Hi,

A toilet was leaking a little from underneath. When I took off the old toilet I came to find out that the iron flange was mostly gone, just lots of rust and roots around the pipe.

Cleaned everything out as much as I could.

The pipe has a gap around it, even though it does not wobble. Still some roots are seen down there, but too far for me to get to them.

The question is: Do I need to fill that gap with something? If yes, what should I use? Any way to prevent roots from growing there ?

Thank you for the help!

 

Hopefully others will chime in.

The closet flange needs to be airtight to the pipe and the flange itself should (needs to) be screwed to the floor without any wiggle. From your pictures, it's hard to tell if you have enough good wood to screw that closet flange down.

Those roots are what really worry me, but I do not have an answer for you.

 

It looks like you have a concrete slab foundation and a PVC toilet flange that had a steel ring. Is that correct?

I have never seen the steel ring type flange used with new construction so I assume it was a repair done sometime in the past. There are a couple options. One would be to carefully chisel what remains of the toilet flange on the outside of the pipe being careful not to damage the pipe. Then a new flange can be glued over the outside. Another is to use a flange that pushes down inside the pipe. It's easier to attach to the pipe but requires the ring to be mounted more securely. In either case if you go back with a type that has a steel ring get one with a stainless steel ring that will not rust.



Personally I'm not a fan of these type flanges. The steel ring always seems flimsy and can get bent when tightening the toilet bolts.

Here is another style to consider. I have never used it but it appears more heavy duty. Cast iron and it's a compression fit over the outside of the pipe.

 

You have a bigger problem then just that flange if there's roots all the way up that pipe where you can see them. That whole line needs to be snake with a special head that cuts off the roots.

 

There is no flange. You need to remove the old flange hub and install a new one. Either leaded or another type.

Looks like cast iron. I am looking for the vid on how to do that....

 

Thank you guys for the help!

The deal is that I just got my first house and not to sure about all that had been done there before me.

When I took of the toilet there was some flange metal ring left, but it was heavily corroded, so I removed it. The old flange hub is PVC. The foundation is concrete slab. The roots are only on the outside of the pipe.

I will try to chisel the remains of the flange. Can I install a PVC flange then ? Or should I go with some kind of a metal one? PVC seems to be more rust resistant.

Anyways I am wondering right now if I should try to deal with this myself at all or call a plumber. Afraid to screw up the pipe and cause more trouble.

 

From your pics the flange is gone. You need to remove the hub before you can do anything. Its leaded in.

Here is what I am pretty sure you have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIa1sTMenXc Also code here in NJ does not allow the insert type grommet repair flange. The outside one I believe can be used. But you still need hub removal.

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/images...ue-c40-420.jpg

 

thank you! Will try that.

 

Is your pipe cast iron or PVC? You mention that the old hub was PVC and installing a new flange by leading like Lawrosa mentioned can not be done if your pipe is PVC.

 

Hi there!

Was away for couple days.

The pipe is PVC. After watching the whole video realized it didn't actually applied to my situation.

After that I noticed that 1 of the 3 toilets I have, has recently been reinstalled.
I was going to change it anyways, too old and cheap.

So there I found the following kind of flange:



I guess I could do this kind for the first toilet as well.

My question is though: there is a small gap(3-5 mm) between the pipe and the concrete. Do I need to fill it with anything. Silicone maybe? or just leave it the way it is...

 

Your answer does not make sense and your pic in post #1 does not match this pic.....

Your pipe is pvc??? How did you attach the flange?...
Can you take real pics of your issue?

Dont know whats real or off the internet....

 

Sorry for the confusion.

Both pics are mine.

The first photo is of the Toilet #1 (master bathroom) - it still has no flange, the way it is shown on the first pic.

The second photo (with the flange on it) - Toilet #2(Guest bathroom) - I was changing that toilet as well and luckily it already had a new flange installed.

My questions were about Toilet #1.

I uploaded a photo of a flange from Toilet #2 as a reference to what had been used by people who owned the house before me.

The pipe is PVC.

Thank you for all your help!

 

All PVC pipe that I have ever seen was white, that looks like ABS pipe. You cannot mix PVC and ABS pipe or fittings. You also need full support under the flange.

 

Thank you, Luana. I am quite new to all that stuff. The pipe is not metal, so I thought it would be PVC. Will look into ABS flanges.