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Benefit to caulking around toiler?

14 years ago

I just finished replacing an old toilet with a new Toto Ultramax. I used a new wax ring, of course, and the toilet is seated securely without any rocking or noticeable gaps between the floor and the toilet. It sits on a tiled, concrete floor in a separate location from the shower. My question is this: Is there any need for, or benefit from, running a silicone seal around the base of the toilet where it meets the floor?

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Comments (7)

dan_martyn
14 years ago
The benefit is; Sealing around the base of all plumbing fixtures that touch the floor will keep germs, urine and other "stuff" from finding there way under the fixtures and growing. It's more sanitary. Shimming and caulking will make the fixture more secure and stabil too.
manhattan42
14 years ago
The downside to caulking the joint between the water closet and finished floor is that it can conceal a leak in a toilet seal...and only reveal that damage has occured only after it is too late.

While this should not matter when a water closet is mounted on a concrete subfloor with impermeable ceramic tiles, it can matter greatly if the closet is mounted on a wood subfloor and the finished floor materials are subject to water damage such as sheet vinyls, engineered, and other type wood floors.

Even though some plumbing codes (usually commercial codes) require the joint to be caulked, I still vote no (and don't recommend it as a practice) to caulking the joint where the toilet meets the finished floor in most residential applications.
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brickeyee
14 years ago
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kudzu9
Original Author
14 years ago
brickeyee-
I like that. It seems like the best compromise to what the first two posters had to say.
kzaker
14 years ago
Not that I am an expert or anything, but I generally will not caulk around a toilet. with that being said, i have done it in rental units because of sanitary reasons and the low quality of flooring/toilet products. In my house, i have new tile and a new toilet that cost more than they should, and wouldnt want to put an adhesive on the floor that will not come off easy in case of the need to replace the toilet - leaving a mark on the tile in the shape of the old toilet. just my .02.
brickeyee
14 years ago
"...adhesive on the floor that will not come off easy in case of the need to replace the toilet - leaving a mark on the tile in the shape of the old toilet."

Either silicone or siloconized acrylic can be removed from a gloss tile surface completely with just a little effort.
kzaker
14 years ago
Well, I didnÂt use gloss tile and I think that by code (at least here in NY) you canÂt use gloss tile for safety issues - I donÂt know that for sure, but I seem to remember something about coefficient of friction that a tile has to have in order to be used as a wet location tile. And I have done maintenance for 25plus years and silicone never comes all of the way off, there is always a film left behind. My advise stands, if it is a lesser quality product, by all means use silicone Â not acrylic because of shrinkage-, but if you have an expensive tile on your floor, nothing besides extra toilet ring wax under the bowl to prevent spillage from getting to the subfloor.

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