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-   -   Dealing with iron toilet drain (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=461375)

  • Mar 30, 2010, 07:36 AM
    kubismo
    2 Attachment(s)
    Hi, I'm remodelling an old bathroom and my toilet drain pipe is cast iron. I have a few questions:
    1) does the drain essentially have to be flush with the finished floor?
    2) if so, how do I chop down the cast iron drain
    3) what kind of flange should I use?
    4) the drain looks to be very old (from 1930's) and is a bit damaged around the top - not perfectly round any more - what do I do about that?

    I have a couple of photos but I'm not sure how to attach them.

    Here we go with the images (I think) they sure don't make it easy on this site...


    One last thing, the diametre of the drain is 4 inches if that matters...
  • Mar 30, 2010, 02:44 PM
    CHayn

    Is that cast iron? It looks like a lead closet bend without a flange to me.
  • Mar 30, 2010, 04:31 PM
    speedball1

    Quote:
    is that cast iron? It looks like a lead closet bend without a flange to me.
    Give that man a cigar! Chayn nailed it!~ What you have is a old lead closet bend and back in those days, (yes I was aeound then) we didn't use closet flanges. We set a ring of plumbers putty on the floor and secured the bowl with wood screw closet bolts. ( A little history for you.) What you're going to hafta do is remove all the lead back to the cast iron and transition to PVC.
    Bet you'll have a whole new set of questions for us. Correct? Cheers, Tom
  • Mar 30, 2010, 06:29 PM
    kubismo

    Gents you are right - it is lead. I asked the folks at my local store and they said if its is malleable then it is lead. Do I really need to remove it? There has to be a flange that can fit over top. The bathroom was previously reno'ed in the late 90's and they put a cheap home depot toilet on top which must have had a flange of some sort... anything out there than can be used? If so, how do I chop off some of the lead to make it flush with the floor?
  • Mar 31, 2010, 03:54 AM
    CHayn

    I have come across a few of these that Tom or one of his buddies probably installed. They look like the just rolled the lead and flattened it to kind of make a flange. I would agree with Tom that you need to remove it to the cast and replace to do the job correctly.
  • Mar 31, 2010, 05:32 AM
    speedball1
    1 Attachment(s)

    Chayn nailed it again!
    Quote:
    They look like the just rolled the lead and flattened it to kind of make a flange.
    That's exactly how we did it. If you have enough stock to flatten it out on the floor they make a btass closet flange, (see image ) that you can secure to the floor with screws over the lead flange. Then you may set the toilet the regular way. Be gentle and do not allow the lead to split as you peen the lead over the floor.
    Your best shot would be to remove all the lead back to the cast iron and transition to PVC but I thought I'd give you a option. Good luck, Tom

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