Plumbing Help- Half-Bath Remodel

[Gator95]

Probably not the last post on this...

Doing a total re-do on the downstaris half-bath. It is on a slab, but the way all the baths in our neighborhood are done (built in 1980-81) was with a 1" thick layer of mortar on top of the slab, and then with the tile on top of the mortar.

The toilet flange right now is on top of the tile that I'll be breaking out, and the tile is on top of the 1" thick mortar bed. Once I break all that out, the flange will be an inch above the floor. It appears to be glued onto the black (assume its ABS) 4" waste pipe. Obviously this is no good. Will have to cut this off and put on a new flange. Questions:

What is the best order of operations after removal of all tile and mortar down to the slab? Do I lay the tile around the pipe, then cut the pipe flush to the floor and put a new flange on the pipe? Or do I cut the pipe first, put the flange on the pipe, and tile around the flange and the pipe?

Also: does the flange need to be attached to the slab, or is it ok for it to just be glued to the waste pipe assuming the base of the flange where the closet bolts go is flush to either the slab or the tile floor?

Any tips on flange installation also appreciated. How to cut the ABS clean and flat (how flat does it need to be?), adhesive suggestions, etc...

[JimD]

The flange needs to be fastened to the floor if at all possible. If you pull up on the toilet (or apply your weight unevenly) it pulls up on the bolts and the plastic flange will not take a lot of that. If the flange is fastened to the floor then it is much stronger.

The alternative is to caulk the toilet base firmly to the tile after the toilet is back in place. This is not a great solution but I have one bathroom where there was not enough concrete to get much of a connection so I did this and it is working fine. I caulk the base to keep water from going underneith but normally that is not the way to hold the toilet in position.

Jim

[crokett]

Remove the old flange and leave the pipe long. Put the new floor in, cut the pipe flush with the new floor then install the new flange. If you tiled around the flange, this would increase the distance between the flange and the toilet. There are taller wax rings for this if you wanted to do it this way.

[Gator95]

I guess then neither option is perfect.

If I cut wastepipe flush to slab and then install a flange and tile around the flange I'll be able to secure directly to the slab with tapcons or something like that, but then when I put in the tiles the flange will probably be almost exactly level with the floor, which is not ideal. Although I'm sure there are ways to deal with this.

If I tile around the wastepipe then cut wastepipe flush to floor and put flange on top of pipe then the flange will be the right height above the floor, but I won't be able to secure to the slab without drilling through tile I just laid and risk cracking it. So I'd probably just attach the flange to the pipe, ensureing the base of the flange is resting on the tile and not drill through.

[just started]

1. MAKE SURE THE 4" PIPE ISN'T CAST IRON!!!

2. You are going to have to cut the tile around the pipe anyway, so just cut a notch with the tile saw for the flange screws and use 3" tapcons to hold it down.

[crokett]

1. MAKE SURE THE 4" PIPE ISN'T CAST IRON!!!

2. You are going to have to cut the tile around the pipe anyway, so just cut a notch with the tile saw for the flange screws and use 3" tapcons to hold it down.

What he said. That is what I did when I tiled a bathroom a few years ago. I've also drilled through tile with no problems. Just go slowly and use the right bit.