Is Your Toilet Flange Too Low?

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Feb 19

Can’t figure out why your bathroom stinks? A low toilet flange may be your problem.

A toilet sits on a wood tile floor. Behind the toilet the wall is a dark gray beadboard wall.

For the uninitiated—and you may want to do a prayer of thanks right now for being blissfully unaware—a toilet flange basically affixes your toilet to the floor/plumbing. In order for a toilet to properly form a seal with the wax ring underneath it, the flange needs to sit above the surface of the floor by around ¼ inch. That seal is what keeps your nasty toilet water from making its way between the layers of flooring and subflooring. In a worst-case scenario that water eventually makes its way into another room. Yuck. To help you visualize the difference between a toilet flange set too low and one set correctly, I’ve made a quick diagram, below.

A diagram shows the difference between a properly seated toilet flange and one that is seated improperly. The diagram is color coded to show how an improperly seated flange leaves room for sewage leaks.

When we started working on our bathroom, we discovered the toilet flange was sitting below the surface of the tile, so toilet water was slowly leaking between the tile and the subfloor. Obviously we had to remedy this situation before we could move on. What fun! I think a lot of people probably have this issue and don’t realize it. There’s no way to know for sure unless you have removed your toilet at some point and had a look underneath. Even our inspector assumed the wax seal was past its prime and that the toilet just needed to be bolted back down. But, he was wrong about a lot of things, the least of which was the toilet. Moving on….

If you do have the problem of a too-short flange, there is a fairly easy solution. It’s called a toilet flange spacer, or a toilet flange extender. They are available in different sizes based on different needs; some even have rubber or silicone gaskets attached that get inserted into the existing flange. Application is pretty simple. You just remove your toilet (get help if you are like me and have weak noodle arms), wipe down the flange (which is going to be gross, so don’t forget to stuff a rag in the sewage pipe!), tack down the extender with plumber’s putty and silicone caulk, and then screw the extender down for extra security. After that you add new toilet bolts and wax seal, and reset the toilet!

I realize the process of using a toilet flange extender sounds way oversimplified, but as someone who is not a plumber, it’s one of the easiest toilet plumbing repairs you can make past replacing the wax seal. If you’re a video person, this guy’s video is quick, concise and exactly the process we used, down to the same extender! The only difference might come from the fact that you will need to choose a spacer based on your individual needs. If you’re here because you currently have this problem, don’t despair. Know that it’s a fairly easy and very affordable fix, and you aren’t far from having it corrected. If we can do it, you can too.