[paulbaul]

How do you remove a plastic flange glued on top of ABS Pipe? The metal around the flange has rusted and more than half is broken off with the foundation. The old flange is made of some sort of plastic and is glued right on top of the ABS pipe but it's not perfectly in line with the pipe so the opening of the 3" pipe has been enclosed slightly. I tried to put a 3" flange into the pipe over the old flange but it doesn't fit inside of it.

Should I somehow file off the inside of the old flange to make more room to fit a new one?
Also what kind of flange should I use for the ABS pipe? Is it best to glue it or get a flange with rubber ring around it that sticks out to seal it?

Thanks

[cyberheater]

Kind of hard to picture what you have detailed above, but if it's 3 inch flange that is there now, the only way I know is to remove the old flange by using a screw driver and hammer to the inside and lightly breaking it away.

Others here may have another idea, but even if you cut into it, you still need a way to break it off.

[massplumber2008]

Hi Paul...

Wondering if you are describing an OFFSET FLANGE? See image. If you have an ABS offset flange with a broken metal flange ring then you will probably be best to remove the rest of the old metal flange ring with a pair of aviation (tin) snips and then install a new CLAMSHELL TYPE repair ring... see images below. These will only be available at a plumbing supply store or online.

Let us know more here...

MARK

[paulbaul]

No, it's not an offset flange. It's a regular one that lies outside of the soil pipe. I think the problem was that the flange was below the surface of the floor. The builders had used 2 wax rings to make sure they filled the gap but didn't work and now the wood flooring around it has rotted and it leaked on our ceiling (it's upstairs bathroom).

I went to Lowe's and bought a flange that comes with a gasket around the outside of the tail, which cost 4x more than a regular flange. It took some time getting it to fit tight around the inside of the pipe. Then I had a hard time getting it leveled for some reason. But screwed it down on one side only to make it more leveled. And plus, I didn't have much foundation to screw all around the flange because the hole is too large. In the process, I had to move the unit towards me a little (may be 1/8") because that was the only way to get the side of the floor to screw it down. Would this cause a problem? I didn't jerk it or anything.

Then, instead of using a wax ring, I used one of those Flushmaster plastic ones that uses an O-ring on the bottom and has a red gasket on the top of it. When I placed the toilet, I held the back of the toilet higher it so I can balance it with my weight. Then, I couldn't lower it straight down because it was too heavy. The front part of the toilet hit the floor and then the back. Is that a problem? There were no leaks on the floor but I'm mostly concerned about leak on the ceiling.