icandoit
May 11, 2006, 11:09 PM
Well, I thought I was doing good without having to disturb my existing toilet flange during my current basement remodel job, but then I decided to go with this new Dricore subfloor system, which means raising the flange. When I went to remove the old flange one of the three bolts securing it to the cast pipe flange broke off inside the flange and when I removed the old flange I found that the pipe was never secured to anything. In fact the whole pipe is loose and floats around in the hole in the slab floor. (see pictures)
It's a cast iron system and I noticed a rubber seal down inside the pipe that the closet flange was sealed to. It looks OK, other than rusty and dirty from the old flange. I'm not sure if this seal is removeable or not but I didn't try to pull it out. I'm sure I can drill out the broken bolt stud. That part I'm not worried about. What I am concerned about is that the pipe in the ground is not secured to anything, and it appears to be cocked at an angle instead of level with the floor. I can tip it up on the low side with a screwdriver, but it wants to spring right back down when I let it go.
So what do I do with this mess? With the new subfloor plus tile I calculate I need to raise it about an inch. I think that's more than the extenders that can be bought, unless I stack a bunch of them, which sounds like a mess waiting to happen.
I searched for a new floor flange that has a longer tail on it but couldn't find anything that would work. The only solution I can think of is to cut off the pipe flange and couple a section of 4" ABS to the existing cast iron. Then I can leave it as long as I want and cut it to fit when I get ready to install the toilet. I'm hoping someone has a better solution as I don't want to bust up the floor if I don't have to.
Thanks... Randy
Pic1 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/7778877.jpg)
Pic2 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/7888134.jpg)
Pic3 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/3615764.jpg)
It's a cast iron system and I noticed a rubber seal down inside the pipe that the closet flange was sealed to. It looks OK, other than rusty and dirty from the old flange. I'm not sure if this seal is removeable or not but I didn't try to pull it out. I'm sure I can drill out the broken bolt stud. That part I'm not worried about. What I am concerned about is that the pipe in the ground is not secured to anything, and it appears to be cocked at an angle instead of level with the floor. I can tip it up on the low side with a screwdriver, but it wants to spring right back down when I let it go.
So what do I do with this mess? With the new subfloor plus tile I calculate I need to raise it about an inch. I think that's more than the extenders that can be bought, unless I stack a bunch of them, which sounds like a mess waiting to happen.
I searched for a new floor flange that has a longer tail on it but couldn't find anything that would work. The only solution I can think of is to cut off the pipe flange and couple a section of 4" ABS to the existing cast iron. Then I can leave it as long as I want and cut it to fit when I get ready to install the toilet. I'm hoping someone has a better solution as I don't want to bust up the floor if I don't have to.
Thanks... Randy
Pic1 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/7778877.jpg)
Pic2 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/7888134.jpg)
Pic3 (http://star.walagata.com/w/fubar94/3615764.jpg)