Yes yes.. I'm a rookie. OK...

Just wondering what I can do with my toilet flange. After I installed it I realize that the flange is about 1/4" higher than the floor and it is tilted to one side.

Do you think an extra thick wax ring will allow me to level out my toilet AND compress it enough for the toilet to sit flat on the floor?

Knucklez

Not knowing what material we're talking about, (Cast iron or plastic) puts a dapper on our answering. Howerver, The flange will have to be removed and installed correctly.
You ask, "do you think an extra thick wax ring will allow me to level out my toilet AND compress it enough for the toilet to sit flat on the floor?"
No I don't. A cocked flange will compress one side of the wax ring while allowing the other side to gap. Go back and redo it. Good luck, Tom

You said the flange is tilted to one side and that it is higher that the tile. Is the side that is lowest even with the tile?? If this is the case I would set the commode using a wax gasket, tighten the commode snug to the floor and then flush it several times looking for a leak on the floor if you don't have a leak you are in good shape, if you do have one then you have wasted at most the price of a wax ring and the price of a couple of bolts.
I have found that the wax rings that are about one inch think are very forgiving and will take care of a little difference in the level of the flange.

Now you're going to hafta tell us what the measurements are. Hig much in the flange cocked and how high is it off the floor? Regards, Tom

Hi peoples.. thanks for the feedback.

I tried to snap some pictures, but it doesn't really come out right.

On one side of the flange it is flush with the floor. On the other side I can just fit my middle finger (purposely) under the flange. My finger width is a little less than 1/2" or so.

the flange is black PVC connecting to a 3" PVC drain, it is flush with the floor. The floor is wooden pine planks and is itself not entirely flat.

I tried stepping on the flange to see if it would move flush an I could just bolt it down but it barely moved. I think its because I didn't cut enough of the joist away which is right below. In retrospect I should have used one of those special flanges that have an angle on them to reach those old 10" away from the wall toilets... oh well.

Knucklez

Wow.. this message board has gotten busy lately. You must be feeling overwhelmed speedball no?

I've just keep on plugging away. I sure am grateful for everybody helping to answer questions on this page. Thanks guys! Tom

OK, so its been a while and I have been working on other aspects of the renovation.. but now I am back to this problem of flange too high and not level.

Here are the details and my proposed solution:
- bathroom on 2nd floor of house
- toilet to be installed is one of those commercial types with no tanks
- toilet plumbing is all new. The drain pipe is 3" black ABS. i think i said "PVC" before which is probably wrong.. i think "pvc" is grey colour and typically used for outdoor electrical cabling.. what i am talking about is black standard home depot plumbing fittings and pipes and stuff.
- the flange is not level and at its highest point is just under 1" off the floor. The other end of the flange is about 1/8" off the floor.
- i put some temporary wood shims (at 1" thick, is it still called a shim?) under the flange so I could test it without worry of cracking the flange
- flange is NOT screwed into the pine plank floor (yet) but it will be, using stainless steel wood screws
- this is too high because when I dry fit the toilet I see that the back of the toilet does not rest on the floor
- I put a couple of plastic toilet shims under the toilet because the flange is so high the bowl doesn't sit on the floor and even still I had to stack them!). Then I did a 'sit and wobble' test... the bowl wobbled
- took the bowl off, flipped it upside down and looked at the recession around the drain.. it looks like 1/2" .. just barely.. so my flange better not sit higher than 1/2" off the floor! I think this is the height of the ABS flange, so even if it were perfectly flat it would maybe.. just.. fit. Not much room for error here!

So I have 2 options
1) rip up the floor, or go from underneath and try to cut out the flange, or maybe even the 90 elbow and flange and try to reset it. There was, at the time, a joist in the way and I didn't know about offset flanges (at the time). So I was cutting away at the joist (just a smidge.. ) to make room for the drain pipe. So I think this option would actually be harder than it seems.

2) build a platform for the toilet, perhaps using 1/2" thick plywood. I could put white caulk around the edge to hide the wood. In this case the flange would still be not level, in fact, half the flange would be BELOW the new grade, and half would be ABOVE.. but a good wax ring seal should be OK. At least the bowl sits level and stationary. Would you recommend a wax ring with horn I this case?

I'm leaning towards option 2.. What about you?

PVC is white and is used to pipe cold water while electrical conduit is gray and used to encase wires. ABS is black.

How about option#3? Since the flange is cocked why not do it right? Open up the ceiling and take a Saws-All and cut the ABS drain a few inches ahead of the 90 and straighten up the flange. To reconnect you nbhave the option of priming and gluing in a ABS coupling or use a NO-Hub type coupling. Now your flange is level and you may set the toilet in the normal fashion. Good luck, Tom

Sorry, the gap of the flange at the highest point is 1/2" not 1" as written. The gap + flange is just less than 1", but the gap itself is only 1/2".

Option 3 is much like option 1. to do this, I would open the ceiling and cut the straight pipe of the ABS, just ahead of the 90. Then I would probably have to rotate the 90 a bit and reconnect it to the straight drain (using a 3" coupling ABS item). i would have some work to cut into the joist a bit so that it is possible to rotate the flange a bit, but this is doable, i'm not afraid of a little work! ok, so now the flange is level. but it would probably be sitting 1/4" gap off the floor. The gap now being even around the flange since the flange is level.

Do you still believe this is the best option?

If the flange's level and only sets 1/4" above the floor then the bowl should set flat against the floor and bolt to the flange ok. The bowl has a lip that's greater then 1/4" so that should compensate for the raised flange. **or**
You could shim the bowl level and then set it. Good luck in whatever you decide. Tom

OK, thanks for all the advice. I'll take a second look, decide what I do and report back next week as to the results.

Knucklez

OK, so I went to the floor below and cut into the ceiling. Removed the old 90' and toilet flange. Dropped in a new one, 90' LONG and toilet flange and 6 stainless steel screws to hold the flange down. I used ABS cement to attach all the ABS fittings. Used a lot of glue.

Installed the toilet using a wax ring with flange/horn. Bolted the toilet down. Allowed toilet bowl to fill with water. Let water sit in bowl, did not flush.

Then I noticed a leak!

It was coming from the ABS, where the 90' attaches to the straight drain piece. Wow, this is rare, I mean this stuff usually is very leak proof even without ABS cement!

How disappointed I was.

So, now I have to cut out the 90', the flange and redo it! The flange screws into the wood floor will have to come out too so that sucks because I don't know if the new screws will have anything to bite into.

anyway, my question is this..

When I removed the toilet, I looked at the wax ring. It looked a little too smushed.. is there such a thing? Did I bolt the toilet down too hard?

Here are some pictures




And

By the way, that flange is sitting perfectly level now.

Any comments? Thanks :)

FYI, I documented this project with many pics over at:

my toilet install, 90 year old home - DIY Chatroom - DIY Home Improvement Forum