Proper toilet flange height

Hi,
long story short - after re-doing the floor, I realized the flange is now too high (maybe 1/4" inch too high). The flange and pipe are both PVC. Because the floor is done, it's very difficult to cut the flange and lower it from top.
I have clear access from the basement. So i'm thinking about cutting the PVC from the basement (cut 1/4" to 1") to lower the flange.

The questions I have are:
1) is the depth of the "groove" around the toilet horn standard ? I'm wondering if there are toilets out there with "deeper" groove (1/4" inch deeper) - this way I don't have to do anything !!

2) if #1 is no-no...
is there a standard height between the "top" surface of the flange and the surface of the floor ? Apparently, the toilet cannot sit on the flange. Too little gap will not be enough for the wax. Too much gap will cause leak. How much gap do i need ?


Thanks !!

Any modern toilet along with a flange designed in the last decade or longer will fit if the flange is installed as designed. That means that the flange is sitting on TOP of the finished floor and anchored firmly to it with no gap under it. There can be no gap under the flange, or it will be too high for many toilets to sit flat, and thus prevent a seal.

Cut the whole thing off, install a new one, anchor it to the floor, and make up the connections underneath would be my choice. Well, actually you need to work from the place you cut it off to the new. If the existing flange is in decent shape, you could keep it, but cutting off enough and then reattaching is often more of a pain, that using new materials is faster and easier.

okay thanks... the PVC flange i currently have is kinda think (maybe 1/4" thick). With the flange sitting on top of the finished floor (tiles), it'll be about 1/4" higher than the finished floor... is that okay ?

Yep. That's fine.
Mike