[Greenbuilding] A tile-setting dilemma around a toilet

[Peter/Pam Martin]

At 10:06 AM 11/16/2011, Kathy wrote:
>I am currently in the process of converting my garage (which I lived 
>in while the house was getting put back together) into a studio that 
>I hope to rent out.  The toilet was originally put down on the 
>concrete slab.  Now I am going to put tile down, and the fellow who 
>wants to install the toilet wants me to cut the tile around the 
>perimeter of the toilet, so the toilet will sit once again on the 
>concrete.  My thought was that it needed to cut out around the hole 
>to the sewer.  I am concerned about this because if the toilet ever 
>has to be replaced, there would create a problem, because all (at 
>least many) toilets have different shapes.  He says that to build up 
>the hole so that the toilet would sit flush (no pun intended) with 
>it would be very difficult.  Does anyone out there have any 
>suggestions how to raise the "hole" of the sewer?  Any suggestions 
>would be MOST appreciated!

I would not cut the tile. Instead, put a riser ring on top of the 
flange to make up the difference in height. Alternatively you may use 
a flange-free wax ring on top of the first ring, ie. use two wax 
rings. You may first want to test fit the bowl without the wax 
ring(s) to check for wobble that may be corrected using shims. Hope 
this helps. Peter