Tile installed over the toilet flange

[Carlos Ortega]

Hi!
I recently had my floor tiled over the old tile. When my tiler did the downstairs bathroom, he laid the thinset and tiled over the toilet flange. I'm having a hard time now finding a way to put in a new flange. The new tile sits about 2 inches above the old flange. See pics attached. Is there a way around this or do I have to get that tile removed so this can be addressed properly? I found a flange with a smaller pipe size and rigged it to fit but i don't really like this option.

 

[Jadnashua]

There are some toilet flanges designed to fit inside of a 3" pipe, but what you have there isn't really the ID of a pipe, but the remnants of a flange, I think. How much depth is there on that section of pipe before it curves? An inside fit flange MIGHT have enough depth to fit inside and make a successful seal, but boy, this should have been thought out before the tile was installed!

I'm not a big fan of inside fit flanges on a 3" pipe, though. With the thickness of the fitting, that only leaves about 2.5", which is bigger than the outlet of most toilets, but gives little margin for error. If the toilet used was a design that turned the waste so it was vertical before exiting, it may work. If it's one that tries to turn from horizontal to vertical right at the outlet, it will probably clog going into a 2.5" opening.

Depending on the diameter of the hole, you may or may not have enough tile to have the flange fit over it and be able to drill mounting holes...you may need a diamond bit to make the holes, and probably would use either a lead anchor or a plastic one and a SS or brass screw.

Maybe someone else will have some suggestions...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Carlos Ortega]

There are some toilet flanges designed to fit inside of a 3" pipe, but what you have there isn't really the ID of a pipe, but the remnants of a flange, I think. How much depth is there on that section of pipe before it curves? An inside fit flange MIGHT have enough depth to fit inside and make a successful seal, but boy, this should have been thought out before the tile was installed!

I'm not a big fan of inside fit flanges on a 3" pipe, though. With the thickness of the fitting, that only leaves about 2.5", which is bigger than the outlet of most toilets, but gives little margin for error. If the toilet used was a design that turned the waste so it was vertical before exiting, it may work. If it's one that tries to turn from horizontal to vertical right at the outlet, it will probably clog going into a 2.5" opening.

Depending on the diameter of the hole, you may or may not have enough tile to have the flange fit over it and be able to drill mounting holes...you may need a diamond bit to make the holes, and probably would use either a lead anchor or a plastic one and a SS or brass screw.

Maybe someone else will have some suggestions...

Thanks for the reply. Another thing I'm faced with is that with the smaller flange I found, I can't seem to get a wax or a rubber ring that fits as the opening is now much smaller. Even if I try to rig something up, the toilet is not flushed on the floor. SMH!!

 

[Jadnashua]

The hassle with some of these toilet flanges is that they end up all plastic...with the smaller opening, the horn on the bottom of the toilet may not fit, holding it up off of the floor, or, it's just plain too thick. You really would prefer a flange that had a SS metal ring for attaching it to the floor. Those are also stronger and thinner than an all-plastic one.

 

[Jadziedzic]

Perhaps use a RamBit or "socket saver" to ream out the remnants of the old flange from the inside of the existing drain pipe, then use a spigot-type flange with an extended length spigot (and metal ring) to account for the extra length from the top of the tile to the existing pipe. The new flange sits on top of the tile...