

Another plumber has said that the solution is to stabilize the drain line and to connect the toilet firmly (somehow) to it. He says that this will make replacement of the floor unnecessary. Is this a reasonable solution, or should we go with the expensive floor replacement?

First a couple of questions . Do you know what type of flange is under the toilet ? Is the toilet on the first or second floor ? If the toilet is on the first floor you could try filling the gap between the base of the toilet and the floor with a mildew resistant caulk. Also you can put new shims under the toilet before you caulk. Okay I said two questions but here's one more how warped is the floor in other words how much of a gap is between the floor and the base of the toilet? Get back to us and we will try to help. GOOD LUCK, AC

The plumber should not have used wooden shims... they rot and breakdown quickly.

Need to install plastic shims (sold everywhere now adays)... see pic.

And a picture would really help here for us to best advise. Mark

Massplumbers bang on! Your -plumber gave you a shoddy job when he shimed the bowl with wood shims. Beforev plastic shima came on the market we used scrap sheet lead from lead roof boots, (roof vent covers) to shim our rocky toilets.

Another plumber has said that the solution is to stabilize the drain line and to connect the toilet firmly (somehow) to it. He says that this will make replacement of the floor unnecessary. Is this a reasonable solution, or should we go with the expensive floor replacement? The flange will not carry the weight of the bowl if the floor is "spongy" and gives around the flange area, however if
some of the boards under the toilet are warped but solid it may be possible to shim the bowl without replacing the floor. Let us know what shape the floor is in before you spend any more money. Regards, Tom

Hi:

Thanks for all who replied.

(1) I don't know what type of flange is under the toilet.
(2) The toilet is on the first floor, and the drain line is accessible from crawl space.
(3) The gap between toilet and floor varies. At the back where a shim was placed it's about 3/8 inch, and in the front it's about 1/16 inch with old caulking filling some of it.
(4) Thanks for advice on using plastic shims. I've now seen them at a local hardware store and will make sure that the next plumber uses them.
(5) I have photos, but I can't get them to upload using the neevia.com procedure.
(6) The floor around the toilet seems solid. There wasn't this much of a rocking problem before the plumber reset the toilet. Perhaps it's just an incompetent shimming job.

Best wishes,
fredhep

The floor around the toilet seems solid. There wasn't this much of a rocking problem before the plumber reset the toilet. Perhaps it's just an incompetent shimming job.
If you have a solid floor then a proper shim and caulk job should set the bowl. I've shimed bowls up to 1/2" and caulking the gap with Dap white Tub and Tile Caulk with no call backs. Before I went through the expense of tearing up the floor I would try resetting the toilet. Good luck, Tom

Thanks to all and especially to Speedball. The problem was an incompetent plumber. A new plumber removed the toilet, replaced and tightened the bolts to the drain (the old ones were loose), and reset the toilet. No shims were necessary. You saved me the floor replacement that the first plumber had recommended.

Just goes to show you all men are created equally but not true for all plumbers. The first guy just didn't know his toilet frange from his ballcock, toilets aren't held to the floor by the flange or drain pipe they are screwd to the floor.