We are putting down tile. Have wood floors so had to put down hardback board first. Our house is approx. 28 yrs. Old. Removed the toilet. We have a metal flange screwed into the original subfloor. We cut a hole in the backerboard around it. The flange is under the lip of a PVC collar that is glued to the 4" PVC. When we apply mortar and tile it will cause the flange to be lower than new floor. We cannot raise existing PVC or flange higher than it is. We purchased a PVC Two Finger Toilet Flange that has a pvc sleeve that fits down into the 4" pipe and sit on top of the existing flange. That still will leave 1/2 " lower than the new floor. Can we add another toilet flange extender on top of the other one or is that a bad idea. Is our only recourse to cut off existing 4" PVC coming up through the floor (under crawspace) and put a new longer PVC pipe up through the floor and use the backerboard as the existing floor. We want to tile under the toilet up to the flange but not attach the flange to the tile and have to drill through the tile. Need help soon. We borrowed a tile cutter from church member and need to get it back. Thanks for any suggestions.

Whoa, hold it right there. Forget all your calculations and extension pieces, and rejoice because your troubles are about to end: there is NO REASON why the flange cannot be ½" below the finished floor.

Let's analyze why: the sole purpose of the flange is to secure the toilet to the floor, to prevent it from moving around or rocking back and forth. The flange being lower than the floor will not affect the drain connection; the toilet should have a 4-inch "horn" on the bottom that pokes through the flange and into the closet bend, so even with your flange ½" below floor level, you'll still have about 3½" of "horn" inside the drain pipe. (In fact, in the olden days there wasn't even such a thing as a toilet flange - toilets were screwed directly into the floor using wood screw closet bolts or the like.) Your only concern is that the closet bolts (the two screws pointing upward from the flange, that you bolt the toilet to) should be long enough - if they were trimmed exactly to the height necessary for the old toilet setup, they will now be ½" too short, since the toilet is ½" higher than it used to be - but even so, that's pretty easy to fix.

So forget about trying to raise the flange - it's fine the way it is. Enjoy your remodel!

Hope I've helped (if yes, please rate my post by clicking "Comment on this Post" in the upper right corner of my post).

Cheers,
Moishe

If the wax seal will recess under the floor line you might want to consider adding another wax seal to make sure the seal's water tight. Bevel the double seal outward so the wax will expand outward instead of inward to block the toilets discharge. Good luck, Tom

Halleluiah

How do I raise the toilet flange to match new flooring

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Originally Posted by wedo4u

how do i raise the toilet flange to match new flooring

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There are closet flange extensions that will allow you to raise the flange in 1/4 inch increments.

Just make sure you follow the instructions and glue it with silicone caulk to the existing closet flange.

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Originally Posted by parplusone

We are putting down tile. Have wood floors so had to put down hardback board first. Our house is approx. 28 yrs. old. Removed the toilet. We have a metal flange screwed into the original subfloor. We cut a hole in the backerboard around it. The flange is under the lip of a PVC collar that is glued to the 4" PVC. When we apply mortar and tile it will cause the flange to be lower than new floor. We cannot raise existing PVC or flange higher than it is. We purchased a PVC Two Finger Toilet Flange that has a pvc sleeve that fits down into the 4" pipe and sit on top of the existing flange. That still will leave 1/2 " lower than the new floor. Can we add another toilet flange extender on top of the other one or is that a bad idea. Is our only recourse to cut off existing 4" PVC coming up through the floor (under crawspace) and put a new longer PVC pipe up through the floor and use the backerboard as the existing floor. We want to tile under the toilet up to the flange but not attach the flange to the tile and have to drill through the tile. Need help soon. We borrowed a tile cutter from church member and need to get it back. Thanks for any suggestions.

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If you can access the 4 inch pvc under the crawl space then you have answered your own question. To avoid future problems do it right and cut your pvc and add a higher nipple to achieve desired height and never worry again. If you take any other way you will be doing it again soon. Pvc is very easy to work with removing and installing