My toliet was wobbling from side to side. We removed the toliet and found that they flange was not screwed to the floor. The flange is made out lead. Is there a way to fix the flange without having to remove the floor. Thanks

speedball1

Hi Liz,
They don't make closet flanges out of lead. They are made out of plastic, cast iron, brass or hard metal. If you're in a older home and the piece the toilet sets on is lead then you have a lead closet bend with a flared end. This is not a bad thing and do not disturb the flared end or you will end up having to replace the closet bend under the floor. Let me show you how to secure and reset your toilet. First off, a closet flange is not necessary. all it does is hold the toilet tight to the floor. When your house was plumbed we didn't have closet flanges or wax seals. We used wood screw closet bolts to tie the bowl down and plumbers putty for a seal.
Since you've failed to tell me what type of floor the toilet is setting on I'm going to assume it's wood and give instructions on how to set your toilet to a wooden floor. Go to a plumbing store and purchase 2 wood screw type closet bolts and a wax seal. Now set the toilet over the opening and mark the holes. Remove the toilet and screw the closet bolts into the marked spots. You are now ready to set the toilet. Place the wax ring on the bowl and place the toilet so the bolts come through the holes in the bowl. Before tightning the bolts give the bowl a little twist to seat the wax seal. Tighten the bolts untill the bowl will no longer turn when you attempt to twist it. Do not over tighten as china is very brittle and will crack and break. hook up the water and you're home free. And now you know how we used to set toilets in the old days. good luck, Tom

lizzy9999

I talked to my husband and he explained it further. We have a newer
home (1999), however when they plumbed it they used a lead closet bend
and probably a brass flange. The house has a slab foundation. As
stated in the previous posting, the plumber also decided not to secure
the flange to the (concrete) floor. It looks like when the toilet
rocked, it split the closet bend right at the floor level. The flange
has totally tore away from the bend. This may eliminate your solution
since the flared end has been torn away. So is there an easy fix like
soldering the flange back on? Or do we have to beak up the concrete
around the bend, replace the bend and flange, re-concrete, secure the
flange to the concrete, re-tile and set the toilet? The plumber has
suggested the later, but it will be a large bill (which our warranty
won't cover since it was improperly installed initially).

speedball1

"It looks like when the toilet rocked, it split the closet bend right at the floor level. The flangehas totally tore away from the bend. This may eliminate your solution since the flared end has been torn away. So is there an easy fix like
soldering the flange back on? Or do we have to beak up the concrete
around the bend, replace the bend and flange, re-concrete, secure the
flange to the concrete, re-tile and set the toilet? The plumber has
suggested the later, but it will be a large bill (which our warranty
won't cover since it was improperly installed initially)."

Is the lead closet bend, (We havent used them since the 40's,) so that you may lift it a bit and can make even a small flare over the floor. If not then you may have to bite the bullet and follow your plumbers advice. Regards, tom

lizzy9999

Thanks for the advice. It was helpful.