I'm in the process of remodeling a bathroom in a 45 yr old house. After remove the first layer of the subfloor, that I'll be replacing with newer plywood, backer board, and then ceramic tile, the old toilet flange sticks up about 3/4". It was just about the wood before removal. It would end up just about flush with the tile, maybe a little higher, but the toilet should completely cover it. The current flange is soldered to the drain, which turns after only dropping 1-2 inches.

Questions: Is it OK not to have the flange under the tile? Is fitting the backer board around the flange in two pieces OK (kind of a tile question I guess)? Are there any good reasons to cut off the old flange?

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Thanks,

Mike

Don't cut the flange. Leave it the way it is. It is just fine to have it below finished floor. You can use extension ring to build it up to the floor level, or you can use "fat" wax ring to set and seal toilet.

Mike,
I wasn't remodeling but when I was trying to fix my mother-in-law's toilet, I found the flange already below the floor level. I looked all over to find something locally then did a search and found a YouTube video for Toilet Flange Repair... There is this company at Set-Rite Products - Toilet Flange Spacer System that I ordered their Extension Kit. I would check out their video first but I wound up ordering a couple extra kits to put in my truck since they worked so great.
I don't believe in stacking wax rings or siliconing in those 'extenders' they sell at HD or Lowe's... eventually they are going to leak and do damage.

Hope this helps...

Tom

Thank you for the suggestions. I like the looks of the Set-Rite product, if I end up needed to raise the flange. I've run into some slow downs in getting the tub plumbed, and have not got back to the floor yet. I'll put in a response when I finish with the floor..

Handy and Milo are correct. Leave the flange and use extenders.(see image) Good luck, Tom

Well it took forever, and another upcoming relative visit, to get this project finished. But in the end the flange ended up slightly above the tile and a regular wax seal from True Value was fine. Since my floor was in really good shape, and not flexing at all, after installing 3/8" plywood on top of a 5/8" sub-floor, and screws every 6-8", backer board was not installed. A thinner membrane from Homelux for water protection was installed, and worked perfectly.

Thanks for all you suggestions, and I'll remember the Set-Rite product, for my next; got to be quicker, project... :)

Hey Mike,
Thanks for the update. We always like to hear back to see if we've helped. Good luck in the future. Tom

Glad you have tackled it down !

Good luck... and stop by if you need any advice in the future ! Milo