# Forum Home Renovation Bathrooms  Installing new toilet

## AJ

I am about to replace an old toilet and have bought a new pan collar rubber seal for the waste. I have heard that when installing a new collar it needs to be lubricated before fitting the bowl. What is the best lubricant to use or would water suffice? 
When fitting the bowl do I run a bead of silicone around the bottom of the bowl and prop up the bowl in 4 places with 5mm spaces until the silicone sets. Then remove the spaces once the silicone has set and fill the gap they have left with silicone so that the bowl is actually sitting on a bead of silicone (It is also going to be screwed to the floor). The other option is to screw the bowl to the floor and then run a bead of silicone around the edge to act as a seal which would be the easiest option but is it the best?

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## jezz

> when installing a new collar it needs to be lubricated before fitting the bowl. What is the best lubricant to use or would water suffice?

  Lubrication ensures the seal does not twist or get distorted for a good fitting. Once in place, providing there is no future movement, lube will not be required. 
There is stuff called Grease - not very expensive and takes a long time to dry-out. Then there is water, it dries-out in a few hours. You know what happens to rubber when it's old and dry! 
I'm not quite sure what type of grease the perfectionist would use though - Serious! I myself have some silicon grease, but I don't know if thats much good for stuff other than o-rings in the automotive industry.    

> When fitting the bowl do I run a bead of silicone around the bottom of the bowl and prop up the bowl in 4 places with 5mm spaces until the silicone sets. Then remove the spaces once the silicone has set and fill the gap they have left with silicone so that the bowl is actually sitting on a bead of silicone (It is also going to be screwed to the floor).

  I'm no expert here, but running a bead, then it drys may cause you to not have a level pan. Best to silicon it with enough to do the job at the time of screwing down, then you wipe excess silicon away with finger or damp rag. Don't injest the stuff through your skin, it is poisonous, so have a bowl of water or wet rag to wet your finger if you use your finger to remove excess.

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## GeoffW1

Hi, 
Hope the proper plumbers here can give you a word of wisdom, but... a bit of silicon spray or grease should be OK on that rubber seal. 
I have it from a plumber, that did 2 dunnies for us, that most are now just fixed to a nylon bracket on the inside, which has in turn been screwed to the floor. This means the screw fixing holes in the sides of the pan, low down, are horizontal.  
Then a bead of silicon sealant, white or clear, is run round the pan base when in place. 
This means the pan is easy to remove if there are leaks. All this applies especially to the back-to-wall type of toilet. 
Cheers

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## Haveago1

I have installed 2 P traps toilets in our place. They had provision for screw down but I just used a thick bead of bathroom scilicon sealant to hold them in place..also makes levelling a lot easier... 
I used Vaseline to lube the seal, as was said, once its in place the lube had done its job..

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## GeoffW1

> I have installed 2 P traps toilets in our place. They had provision for screw down but I just used a thick bead of bathroom scilicon sealant to hold them in place..also makes levelling a lot easier... 
> I used Vaseline to lube the seal, as was said, once its in place the lube had done its job..

  Hi, 
Vaseline is petroleum jelly, and will rot some types of rubber, but I don't know if the dunnie collar rubbers are like that. 
Cheers

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## murray44

I generally use a few drops of liquid soap or wash up liquid to lube rubber gaskets, o-rings etc. I've heard horror stories about using that sort of stuff i.e. rots the rubber etc but have never had any probs myself.

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## lloyd the void

I did the same thing to my dunny as Haveago and all seems fine.  Although i'm waiting for the 120 keg sister-in-law  :Yikes2: to give it burl before i start to relax.

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## AJ

Thanks for the advise everyone. I ran a bead of silicone under base of bowl before installing and sprayed some silicone spray on the seal before installing and it all worked out really well. Bolting pan to floor was no problem as I remembered the old rule: measure three times before drilling holes to make sure it is right. 
Thanks all  :Blush7:

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## GeoffW1

> I did the same thing to my dunny as Haveago and all seems fine. Although i'm waiting for the 120 keg sister-in-law to give it burl before i start to relax.

   :Laughing1:  :Rofl:  :Smack:  
How are you going to pose the question when she comes out?   :Upset:

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## lloyd the void

Might just hold my breath and sneak in after she's given it a working over to see what the damage is. Hopefully everything is still in one piece  :2thumbsup:

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