TomBuildsStuff
New Member
I want to replace a toilet in an older home and am anticipating that the closet flange will need to be repaired/replaced. I'm a DIY'er with a lot of experience. I have replaced a different toilet in the home twice, the first time a few years ago replacing the brass ring around the flange and peening the lead back down. I recently replaced that toilet again and the original repair was still fine.
The next toilet I have access from underneath in the basement. There appear to be no issues with the lead bend as far as holes or leaking. I was still considering having the lead bend removed and replacing it with pvc. I've read many of the threads on the subject here but still have some questions (reassurance).
1) Should I just keep things simple and replace the brass closet flange, peen the lead down and use a wax ring with a horn considering there's no damage to the lead bend or is there a good reason to make more work for myself? No leaks in current setup.
2) Instead of replacing the brass ring completely, are any of the stainless steel repair flanges that go over the top of existing rings appropriate? Are there any other repair options I'm not aware of?
3) Is cutting the lead bend above the brass flange and using a fernco coupler a decent solution? Any issues? Contacted a local plumber (NJ/NYC area) who gave me a rough quote of around $600 to do it that way and doesn't include price of toilet. Is that price reasonable? It's a bit outside what I was planning and honestly, something I feel comfortable doing myself.
4) Ideally I'd like to drill out the lead and oakum, insert a donut and new PVC. I was hoping to find a plumber that could do that but after finding out how much the one guy wanted to just cut the lead that's probably not going to be in my budget either. Is this something an experienced DIY'er can handle? I've done a decent amount of plumbing but nothing with cast iron waste pipes. The instructions I found on here seem like I can do it but wondering if there's any gotcha's I need to be concerned about.
The next toilet I have access from underneath in the basement. There appear to be no issues with the lead bend as far as holes or leaking. I was still considering having the lead bend removed and replacing it with pvc. I've read many of the threads on the subject here but still have some questions (reassurance).
1) Should I just keep things simple and replace the brass closet flange, peen the lead down and use a wax ring with a horn considering there's no damage to the lead bend or is there a good reason to make more work for myself? No leaks in current setup.
2) Instead of replacing the brass ring completely, are any of the stainless steel repair flanges that go over the top of existing rings appropriate? Are there any other repair options I'm not aware of?
3) Is cutting the lead bend above the brass flange and using a fernco coupler a decent solution? Any issues? Contacted a local plumber (NJ/NYC area) who gave me a rough quote of around $600 to do it that way and doesn't include price of toilet. Is that price reasonable? It's a bit outside what I was planning and honestly, something I feel comfortable doing myself.
4) Ideally I'd like to drill out the lead and oakum, insert a donut and new PVC. I was hoping to find a plumber that could do that but after finding out how much the one guy wanted to just cut the lead that's probably not going to be in my budget either. Is this something an experienced DIY'er can handle? I've done a decent amount of plumbing but nothing with cast iron waste pipes. The instructions I found on here seem like I can do it but wondering if there's any gotcha's I need to be concerned about.
