Toilet Plumbing in Honduras

Hi, I am new to the forum. I signed up because I am volunteering in Honduras and some of the work involves plumbing. I am a DYI guy in the States but things are a bit different here and I am pretty much on my own. I need help getting connected with people who can help me figure out how it's done here! Any help is appreciated!

Here it goes: I need to install a toilet and a couple of shower drains in a new construction. The drain pipes have concrete poured all the way up to the floor level with tile around them. The pipe is PVC SDR (sdr 35?) and the toilet drain is about and inch larger diameter than the flange that I have.

Do I need a larger flange or can I reduce and adapt somehow to the smaller sch 40 flange? I am not opposed to doing some chiseling in the concrete which I am sure needs done but I need to know what to get at the hardware store before I go. If anyone has actually done work in Central America and could tell me how they normally do it here that would be best. They definitely don't have strict codes like in the states.

Additionally the shower drains are metal and don't appear to have any way to connect to the pipe. I am guessing you just slide the lip of the drain inside the pipe and cement around them leaving enough space at the top for grout around the outside. Any input? I can try to get some pictures too.

Put a tape measure into the pictures to show the diameter also.

We're going to need pictures.
I went to a hardware store in Guatemala, and it pretty much looked like an Ace Hardware in the States.

Toilet (closet flange) drains can be
4" hub
4" spigot
4x3 with 3" hub
4x3 with 3" spigot
4x3 with 3" inside pipe

A metal shower drain can connect to plastic using a no-hub coupling. Rubber sleeve and a metal wrap that tightens with two 5/16" hex heads.
Or you may have one that threads to a male adapter.

And yes, there isn't much that is right about Central America plumbing.
Here is how we do it here.

Here are some pictures of my plumbing problem. As you can see in pic 1 the drain seems to be at the standard distance from the wall but the pipe is 4.5" ID. I have an offset flange that I measured at 4" OD which I assume is standard. My Spanish is lacking so I want to be as prepared as possible before I go into the store. Should I be able to get a 4.5" OD flange or should I expect to have to get an adapter from 4.5" to 4" to go with a standard flange? I hope that makes sense. If there is anything else you see in the pictures that you could point out to help me I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Check out my shower drain problems in another thread here:

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?55925-Shower-drains-in-Honduras&p=410973#post410973

Thanks for all the help guys. I just got my instructions from a local guy who knows how it's done down here. This is going to make you all cringe but they just mortar it to the floor with what appears to be grout for porcelain tile...no bolts at all. It's even got a picture on the front of the bag showing it being used for installing a toilet. This is done without a flange or a wax ring, just line up the exit hole of the toilet with the hole in the floor. You learn something new every day. It might not be right but it is new!

trchamberlain said:

Thanks for all the help guys. I just got my instructions from a local guy who knows how it's done down here. This is going to make you all cringe but they just mortar it to the floor with what appears to be grout for porcelain tile...no bolts at all. It's even got a picture on the front of the bag showing it being used for installing a toilet. This is done without a flange or a wax ring, just line up the exit hole of the toilet with the hole in the floor. You learn something new every day. It might not be right but it is new!

Click to expand...

I'm cringing.
At least I can't see it from my house.

When I was in Belieze, I was in a condo with a stand alone bidet, larger jetted tub, marble flooring, and yet the kitchen sink had a horrible smell. Being a plumbing on a visit, I did everything I could think of the determine the cause. I never did find the cause. I guess that's how they do things though. Something, somewhere wasn't right. You cant fool the nose.