When tiling a bathroom floor, do you go around the toilet or under it?
August 6, 2010
I have to lay 12" x 12" slate on the floor of my bath and need to know if I just go around the toilet, or take it out, tile up to the hole, then reinstall it. What’s the proper way and then how do you compensate for the lift of the toilet with the seal if you go under it?
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August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Tile around the toilet.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
under!
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Less cutting involved going under it. Actually I’ve never seen anyone (that knew what they were doing) go around the toilet. Good Luck!
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
We are remodeling a home and our contrators removed the toliets to tile then put them back down afterwards. They said it was just in case we wanted to replace them in the future. You cut the hole out of the tile and then lay it. Do you have a wet tile cutter? I think you will need one. I am pretty sure you could rent one.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
the best thing is to tile around it. that way you don’t raise up the toliet and need an extra wax seal. more pieces=more headaches
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
KEEP IT EASY AND TILE UP TO IT. ONE WAY TO MAKE A VERY NICE FITTING PATTERN IS TO TAKE TAPE AND MAKE YOUR PATTERN AROUND THE TOILET BY LAYING STRIPS OF DUCT-TAPE OR WHATEVER ON THE FLOOR AROUND THE TOILET . PUT DIFFERENT LAYERS OF TAPE IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS SO THE TAPE WILL LIFT FORMING THE PATTERN THEN CAREFULLY PUT THE TAPE-PATTERN ONTO THE SLATE AND TRACE AND CUT. THEN AFTER THAT PIECE OF SLATE IS PLACED MAKE ANOTHER TAPE PATTERN AND DO IT AGAIN TILL YOUR DONE WITH IT. THEN PUT A NICE SEALER AROUND THE BASE OF THE TOILET AND IT’LL LOOK NEAT.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Tiling around is easier in that you don’t have to remove the toilet and possibly replace the seal but you have to be quite an expert tile cutter to get those curves. Also if the toilet needs replacing down the line, so will the tile. Unless the floor around the toilet is severely compromised and refitting the toilet will cause the tile to crack, removing the toilet will make for a better tile job.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
o.k., so some day in the not too distant future your toilet breaks, you come to find out that that style isn’t made anymore, and the tiles aren’t made any more…. save a little time and money now and spend big bucks later!!!!!!! do it the right way, raise the toilet the cuts don’t have to be perfect around the drain and the drain will probably raise up for you anyway. think smart, not cheap and easy.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Remove the toilet and tile to the waste line. Replace the wax ring, you can get deeper wax ring if needed, and bolt the toilet back down carefully and evenly. The studs will be plenty long enough to span your new distance.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Definitely, definitely tile UNDER the toilet!!!!
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
The proper way is to go under the toilet but who the heck wants to do that? When I tiled my floor in the bathroom, I cut the tile to fit around it so I wouldn’t have to mess with all that.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Definitely take the toilet out and go under it but keep the waste line exposed. What’s the height of the closet shoe? If its flush with the floor, you probably could get by with a Johnny Ring Plus or super. These are standard wax seals that are thicker than usual to help with this problem. If the shoe happens to be rececessed in the floor, they make a PVC shoe to extend it. It bolts to the floor and has a rubber sleeve that compresses against the old shoe, great if you have a broken flange.
Good luck to you!
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Under it as the toilette bottom will help hide the cut edges. (Every try to cut a curve into a tile?)
Usually the toilette is removed, the slate laid up to the flange, grouted, sealed and the toilette replaced using a seal with extra wax or use a mechanical seal in place of the wax seal. Only rarely will you need to remove the flange build up the floor and install a new flange.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Definitely go under it. I have been laying flooring for about 4-5 years now and have seen many problems with people not doing tile correctly. if you cut around the toilet, not only is it not going to look as good, but the more that you cut away from the tile, the weaker it gets. think about it, if you have a 200 pound person sitting on a toilet that weighs another 100-150 pounds, that’s a lot of weight in one central area. the floor is going to flex and tile will not. if it is cut really thin, it will just break, or pop loose from the floor. the most that it will raise is about 3/4 of an inch, if you have to use a concrete underlayment. You can get taller wax rings just for this. E-mail me if you have any other questions.
** If its worth doing, its worth doing right**