OK,
Now that I've started pulling up the carpet I have discovered the toilet was installed on top of the carpet. Now I am going to have to remove the toilet to get the carpet out. I'd like to just raise it up 3/4" & pull the carpet out but that looks almost impossible, or is it? I don't want to start that project until I know for sure what I am putting down back there. Sooooo I see there are two bolts one in front & one in rear, of course I will have to disconnect the water line as well unless my first choice of just loosening the bolts to pull out the carpet works. I am guessing it would be a good idea to consider doing some maintenance if I have to remove it. At least replace the seal, necessary or not? No leaks as we speak. It is a Low Profile Thetford Galaxy-installed in 1994, very standard. Anyone have any words of wisdom before I tackle this?

As Rusty has stated looks like I'm doing the "If it ain't broke fix it until it is" stage.

Thanks,
Tere

Hi Jim/Tere,

I just replaced some components on our Sealand toilet which also had the carpet under the toilet base and we ultimately ended up ripping out the carpet (more on that later).

I put in the new parts but to get at one of them I had to remove the base. The seal was in real bad shape so I replaced it as well but did not replace the carpet with new carpet or any other floor covering. This is creating a small problem that will need to be fixed shortly. The toilet is designed to have something under the edge of the base (1/8" - 1/4" high), like carpet or linoleum. Without this "spacer" the base cuts too deeply into the seal and (although it has not happened yet) I know that it will leak at some point

Make sure that you have a new seal available as you are going to need it and put some type of spacer under the base if you remove the carpet.

Carl

Once you get the pot loose, you might as well pull it all the way out. Odds are the original seal will leak once it's been disturbed, & it's a lot easier to deal with your new floor covering with the pot completely out of the way.

When I re-did mine, I found the plywood sub-floor rotted, & replaced the whole section under the commode. Everything went back together slick as a whistle once it was renewed.

My bathroom carpet was stained & stinky from a long-standing leak in the toilet base, no doubt a result of the rotted sub-floor. I replaced it with foam-backed laminate, carefully sealing the seams & the perimeter.

The laminate was about 1/4" thick, & the foam toilet seal had enough compression to tolerate any difference in the thickness of the laminate & the carpet.

I wouldn't have used the floating laminate in the rest of the coach for fear it would come loose in a collision, but I had a rear bath, & if I hit something hard enough to jar it loose, that small amount of flying laminate would have been the least of my worries.

Oh for the days of slop pots and pee cans.!!
Humbo(aka Jim)

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
Anyone have any words of wisdom before I tackle this?

I agree with Roy.

Be sure you kill any rot and replace or reinforce any weakened areas.

It is a travesty that RV and boat manufacturers don't use treated plywood for flooring.

In the '90s, I had to replace the floor in my ski boat. Looking around, I found only two makers who planned ahead. One used a treated plywood that was guaranteed against rot, and the other, Eliminator, used fiberglass/honeycomb. Everyone else used plain old plywood.

Heck, in the early '50s, my dad and I slopped or soaked copper napthenate on all the wood we used for boatbuilding before it was even cut to size. He learned it as a kid from his dad, a farmer. How on earth can boat and RV builders be so dumb or so cheap?

End of rant.

On other thing..........I is possible that your toilet is actually mounted on the flange in the proper manner, and only the outer shell is pressing down on the carpet. You will still have to unbolt the toilet to check this out, so check for rot, anyway.

If your rot is really bad, you might consider building a little pedestal for the toilet. This will raise the toilet for ease of sitting and rising, and will put all the load farther out from any damaged area, on a stronger part of the floor.

My pot was already on a pedestal about 2 1/2 to 3" high. The rot was on the plywood top of the pedestal, not on the basic sub-floor. Replacing that small section was a piece-of-cake, relatively speaking. If it had been the sub-floor itself it would have been another matter entirely.

I am reading the removal instructions for the toilet.

"#3-Remove front nut. Secure a 2 1/2" diameter object with a cord or wire( to prevent it from falling into the holding tank)and use the object to prop open the flush hole. The front mounting nut, which can be reached through the opening above the foot pedals, can now be removed with a 1/2" ratcheting box end wrench."

Why would I want to prop open the flush hole?


Thx,
Tere

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:

Why would I want to prop open the flush hole?

Thx,
Tere

Note that it says front mounting "nut". It may be a thru bolt that has to be held with a wrench from the bottom. Of course I'm just guessing but I can't think of another reason.

Nick

When you push down the pedal to open the valve, the nut is available to extract. The only way to keep it such is to jam the hole open. Much like a Chinese cabinet from Wall-Mart, believe it, and follow the instructions, even when they don't make sense. I used a piece of 1 1/2" PVC long enough so it couldn't fall into the holding tank. It's really nothing, it just sounds stupid.

Are we talking about the nut in the back of the tank or the one in the front. It appears to me I could get to them both without opening the valve.

Thanks again for holding my hand through this.
Tere

If you are talking thedford a soda can works great to hold the valve open.

The clearance issue isn't with the valve itself, but the foot pedal staying out of the way so you can get at the nut. It's been a while since I replaced the commode, so I might be off a little, but I do remember the old tie downs being at 9 and 3, with the new being at 7 and 2[sort of]. Our new Thetford is a tall hand flush so the pipe-down-the-hole doesn't matter any more.

ccctimtation i like the radiant flooring idea more info ? pics ! gas water heater with a 12v pump . sounds like a simple idea to the heating of the coach ...a couple solenoids for engine heat hmmmm..........

install a basic heat exchanger .........with the engine heat .