I had a crack in the lead closet bend under toilet that was replaced with PVC. The plummer said because of the removal of old pipe/water damage to floor he could not reset toilet because he could not mount the flange. I guess not enough "good floor" to attach flange to. He said he could do it but it would eventually start to wobble. There is a lot of empty space around the pipe of missing floor (about 2 inches-some spots more-all the way around) He said others in this position ended up re-tiling the floor. (I have an original 1" square tile floor) I had a tile guy out and he said he could tile over existing floor and "shore up" the existing floor underneath. Do I really need to get a new floor? Couldn't the floor under the toilet be reinforced to be able to mount the toilet? Thanks for any advice you have.

Chris522 - The plumber was right about replaceing the floor around that area. More then likely, it won't be very long you will be replaceing the whole floor ,from water damage, and cost will be higher. If the floor is rotted it WILL NOT hold the anchor bolts . You wouldn't have to replace the whole floor if its only rotted around the area where the toile sets. The anchor bolts are needed to hold the toilet down to the floor and to keep it from wobbling, once it starts wobbling it will break the seal of the wax ring and the toilet will starty leaking from under neath it ,them more trouble starts & more costs , to do repairs, why bandaid now and 6 months from now do all over again, with higher material and labor costs? Chris- Im not trying to be a smart alek ,IM speaking from 48 years exper.. Have a good day & good luck. ::: I hope this helps, if it has rate my ans. Below GOD BLESS ::::F.B.E.

Thank you for the info FBE. So do you think by re-tiling the floor it will be strong enough and stable enough to mount the toilet?

One more idea guys... how about opening the ceiling underneath the bathroom.. By measuring you could get close enough to the area that you should only have to open the ceiling up about 2 square feet or so... Then, plywood could be screwed up under the bad floor (shore up plywood with 2x6 if possible)... Just another thought.. a cheaper thought!

If it is a horse hair plaster ceiling could be a little messy... but if it a plaster ceiling , well... shouldn't be all that bad!!

Here, I use a jigsaw to cut a hole for the pipe in a piece of 3/4" plywood (as wide as the joist space will allow) Then I cut that down the middle and secure it up and around the pipe. (strengthen under the plywood with a 2x6 stud/joist or if nothing else will fit, a 2x4.).

OH! And then upstairs, you could fill the void with a hydraulic cement (expands) and then set your anchors and screw the flange down good and tight... HAS worked many times for me over the years!

Hey, let me know if you found this useful... :) Good luck!

Thanks for your input massplumber. The ceiling under the toilet is open (basement) so it is accessible. I will offer this suggestion to contractors as I am unable to do that kind of job myself. I appreciate the info!