theloaf
New Member
First, thanks for you help.
Our 1959 house: I'm doing a 2nd floor bathroom remodel. Not a lot of experience with plumbing, but I'm pretty handy. Anyway, I took out the old toilet, floor down to subfloor, etc. I had never pulled a toilet out before, and I wasn't even paying attention to the closet flange at the time, just figured I would deal with it when I got to it b/c we never had any issues with the old toilet, it never leaked, so I thought install would be straightforward. But now I'm thinking we have an unusual flange set-up.
I've put in a new penny round tile floor and measured carefully. The flange is just below the flared lip of the main waste pipe. It was never screwed down or attached to the floor, just held on by the flared pipe and rotates freely. I measured carefully with my tile, and the flange, if pulled up as far as it can go, comes to a level as if it were just sitting on top of the tile. I am at the point where I am hoping to install a new Toto Aquia II. All the installation instructions for this toilet--and most every toilet--seem to indicate that toilet flanges are supposed to be screwed or fixed down and not moveable. I'm guessing that in this set-up the underside of the flared lip actually holds the flange (and thus bolts) down and that's what held the old toilet down (of course there was a wax ring too). Is this an unusual set up?
Can I just install our new toilet using the same set-up? I can't easily screw the flange down b/c there's no super solid wood right around the hole the pipe comes through, AND it's already held back by the flared lip. If I were to screw it down that would seem weird b/c there would inevitably be a gap between the bottom of the lip and the top of the flange. But I'm worried that maybe the last toilet install wasn't done properly in the first place and I'll be setting myself up for problems if I just do the same thing.
I also know the Aquia uses an unusual install, and I've read up on it. I'm ready to drill out the holes for the mounting blocks, etc. It's just the flange area I'm worried about because no instructions/advice address our odd flange situation. We already have the toilet, so I am hoping to make it work. Do you see any issues, or can I proceed?
I'm attaching a couple photos of the flange and toilet area (at least I'm hoping the attachments work... never done this before). Again, my thanks. I'm learning a lot by reading this forum.
Our 1959 house: I'm doing a 2nd floor bathroom remodel. Not a lot of experience with plumbing, but I'm pretty handy. Anyway, I took out the old toilet, floor down to subfloor, etc. I had never pulled a toilet out before, and I wasn't even paying attention to the closet flange at the time, just figured I would deal with it when I got to it b/c we never had any issues with the old toilet, it never leaked, so I thought install would be straightforward. But now I'm thinking we have an unusual flange set-up.
I've put in a new penny round tile floor and measured carefully. The flange is just below the flared lip of the main waste pipe. It was never screwed down or attached to the floor, just held on by the flared pipe and rotates freely. I measured carefully with my tile, and the flange, if pulled up as far as it can go, comes to a level as if it were just sitting on top of the tile. I am at the point where I am hoping to install a new Toto Aquia II. All the installation instructions for this toilet--and most every toilet--seem to indicate that toilet flanges are supposed to be screwed or fixed down and not moveable. I'm guessing that in this set-up the underside of the flared lip actually holds the flange (and thus bolts) down and that's what held the old toilet down (of course there was a wax ring too). Is this an unusual set up?
Can I just install our new toilet using the same set-up? I can't easily screw the flange down b/c there's no super solid wood right around the hole the pipe comes through, AND it's already held back by the flared lip. If I were to screw it down that would seem weird b/c there would inevitably be a gap between the bottom of the lip and the top of the flange. But I'm worried that maybe the last toilet install wasn't done properly in the first place and I'll be setting myself up for problems if I just do the same thing.
I also know the Aquia uses an unusual install, and I've read up on it. I'm ready to drill out the holes for the mounting blocks, etc. It's just the flange area I'm worried about because no instructions/advice address our odd flange situation. We already have the toilet, so I am hoping to make it work. Do you see any issues, or can I proceed?
I'm attaching a couple photos of the flange and toilet area (at least I'm hoping the attachments work... never done this before). Again, my thanks. I'm learning a lot by reading this forum.