flange help needed

**ajs** · 01-01-2013, 05:07 AM

Hello all! I removed a cracked toilet in my fairly new home, thought was going to be a quick easy holiday project but need some advice. I immediately saw the flange wasn't level and could see many gaps so I removed the screws, pulled the flange, and the attached pic is what I saw. Seems the drain was in the wrong spot so they had tried to use an offset flange to move it over. However they needed to move it more than the flange allowed so they cut part of the flange and let the toilet drain run over parts of the cement flooring under the toilet to get to the drain. This was probably why we always noticed a smell in this bathroom.

This is a cement floor, what would be the proper way to repair? I'm thinking I need to chip some of the cement out and somehow find a longer extended offset flange?

any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

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**cacher_chick** · 01-01-2013, 09:58 AM

Cannot tell from your picture how the connection was made or what is left of the pipe down in the hole.

Assuming that is a section of pipe in the ground, and not the bell of a fitting, you will have to chip out all the way around the pipe so that a coupler can be installed on the pipe and the riser extended up to floor level. If the closet bend is broken off in the ground, then the entire thing will need to be cut out and replaced.

I doubt there is such a thing as a "longer offset flange". If that is a full 12" tile, it would appear that the rough-in is close to being the correct distance from the wall.

**LLigetfa** · 01-01-2013, 10:24 AM

It is not clear from the pics what is the back and what is the side. Offset flanges do come with different amounts of offset but your problem is how to properly join up to the pipe in the ground. Besides the usual glue joint, some flanges have a compression gasket while others have a labyrinth seal.

**ajs** · 01-01-2013, 02:50 PM

thanks for the replies. I attached a third pic so you can see how it's positioned against the wall. The flange that was in there wasn't glued or anything, just pushed inside the drain hole.

The drain pipe that is coming up doesn't seem to come up far enough, and isn't a clean cut off either. Looks like someone chipped away the pipe and crudely cut the flange so they could meet. Looks like I'll have to chip out more than I thought of the floor? doesn't look like any fitting on what is in the floor, just some elbow of the drain, no coupler.

thanks again for the help, I'm actually recoving from my 2nd hernia surgery of 2012 so taking it easy on this one

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**LLigetfa** · 01-01-2013, 03:22 PM

Is that ABS or CI in the floor?

Here is a CI flange with a 2" offset. I don't know how you can marry them together.

http://www.wentworthco.com/products/...et-flange.aspx

**ajs** · 01-01-2013, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by LLigetfa

Is that ABS or CI in the floor?

Here is a CI flange with a 2" offset. I don't know how you can marry them together.

http://www.wentworthco.com/products/...et-flange.aspx

it's ABS in the floor, and looks like someone cut off the top of it with a chisel as it's not clean or even.

**ajs** · 01-01-2013, 03:26 PM

but I do see looks like I'm going to have to get out enough of the cement around what's in there to get a coupler on it, and find an abs coupler to work.

I guess I need to find out how to chip the right tile some more without cracking it too, need to get over the drain as everything is on an angle to get to it now.

thanks!

**jadnashua** · 01-01-2013, 04:02 PM

If you have spare tiles, the way to remove one without affecting the adjacent ones is to first remove the grout, otherwise, you're likely to either chip them or break them. If you have access to an edge, a chisel underneath between the tile and the floor will break things; otherwise, smak it in the middle to crack it with a chisel and work out from there (harder to do on a slab, but possible). Properly installed, it's almost impossible to remove a tile without breaking it to bits. Wear eye and hand protection, as the tile can send some sharp shards - it can get nasty.

**ajs** · 01-01-2013, 04:14 PM

is there such thing as a flange that will mount inside a drain pipe?

I'm just looking at this mess and that would be great if I could bypass trying to remove all the cement around the pipe and just glue in an inner flange, possible?

**cacher_chick** · 01-01-2013, 07:00 PM

There is no flange that will reach that distance down inside the hole to make a proper connection.

If it were mine, I would saw cut a small section of the floor to replace the riser. The slab is probably only 4-5" thick but looks worse where the pour was made around the pipe. Once the cement is gone you can clean the hole out and see what really needs to be done.

It would make good sense to do a little digging to see why there is any need for an offset flange, as they are best avoided.

**LLigetfa** · 01-02-2013, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by ajs

is there such thing as a flange that will mount inside a drain pipe?

You didn't mention dimensions and it is hard to tell from the pics. Many solvent bond flanges are spec'd as 3" or 4" meaning that they will fit into a 4" or fit onto a 3" pipe. Maybe all you need is a short 3" "nipple" of pipe that can fit into that hacked up bend and into the flange. You might have to soften it up with heat to get it in. The alternative is to jackhammer out more of the floor and replace that hacked up bend, perhaps with a "street" version. If you do open up the floor, you might consider rolling the bend and using a "drop-kick" flange instead.

**Terry** · 01-02-2013, 10:33 AM

That is a 3" ABS offset Flange with hub.
I can't imagine using one in a slab unless there was a good reason. Either way, you're going to need to break some concrete flooring to reglue that.

I can't tell what size the pipe is in the ground, or even whether that is ABS or cast.

**ajs** · 01-02-2013, 03:04 PM

thanks again for all the help and suggestions, it's greatly appreciated!

I'm going to chip away some of the cement in the next few days, and I will measure the pipe and take a few more close up pics.

It's ABS drain pipe in the ground, and the cement slab is thick as I'm on Guam and the houses are entirely made from Cement, no wood or drywall due to the occasional typhoon (last one had 165mph winds! But that was almost 10 years ago). So thick slab with concrete walls/roof, maybe a little drywall for a closet here and there but for the most part all walls are concrete too, which makes plumbing repairs a pain!

thanks again