[bottom dweller]

Had work down in my apartment by super and when he replaced the toilet after installing new flooring he cut the front two bolts so short he can't put the nuts on, is this a problem and will it cause trouble later?

[afaroo]

Yes it will be a problem the toilet is loose and it will move, ask the apartment supper to replace the bolts or install a repair flange to secure the toilet to the floor, see the images, good luck.

John

[speedball1]

The plumber installed your toilet without anchoring it down? Send your plumber back to the plumbing school 101. It was a sloppy job and should be reported to the owner of the plumbing company.Toilet bol bolts are carried on every plumbing truck.
Your plumber left you with a job that is half on unfinished. This is unacceptable in our trade. I would make a strong complaint.
Good luck, Tom

[massplumber2008]

Hold on everyone (Hi Tom)...

Bottom Dweller mentioned that the cut bolts were the FRONT bolts...

If this is the case, then these front bolts are usually not needed to make the connection to the closet flange and Bottom Dweller should be just fine as long as the toilet doesn't rock/move... ;)

Mark

[bottom dweller]

Ok so we have a couple of different thoughts on the bolts being cut short, now will this cause the toilet to plug up, have had to plunge it a number of time since this was done.

[ma0641]

Exactly what bolts are you talking about? Toilets have 2 bolts to mount the toilet to the floor and 2-3 bolts to mount the tank to the bowl. There id no way a toilet will function if it is not bolted town. Please post a pic if possible.

[hkstroud]

Brian,
In the "old'en days" toilets use to have another hole on each side to bolt the toilet to the floor. You just used a lag bolt to bolt to floor. Maybe some still do but haven't seen on in a long time.

Bottom Dweller,
Please show picture so we can end this controversy about holes. If the toilet is stable and does not move, the bolts are fine, and not the cause for stoppage.

You said that this was done by the "super" not a plumber, correct? It is possible that because the new floor raised the toilet, that he put in more than one wax ring to get a good seal. It is possible that the multiple wax rings were too much and some of the wax got squeezed into the pipe. There it would catch paper and solids and cause a blockage.

Toilet will probably have to be pulled, cleaned and reset. Instructions for installing wax ring call for turning the toilet over and putting wax ring on toilet, then setting the toilet. I, like most people, usually just put the wax ring on the flange and then set the toilet. When you have to use more than on ring, putting it on the toilet as per instructions, would probably prevent an excess of wax getting squeezed into the pipe.

[massplumber2008]

Bottom Dweller does you toilet rock and move at all? If not and the "super" used the two rear bolts then you are all set with that (front two bolts were used on old toilets (which I am guessing you have) and even then they were not needed).

Now, in terms of the toilet plugging up I would venture to guess that the wax seal the super used to install the toilet has encroached upon the closet flange and is partially blocking the outlet of the toilet itself. Here, the super needs to come back and remove the toilet and install a new wax gasket.

Again, if the toilet doesn't move after he has installed it to the two rear bolts all is acceptable.

Or, am I misunderstanding you here?

Back to you...

Mark

[speedball1]

the bolts being cut short, now will this cause the toilet to plug up, have had to plunge it a number of time since this was done.

The bolts won't caused your flush problem but I have something that night help.
In my capacity as shop trouble shooter I began to run into a slew of complaints on our new construction that were just like yours. I knew they all couldn't be " bad toilets" so I went looking for the cause. I found that when installing the new bowl that the wax ring had been forced out into the discharge pipe and blocking the free flow of water. When the water hit it a backpressure was set up preventing the siphon that makes a good flush and the solids just swirled around while the water went slowly down. I had to set up meeting with our plumbers and show them the problem and how to fix it. When you set the bowl, put the wax seal down on the flat side to the closet flange. Then take your hands and bevel the wax seal outward so that when you set a bowl on it the wax is forced out instead of in blocking the flush. The customer complaints stopped and I had less work to do. Try molding the wax seal so it doesn't choke down on the flush. Good luck, Tom