Replacing toilet flange and PVC glued in

[gpswiz]

Hello everyone!

I am replacing the toilet flange and find that the flange is glued in. I watched youtube and saw that it was not that complicated; however, I have a very difficult time removing mine. I already have the chisel and will have to buy a reciprocating saw to cut it. I tried to chisel between the flange and the main pipe but it is not separating as it is strongly glued in. Please see attached pix and give me a few pointers to remove this. I am very desperate to have this done ASAP. Thanks for your help.

 

[Terry]

Is there a crawl space below? Or is this on a second floor?
It really doesn't look like much to work with there. A 3" fitting has a depth of 1.5" for the hub of a fitting. What do you have?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[gpswiz]

Is there a crawl space below? Or is this on a second floor?
It really doesn't look like much to work with there. A 3" fitting has a depth of 1.5" for the hub of a fitting. What do you have?

This is on the second floor. No room to wiggles except breaking the ceiling. The inner ABS is a 3 inch.

 

[Terry]

If the hub is intact, you can cut vertically in two more more places, being careful not to go past the end of the inserted pipe. With a flat blade or chisel, you can pry out the first small section. After that it's a matter of spreading the interior pipe inward and away from the hub.

What I do now they they make bits like these below, is drill out the ABS.

 

[gpswiz]

If the hub is intact, you can cut vertically in two more more places, being careful not to go past the end of the inserted pipe. With a flat blade or chisel, you can pry out the first small section. After that it's a matter of spreading the interior pipe inward and away from the hub.

What I do now they they make bits like these below, is drill out the ABS.

Hi Terry,

Thanks. Would you recommend to use the socket saver or cut vertically and peel it off? How easy it is to peel off glued ABS? I don't have much plumbing experience so I really appreciate your advice.


JSC 3 in. Socket Saver
JSC 3 in. Socket Saver

 

[Jadnashua]

It isn't really glue, it's a cement. In the first case, it's a material that has properties that bond to the others and often is used to bond two dissimilar materials together. In the case of cement, it's really called a solvent weld...the cement literally melts the plastic, and when the solvents evaporate, they literally become one. So, while sometimes you can successfully peel the pieces apart, not always, and it may not be pretty. The surface will likely be rough, and there may be some gouges which, can be harder to get a new seal when you try to attach a new piece.