Bathroom remodel help

[oxicottin]

First I would like to say hello to everyone since I’m new to the forum . I had just purchased a home and I’m doing a remodeling job on the bathroom. It had plaster walls that were 1" thick and walls didn’t have those slats of wood but it had a material like drywall and mesh together. Anyway I removed the walls and floor "Hardwood" and decided to keep the ceiling because there was nothing wrong with it. When I removed the floor and toilet ect there was no flange on the cast iron piping so now I’m stuck on what to do. I have researched and found that you could use a closet flange but is this the correct way? Also I was going to tile the floor and wanted to get the sub floor and durock at the same height as the old hardwood floor which was 3/4" thick which is no problem I was going to use a 1/2' plywood with a 1/4" durock material but my cast iron pipe would still be higher than the 3/4". even when I lay the tile down I still think it would be higher than the tile. Anyway would it be my best interest to replace the stink pipe with plastic? if so then how. The house is only one floor and everything is very accessible right now. I will take some pictures later to show. Thanks!

[jadnashua]

Do you have a basement or crawl space where you have access? That will determine how easy it is to replace that part with plastic. A plumber could lead a new flange on and break off the excess...not sure I'd attempt that as a DIY'er though. Ideally, the new flange would go on TOP of the finished floor and anchor through it into the subflooring. To make it easier to anchor if you are going to tile, notch the tile where the screws go so you don't have to drill through the tile.

Depending on the subflooring, and the kind of tile you choose, the joists may or may not be stiff enough to support a tiled floor. Check out www.johnbridge.com for some help on that front...once there, look in the blue bar on the forum for "Deflecto" which is a stiffness calculator to check it out.

[frenchie]

Closet flange is another word for toilet flange - so I'm not sure what your question was, about that.

In the old days, cast pipe got leaded flanges. Dying art.

Nowadays there's clamping flanges for cast iron pipe (no-hub). Any plumbing supply'll have them.

Can you just use thicker backerboard, and/or thicker ply, to get your new tile high enough?

"Ditto" on making sure your framing is rigid enough, and John Brides' for advice on anything tile-related, in general.

[oxicottin]

Well I know or think my joists are strong enough they are something like 12X2 but I could check to be sure. I have access to the whole cast iron pipe from the basement so I can do pretty much whatever is needed. If the flange is supposed to be on top the tile then the pipe is probably tall enough or just the right height and then depending on what thickness tile I use. The floor I am using 1/2" plywood and the 1/4" USG durock. I want to use all USG brand materials because I work for the company! We manufacture cornerbead at our plant. Anyway, I will take some pictures in the morning mainly because I dont live there just yet so I have to go over there. Thanks!

[jadnashua]

It is not clear what the composition is of your total subflooring is, but if it is only 1/2" ply and 1/4" durock, it is not sufficient for tiling, OR for any current codes for even vinal!

The absolute minimum floor that can be tiled on is 5/8", and if it isn't tonge and groove, you either need to block the edges or put a second layer of plywood (min of 3/8" on top of it, staggered to support the edges and make it stiffer. Then, you can add the decoupling layer of the durrock (cbu). If you choose to use a stone tile, you absolutely have to have two layers of plywood.

Now, if there is a layer of planks on the floor, 1/2" ply on top is fine.

check out www.johnbridge.com for help and guidance on your tiling efforts.

[oxicottin]

there is a 1" planks on top thats already there which thickness is 3/4" then im putting the 1/2" ply on top that then the 1/4" durock on top that, is that good? Thanks!

[jadnashua]

Yes, assuming your joists are up to snuff, your subfloor is fine with the 1/2" ply. If you want to save 1/8" in height, you could use Ditra from www.schluter.com. It's much easier to install and is a better decoupling layer.