Cast iron pipe too high and tilted - please help!

[wlam08]

I have a very silmilar problem to lancevs in the 11-20 post "tilted iron pipe."

I removed an old toilet about a year ago to have wood floors installed. (yes a year ago - it's a powder room and I 've been re-doing the whole house, so it hasn't been high on the priority list).

I just went install the new toilet and discovered that 1) the cast iron flange is loose (I haven't tried to yank it off yet.) and 2) the 4 inch cast iron pipe is tilted and too high so the back of the flange sits up about 5/8 inch and the fron is about 1/4 inch off the floor.

Initially, I thought it was as simple as pulling the old flange off and installing a 4x3 "push-in" flange (I don't trust myself with lead and oakum), but I tested the toilet fit and it rests on the pipe - not the floor. Not a good fit.

The bigger problem is that the pipe itself sits up above the floor and is flush with the top of the current flange. So, whatever new flange I use, the toilet will never sit on the floor. I don't have access to the pipe below the floor without tearing out some drywall.

I do most things myself and would like to do this without calling a plumber. I don't see any way out of this other than to cut the pipe. The question is, in this situation, where the pipe needs to be flush with the floor, what's the best way to do that? If you really think I should call a plumber, let me know...

Anyhow, I don't think the new floors add any height, so I don't think they've contributed to the problem.

Thanks!

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

cast flange

the one thing you can do is chisel and break that flange off

and then install a new cast flange.....

If you wish to use one of those drop in plastic flanges you

should be able to break off the flange then

chip off enough of that lip to make it sit flush to the floor...

you can take a 45 angle rigid wrench and set the teeth down to a very tight fit,

then grab the edje of the cast pipe lip with the wrench teeth and push downwards

and it should break and snap off nice 1/4 inch slices

just go all teh way around the pipe and you should have something



also.....dont be ashamed of having to call a plumber...

its not a sign of weakness...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Randyj]

also.....dont be ashamed of having to call a plumber...

its not a sign of weakness...

Mark.... EXCELLENT POST!

 

[wlam08]

I appreciate the help. I used a 4 inch angle grinder with a metal cutting blade to cut vertical slits in the top of the stack every 1/2 inch. It was relatively easy to snap each tab off with a set of vice grips. you just have to be careful not to pt too much pressure on the pipe itself.

The pipe is now flush and ready for the new flange.

The plumbing supply house recommend the Oatey twist-n-set flange - any suggestions on installation?

Thanks again!

 

[hj]

flange

I would use another lead/oakum flange because it will compensate for a crooked pipe. I am not sure that any compression flange will sit flat on the floor.

 

[wlam08]

All good advice. I dry-fit the PVC twist-in flange and bewtween the rubber gasket, the stack and the PVC, I had enough give to mount the flange flush with the floor. I'm still checking for leaks on the new toilet, but it seems to have worked.

However, the first flush led to another discovery.

The sink drain gurggled, so I ran the new faucet to fill the trap and flushed the toilet again. no gurggle. I thought I was done, but the sink gasps for air on about every third flush from the toilet. The powder room used to be the ice room in this 80 year old house, so all of the plumbing was fitted in after the house was built. There is a bathroom above it and a vent stack above that in the attic, but I'm not sure the powder room is connected to it. I don't have any issues with the sink other than when the toilet is flushed. That leads me to believe that the vent stack isn't clogged (from an animal, etc), but that the system in this bathroom isn't properly installed and I'll just have to kive with it. Any thoughts?

 

[Jadnashua]

If there isn't a separate vent for the toilet in that room, you can have problems as I gleaned from reading here. The stack from upstairs ceases to be a vent when there are things draining into it from above - you should have a vent from this toilet and sink that goes above the flood rim of the fixtures above (6" or 42" from the floor, whichever is higher) before you connect the vent back to the existing one.