Hello all,

Shopping for, wax ring & 3-1/2" brass closet bolts for toilet, to install on cast iron flange. It looks like, I may be better off, buying these separately, instead of a kit that includes both.

As for wax rings, the "reinforced" with plastic flange sleeve is not available locally. at box stores, unless I buy extra thick, 6-pack and/or kits with shorter length bolts. That said, when do recommend using "reinforced" with plastic vs just wax?

As for 3-1/2" brass closet bolts, they appear to be available, locally in either 1/4" or 5/16" widths, which would you use?







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I would not use either of those. The plastic horn is notorious for bottoming out either to the bottom of the toilet or the flange. That would mean no protection and leaks. It happens constantly and sometimes the plastic horn only has 1/8" of wax covering it up on the bottom side.

The normal wax ring is not thick enough in my opinion. With a great deal of bathrooms where the afterthought of flooring reworks or layovers greatly decrease the industry standard of the flange not being on top of the finished floor surface, it's best to go with a jumbo wax ring with no plastic horn. Do NOT put two regular sized rings together. It will not work correctly. The jumbo size wax ring also covers the fact that most wax rings are designed to shrink over time now. I'm seeing more and more wax rings that separated from the bottom of the toilet, turned black from gas burn and not providing a water tight seal.

The thicker of closet bolts are the better choice. I personally switched over to Sioux Chief plastic bolts that come in two sizes with the extra tall caps. That way there's no cutting or distorting the thread pattern and the caps cover any length of the bolt sticking up.

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Everything in Plumbing can be repaired or replaced.



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Thanks!

A quick online search, of both local big box stores, appears to show jumbo wax ring only with reinforced plastic.

5/16 bolts are obviously heavier but i have used both them and 1/4 inch.
what is important is that they are solid brass..
if the big box stores don't have the extra thick wax then go to a regular plumbing supplyhouse.
if your flange sits ontop of the finish then a standard wax ring will work just fine.
i always put the wax onto the bowl and set it that way. you can put the bowl down and it will not touch the floor. this means the wax has contacted both sides. then push and rock the bowl until it makes firm contact.

Thanks!
Working on flange, from prior thread [www.plbg.com], on which I’m planning to use 1/2” & 1/4” pvc spacers, which should put flange 1/4” above finish.

A bit confused, about what you mean by “you can put the bowl down and it will not touch the floor. this means the wax has contacted both sides...”

When you first set the bowl down on the flange with the wax installed, there should be a gap between the bottom edge of the bowl and the floor. If there's no gap, the wax is not thick enough(flange is too low).

Gotcha, thanks!



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