Toilet flange gasket? What is this?

[Loneriver]

Hi,
I just pulled up my toilet in my 60 year old house to replace it and found this underneath. The setup from top to bottom was toilet sitting a wax ring with the built-in black flange, on top of a black plastic flange. That plastic flange was sitting on some type of material fiber ring (maybe a fiber gasket or something?). You can see the fibers in one of the pictures where I pulled some of it up. Under the thin fiber ring is what I would say is metal but it is soft where I can press hard on it and leave an impression with a screwdriver.

So, what is the fiber thing and what is the soft metal base? I won't touch the soft metal base but do I need to find the fiber thing? Or is that something old school so I don't need it anymore and just need to buy a new plastic flange ring like the deformed one in the crystal bowl? Thank you!

 

[Reach4]

. Under the thin fiber ring is what I would say is metal but it is soft where I can press hard on it and leave an impression with a screwdriver.

Lead has those characteristics. Stop picking in that area.

1. What diameter is the hole?
2. what is the altitude of that surface around the hole compared to the altitude of the surrounding floor. A rigid flat ruler across the hole can be useful for judging that.
3. Start picking away at the material that was under the base of the toilet. Is that going to come loose easily enough?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Loneriver]

Lead has those characteristics. Stop picking in that area.

1. What diameter is the hole?
2. what is the altitude of that surface around the hole compared to the altitude of the surrounding floor. A rigid flat ruler across the hole can be useful for judging that.
3. Start picking away at the material that was under the base of the toilet. Is that going to come loose easily enough?

Hi Reach4,
1. Approximate inner diameter of the pipe is 3.75". Approximate outer diameter is 4.25".
2. The pipe extends out of the hole roughly 1/4" though the end of the pipe is not smooth. Very jagged and variable, in a non-uniform way, almost as if the end of it had broken off long ago. New picture shows this.
3. Yes, the stuff can be pulled up fairly easily.

If you look at the new pictures I have attached you can see down the hole. You can see what appears to be a transition a few inches down the hole. I obviously am not a plumber but is it possible a metal closet flange was originally used long ago and the top ring broke off long ago leaving the jagged end sticking out? And then the next guy just put a plastic flange spacer around the pipe which is what I took up that was deformed?

I guess regardless of all these questions and mysteries, I ultimately need to know how to put my toilet back together. Do I just do exactly the same and get a replacement plastic spacer flange ring, screw into the lead, put on the new wax ring and be done with it? Stainless ring instead? Shove a different type of flange with the extension tube part down the hole? Thank you for your help!

 

[Jadnashua]

You can probably use a repair ring and a plain wax ring. Cast iron can end up with a less than straight end when it is cut. As long as there are no cracks down it, it shouldn't hurt anything. If you wished, you could take a grinder and smooth it off.

 

[Reach4]

Regarding altitude, I am thinking about what would be good for you to put there. I was thinking a DANCO Model 10672X Hydroseat could be good, but only if the bottom of the feet will be about the same altitude as the floor the toilet will sit on.

That brass in the basket looks like it was in good shape. Was it loose?

Maybe a repair flange screwed to the concrete would be good. That is what holds the closet bolts that hold the toilet down. How about clearing out the stuff that was on the outer edge of the toilet, and taking a picture of a straightedge laid over the hole and and on the floor at the ends.

What toilet did you buy?

 

[Loneriver]

Regarding altitude, I am thinking about what would be good for you to put there. I was thinking a DANCO Model 10672X Hydroseat could be good, but only if the bottom of the feet will be about the same altitude as the floor the toilet will sit on.

That brass in the basket looks like it was in good shape. Was it loose?

Maybe a repair flange screwed to the concrete would be good. That is what holds the closet bolts that hold the toilet down. How about clearing out the stuff that was on the outer edge of the toilet, and taking a picture of a straightedge laid over the hole and and on the floor at the ends.

What toilet did you buy?

I am actually just putting the existing toilet back. We had some water damage in the wall so I had to remove the toilet to replace the drywall and am trying to figure the best way to rebuild the installation. The existing ring (you called it the "brass in the basket" above) is actually plastic and is deformed. That is what I am trying to figure out. Do I just get a new plastic ring flange like it was before (without the extension pipe on it)? I may not be getting my terms right but I don't see that the original install had a "closet flange" with the extension pipe. I only see that it just had the plastic ring without the pipe extension which home depot seems to call a "flange spacer". This flange spacer was screwed down directly into the soft "lead"around the pipe. I guess I' confused because all the videos I see with these flange spacers show them sitting on top of a closet flange so that the flange bolts go through two stacked slots. The only slot I have is on the flange spacer itself. Is that ok? Maybe I'm just reading too much into it and should just copy it and put a flange spacer like before and that's it.

 

[Reach4]

Whatever solution, I would avoid all-plastic for the thing holding the closet bolts.

I would also consider a Hydroseat with wax on top. What I like about the Hydroseat is that it uses wax beneath, but it protects the wax from any flexing and movement as you install the toilet. Wax conforms to irregular shapes very nicely. It is not robust if you do vigorous plunging when the clog is beneath the toilet, rather than in the toilet, but you were probably going to use wax anyway. It has built-in closet bolts, so if your recess is too much, then that would not let you grab those.

Spacers don't usually have proponents on this forum.