Poorly installed flange

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Jon_C

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My toilet in the basement was rocking and the bolts were rusted. Today I thought I'd pull the toilet and install new bolts and wax, shims, and then caulk. I was surprised to find that the previous owners installed the flange rotated so the fat part of the slot is in-line. They used a closet bolt on one side (it just barely hung on), but on the other side they used a tapcon bolt through the toilet, through the large flange slot, and into the floor. The flange itself is not fastened to the floor. The flange feels pretty solid despite that. It's a 3" sewer pipe and the flange is glued to the OD of the pipe. It sits high so I don't think I should add a repair ring, and I have never tried to drill a PVC flange off. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!!
 

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Jon_C

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Thanks! I'll see if I can find that repair strap. That may work out well.

Should I be concerned that the flange isn't fastened to the floor? I don't own a hammer drill. For that reason I am halfway considering putting it back together the way it was. At least it would be held to the floor.

The pipe turns pretty quickly. Maybe 2" deep from the top of the pipe. I think an ID-sealed retrofit flange would be too long.
 

Reach4

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I think an ID-sealed retrofit flange would be too long.

http://www.siouxchief.com/docs/defa...n---pushtite---instruction-sheet.pdf?sfvrsn=6 describes a way to extend such a flange. It seems to me that you could do a similar thing to cut out a section to shorten such a flange.

My other idea was to carve away the outside of the existing flange to let one of the repair rings clear the remnants of the flange to bolt to the floor. The repair ring would be holding down the toilet, while the remnants of the existing flange would be providing the seal to the wax.
 

Jadnashua

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If your toilet rocks, it could be because of three possible reasons: it is not flat on the bottom, or, the floor is not flat, or the flange sits too high and the thing rocks on top of the flange. If it is the third, you really need to fix the flange. The other two can be fixed by using some shims. SEt the toilet down without wax and see if it rocks, then determine whether it is a flatness issue, or rocking on the flange and fix it. A rocking toilet means a failed wax ring, and a gap directly into the sewer for leaks of sewer gas and/or sewage (if there's a clog or backup).
 

Jon_C

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Thank you both for your quick and detailed responses! I'm happy to say that I was able to get it all back together last night thanks to your help. I checked the whole area with a level and found the flange and floor are both flat, except for one part of the floor that dips down. I dry-fit the toilet on the flange was was glad to see it hand great contact to the ground everywhere except that are which amounted to about 25% of the circumference. That lowered area happens to be on the same side of the flange that had the issue so I slipped one of those semi circular repair straps under there and supported it underneath with the hard plastic washers that came with it. The whole system felt very strong and sturdy. I installed the toilet with the wax ring, slipped a shim into that gap area (without lifting the toilet), snugged the bolts, and caulked all around. The toilet is level in al directions and seems to be working great.

Thanks again!
 
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