Wrecked Flange

Hello,
I'm getting ready to tile the bathroom and in so doing removed the toilet to reveal a bit of a mess that I'm not sure how to deal with. I removed the subfloor which was water damaged so at least I've got decent access to the area from both above and below. It's a cast iron bend. The existing brass flange was wrecked by overtightening of the toilet bolts such that it was pulled up on each side. In my overzealousness to get rid of all the damaged stuff under there, I may have caused more problems. There is a short lead pipe which is what is seen in the photo. Once the new subfloor is installed & tiled, the floor will be 1" higher than before. I hope the photos will be meaningful to those of you who know what you're looking at. The house was built in 1954 and the toilet I just removed was original. This is my only bathroom so I need to get things back together ASAP.

So, where do I go from here? Can I cut off the top portion of the lead pipe and find a fitting that will fit inside of that to which the new flange can be attached? Or do I remove everything back to the cast iron bend and find a fitting that will connect directly cast iron? Or do I pee in a pail for a few days until I can get a plumber in?

If there is any other relevant information I have left out, please let me know.

Thanks in advance,
Bryan

Here are a couple more pics that may help to give a clear picture of what I have.
Bryan

It looks to me from your pictures that if you can get everything out that is inside the black cast iron bend, you can then get a plastic flange with a longer tail piece that will fit inside the bend. I would use Duco cement (and lots of it) to ensure a water- and odor-tight, pemanent seal.

The flange should be installed on top of and then screwed down to the finished floor.

Hope this helps.

hj

Do it right and forget about using "Duco cement" or any other "handyman" cures. Have a plumber remove the lead bend and install a piece of cast iron pipe up to the new floor elevation. Then after the floor is installed he can fasten a new case iron flange to the pipe. That will be a "forever" repair as far as you are concerned.

This is what you do, cut the rise on that 2" above the hub of that cast elbow, you will be cutting the ferrule, the ferrule is solid not like the lead you see there, it just what they used to attach the lead to it. now all you have to do is attach a 4 x 3 fernco coupling and new pipe and flange. This will be too easy for you.

hj said:

Do it right and forget about using "Duco cement" or any other "handyman" cures. Have a plumber remove the lead bend and install a piece of cast iron pipe up to the new floor elevation. Then after the floor is installed he can fasten a new case iron flange to the pipe. That will be a "forever" repair as far as you are concerned.

Click to expand...

In a perfect world, always calling on a professional would seem to be the perfect solution. However, there are those of us who, in reality, are economically unable to indulge in that luxury. The simple fix to any problem on this site is to "call a plumber." My impression is that much of the information shared here is to enable folks to resolve many of their plumbing issues without the need for expending astronomical sums of money that many of us simply don't have. Any so-called "handyman cure" that I dare to offer on this site is from prior personal experience and is far from temporary.

rebuttal

The proper fix in this instance is to install a new cast iron flange on the pipe, which is a simple job to someone who has the experience and tools to do it. Few DIY'ers have either. The person can start cutting off pipes, installing plastic, etc., if they wish to, but they will spend a lot more time, and sometimes money doing so, assuming they do not break the wrong piece and create a situation which would require calling a plumber anyway, but for a lot more money than the original situation called for. There are a lot of "jury rigged" patches that can be made, such as "a lot of Duco cement" and if that is they way they want to go, it makes absolutely no difference to me, as long as they realize that someday, they may be doing the job over again. My concern is not always to get the job done "as easily and cheaply as possible". It is to provide a solution that will be as permanent as possible.

What I Did

Here's what I ended up doing, for better or worse, on the advice of the folks in the local plumbsing supply shop. (I took along some of the printed out photos so they could see exactly what I was dealing with.)

I took a hacksaw and cut off the bend then used a rubber coupler (maybe there's a proper name for it) and installed new ABS pipe, bend and flange. This was a very simple job, not nearly what I feared. Maybe it's not the professional solution but it doesn't seem like a makeshift solution either.

In the end I was able to get the bathroom tiled and back in working order by early Monday morning. It would have been Sunday night if I had known that new closet bolts were not included with the toilet.

Thanks for the help!
Bryan

You did good, thats how I would have done it also, that and the other way I talked about is a proper way of doing it.