Fernco Inc. FTS-4CF 3-Inch by 4-Inch Wax Free Toilet Seal

For this to work properly, your mating sewer drain pipe for the toilet should be a matched sized PVC to the wax free seal and in good condition (not pitted or grooved). If it is not a smooth PVC mating surface or your trying to use this on a rough surface cast pipe, it is not going to work. If installed properly, these things last at least 10 times longer than the wax seals. I have installed several of these over the last 5 years and none have leaked so far.Tip: On one cast toilet floor drain pipe I installed one of these on, I honed out the rough surface just enough to fit a mating 5 inch long PVC pipe into it. Before inserting the PVC pipe, I heavily siliconed the mating surface of the cast pipe so the silicone would seal the PVC to the casting. I let it sit for 24 hours and then installed the toilet with the new wax free seal. With the old wax seal, I always had a problem with this toilet blowing the seal whenever the sewer line back up for any reason. Since installing the wax free seal, it has never blown the seal or leaked whenever the sewer has backed up. This was well worth the extra effort to install.

It boggles my mind why anyone, including professional plumbers, would use anything else.On a used toilet, bring the toilet outside, and clean the entire horn area by scrubbing with comet cleanser, and hose rinsing. Followed by a rag soaked in alcohol. Let dry fully, and install seal.To ease installing toilet, coat the ribs of the seal with liquid dish soap, before "plugging in" to the flange/pipe.

I was a bit skeptical at first - but after speaking with a local plumber I decided I would go ahead and try it. Our bathroom closet had a sewer smell that would come and go. We washed out the vent pipes on the roof and the next thing to try was to pull the toilet and replace the wax ring.Come to find out, the wax ring failed and was allowing sewer gases to enter the home - rather than have to worry about a wax ring and after the positive feedback from a plumber I installed this product.The adhesion of the seal to the porcelain is quite good - if you had a wax ring before I would certainly recommend scraping off the wax and using a fairly stiff brush attempt to scrub and remove the remaining wax remnants. Only apply the seal once the wax is removed from the horn and the surrounding area and after the porcelain is completely dry (we used a hair dryer to speed things up). Upon installation I certainly "felt the seal" - another tip I would also recommend using dish soap to help the seal's ribs go into the PVC.2 weeks later, no smells and no leaks.

I too had problems installing the Fernco seal on my toilet due to fit. I have a newly purchased 14" rough-in toilet and had similar problems to other reviewers with "old toilets". After installing a PVC repair flange and re-tiling the bathroom the flange height was slightly above the level of the floor. With the Fernco seal installed my toilet floated on top of the floor, and would have required shims to sit level. No amount of bolt tightening or pressure would get it it seat properly.When shimmed up the seal performed flawlessly and without leaks through three install/removal cycles, so I want to say that the product works great for installs with "modern" toilets, but before buying this you need to check the space between your toilet horn and the flange to make sure there's a good sized gap.

Fernco Products are durable and strong . Easy and reliable. I use them everywhere and feel comfortable relying on them no matter how much water pressure they must face.