Customer Reviews

Fernco Inc. FTS-3 3-Inch Wax Free Toilet Seal

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This glues to the base of the toilet and ensures a long term leak free seal. great product .. all toilets should use these.. i'll never install another toilet with a wax seal. If you have chronic "pee" smell in the bathroom you probably have a leak of the wax seal.

Don't be fooled by the Fluidmaster waxless seals. they rely on a foam pad which in my opinion doesn't seal near as well as the fernco. http://www.amazon.com/Fluidmaster-7500P8-Wax-Free-Bowl-Gasket/dp/B000BQUG7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1301842760&sr=1-1 (these are at home depot but i did not find the fernco there)

I just installed 4 new Eco Drake toilets in my house and a few pointers when using these..

If you have had leaking for a while examine the floor around the flange carefully to ensure there is no rot of the subfloor. If there is rot this should be repaired..
[...]

There are three sizes of Fernco waxless seals. Choose the correct size waxless seal based on the flange and the pipe and how the flange is glued to the pipe.

There are generally two sizes of pipe. 3 inch is most common 4 inch less common. You must have the correct size.

The flanges are also two different sizes. the flange can be glued on the outside of the pipe or the inside of the pipe. These waxless seals wil not work on the reto fit flanges and the nonstandard flanges. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=pvc+closet+flange&x=0&y=0

Examine the flange carefully. If you have had remodeling of the bath the flange may be below the level of the floor. Toilets are designed to have the flange on top of the finished floor. If yours is below the finished floor please put and extender on the flange to bring it to the proper height.
http://www.amazon.com/PVC-Closet-Flange-Spacer-Ring/dp/B000KKON1M These are attached to the existing flange using silicone caulk and stainless screws to fix to the subfloor. Sometimes you may have to add two or more of the spacers to bring the level to above the finished floor. I prefer size 10 X 1 1/2 or two inch stainless steel oval head screws into the subfloor.

When installing they work best on a new toilet with NO wax on the horn of the toilet. They can be used on old toilets but ALL THE WAX needs to be removed. I used gas after scrapping all the wax off . Be careful when using these strong solvents and always use then outdoors.
To insure the fernco bonds to the horn of the toilet i used a hair dryer to slightly warm the toilet base.

Seat the toilet using your weight to push the flange into the pipe. Lubricate the flange with dish soap. Attach the flange to the toilet with toilet bolts Johnny bolts or glass filled nylon bolts.
http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Bolts-Open-Cap-Nuts/dp/B000L87RN4/ref=sr_1_58?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1301844139&sr=1-58

have the toilet seated to the floor and tight the toilet bolts. if there is rocking of the toilet stablize the rocking using small plastic shims
http://www.amazon.com/WM-Harvey-091816-Toilet-Shims/dp/B000H5OWE8/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301844691&sr=1-1-fkmr1

If it still wobbles slightly, secure it using caulk I like poly seam seal with just a small bead (you may have to remove it someday) leaving no caulk on the back of the toilet so that any water can escape should there be a leak for heaven's sake.

[...]

I figured out that Fernco was shorter than the FluidMaster brand waxless seal. That shortness was what I needed since the distance from the top of the floor flange to the first 90 degree elbow was short.

Took extra time to follow the directions on removing ALL the old gunky wax from the previous wax ring. I used a putty knife and then sprayed window cleaner with ammonia in it. Got it CLEAN. Used a cloth rag after paper towels shredded on the rough ceramic surface around the toilet horn. Dried well and warmed the area with a hair dryer. I wanted the adhesive ring to really stick to the horn area. Probably wasn't needed but that's me.

I can tell you that this adhesive is super strong because no sooner had I pushed it down home when I remembered that I hadn't put the floor screws through the floor flange a year ago. DUH! That was the whole reason that I pulled the toilet again this time! So I had to pull the toilet up right away. Brother! Get this, when the two barbed sealing ridges on the Fernco tailpiece caught on a space inside the plastic drainpipe, I thought I'd be yanking the whole thing off the bottom of the toilet. I really had to put my back into it to get the toilet loose! When I did, there was the Fernco still glued TIGHT. Unbelievable! I'll never use another wax ring.

Four Stars because it held my toilet higher than the wax did. Had to shim the base with coins and caulk the gap. No big deal...

