Santa Rosa
New Member
Hi all,
First off, I want to assure you that I have read dozens of posts on this forum about this exact subject, so I promise I'm not just starting a new thread willy nilly—or maybe I am, but if that's the case, it's because I think I may have read too many opinions at this point, and I'm starting to second-guess everything.
So, I just pulled out the bathroom floor (peel & stick vinyl over old mastic over a patchwork of luan and plywood) in house built in 1950, and it's time for me to get started on putting in new underlayment and ultimately tiling. The cast iron flange appears to be in good condition despite what it might look like in these photos—that's mostly grime. It's not cracked or bent, and since there's only minimal water damage to the surrounding subfloor for a 70-year-old house, I'm guessing it's been doing a fine job. If possible, I'd rather leave well enough alone and not remove it.
The bottom edge of the flange currently sits about 1/2" above the subfloor (top edge is about 3/4" from the subfloor), which obviously isn't going to work as-is.
My plan is to use 5/8" plywood + 1/4" wonderboard + 3/16" ceramic tile, which, accounting for the thinset, will put the finished floor at about 1-1/8" above the subloor. That's going to be a height difference of 3/8" from the top of the flange (1-1/8" - 3/4" = 3/8").
From reading various posts here, it appears my options are:
1. Use double wax rings. (If I go this route, do I use the extra thick ones? With or without a horn?)
2. Use several stacking rings (which kind?) layered with gaskets (?) to bring the flange level with the floor, then use a single wax ring as usual.
3. Use one of these Push N Repair-type products.
Am I missing an option? What's my best route here? Any opinions on how best to proceed would be much appreciated. I'm happy to provide additional details if that's helpful.
Thanks in advance!
First off, I want to assure you that I have read dozens of posts on this forum about this exact subject, so I promise I'm not just starting a new thread willy nilly—or maybe I am, but if that's the case, it's because I think I may have read too many opinions at this point, and I'm starting to second-guess everything.
So, I just pulled out the bathroom floor (peel & stick vinyl over old mastic over a patchwork of luan and plywood) in house built in 1950, and it's time for me to get started on putting in new underlayment and ultimately tiling. The cast iron flange appears to be in good condition despite what it might look like in these photos—that's mostly grime. It's not cracked or bent, and since there's only minimal water damage to the surrounding subfloor for a 70-year-old house, I'm guessing it's been doing a fine job. If possible, I'd rather leave well enough alone and not remove it.
The bottom edge of the flange currently sits about 1/2" above the subfloor (top edge is about 3/4" from the subfloor), which obviously isn't going to work as-is.
My plan is to use 5/8" plywood + 1/4" wonderboard + 3/16" ceramic tile, which, accounting for the thinset, will put the finished floor at about 1-1/8" above the subloor. That's going to be a height difference of 3/8" from the top of the flange (1-1/8" - 3/4" = 3/8").
From reading various posts here, it appears my options are:
1. Use double wax rings. (If I go this route, do I use the extra thick ones? With or without a horn?)
2. Use several stacking rings (which kind?) layered with gaskets (?) to bring the flange level with the floor, then use a single wax ring as usual.
3. Use one of these Push N Repair-type products.
Am I missing an option? What's my best route here? Any opinions on how best to proceed would be much appreciated. I'm happy to provide additional details if that's helpful.
Thanks in advance!
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