This product is so far superior to a wax ring. I have used about 10 of them in different properties that I have owned. I have 4 in my current house. It forms a great worry-free seal. It will not collapse like a wax ring. It also solves any floor height issues created by thick stone or tile floors. Wax rings are officially obsolete!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recommend lubricating the seal with hair conditioner or lotion before setting the toilet so that it slides into the flange easily. The adhesive on the top of seal that sticks the seal to the toilet is probably sufficient but I also add a bead of silicone around to the seal after pressing it onto the bottom of the toilet. I then let that set up for a few hours before setting the toilet.

I bought this product based partly on Van E. Wahlgren's review, which he expands on the Fluid Master wax-free seal page. I had also used a similar product in building a filter system for my large garden pond, so I thought it would work well. I was not disappointed. It was my first toilet installation, and I think it would have been more difficult with a wax seal.

I also saw Mr. Wahlgren's recommendation of plastic flange bolts, but had difficulty finding any. I should have read all his reviews, because I just found the one where he names them as Wm Harvey nylon closet bolts. They are actually glass-filled nylon, not nylon-filled plastic, but at any rate I ended up buying some plastic bolts I thought were the right thing, only to have them arrive labeled as toilet SEAT bolts (Aubuchon has since corrected that listing on their site). They fit the flange so I used them, but bookmarked the Harvey bolts in case these break!

Again, the Fernco wax-free seal is easy to use and quite water-tight, and if I ever install another toilet I'll buy another one.

Installed new hardwood floor in the downstairs half bath which raised the toilet about 1/2 inch above the flange. I installed the extra thick reinforced wax ring to compensate. It didn't, the resulting slow leak went undetected for several weeks until the hardwood began to warp and creak. Had to pull up the hardwood and replace, also the swelling hardwood put enough pressure on the flange bolts that they cracked the pvc flange. My choice was cut the pvc pipe from below and replace the flange and level it to the new hardwood or drill through the subfloor, get longer flange bolts and try the waxless seal. I chose the later. Installation was easy and it created a seal in the pipe below the cracked flange. No leak after one month of use, my only concern is how long the adhesive seal will stick on the toilet horn??? So far so good.

Why would anyone use a wax ring ever again? It's so last century. With the Fernco waxless you will be able to move your toilet around during installation and beyond and never have a wax blowout leak. It's cheap too. Take the toilet out for whatever reason and pop back in. The glue on the ring, in my estimation, will never release. Its make a positive gas seal. This is my second toilet with the Fernco. I'll never go back.

I'm sold! No more wax rings. This is the only way that I want to install toilets. I had to install my new toilet bowl twice. The first time I realized my flange bolts were too short. No problem. I just pulled off the bowl from the flange (rubber seal stayed on bottom of toilet bowl perfectly), replaced the short bolts with new longer ones, then placed toilet bowl back over flange. No mess and no leaks afterward! With wax ring I would have to get another wax ring before reinstalling, clean off the old messy wax ring before installing the new one. I highly recommend this product.

the seal is better than beeswax. i found some good tips online, put some clalk around the base seal to seal it extra tight to the toilet and put drinking straws on the base bolts for a easy line up for finding 3 holes at one time . you can feel it go in the hole. and if you put it on and it still skinks, clean it real good and put some bleach it, and let it sit in there it will smell and look good . i like it better than wax .YOU CAN DO IT!!!

I had tried 2 wax rings in two years--decided I had nothing to lose trying this...Installation was actually pretty easy. SO far, no leak...this product's design make a lot of sense..

This is a new product that our store has brought in. I'm always interested in how these things "really" work, so I am eager to hear how it goes for people, good -and- bad. One thing that I will say, we received one back as a "defective," and when I tried to get it out of the box, the adhesive (which had been exposed when the customer removed the protective paper) stuck to the cardboard like crazy. If this is how it will perform in an actual installation, be leakproof against the porcelan, and stand up to removal and reinsertion of a toilet, as the product claims, then I would like to hear about it. If these tests can be met, then it truly is a great product.

(Retailers, beware. After I wrestled returned product out of the box, I realized that the customer hadn't completely cleaned the thing off. Thank God we sell antibacterial soap)