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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana  |
No joy. The flange in the floor may have been four inches across at some time in the past. And it was probably round at some point. It is neither of these things now. So the flange that fits into a four inch internal diameter pipe doesn’t go into the hole. The guy at my good hardware store said it’s probably lead. It was pretty malleable. But that means it’s not going to bend back into shape nicely; it’s going to crack and leak. I now have a floor flange for a three inch internal diameter pipe and an extra wax ring. I plan to heat up some of the wax and get it down under and around the flange in the floor to seal and support it. Then I’ll screw the new ABS flange down over it with a wax ring under it. I’ll try to pack either wax or plumbers putty between the ABS flange and the pipe. I also got some stainless steel screws to affix the ABS flange to the floor. Since the outside diameter of the ABS flange is three inches, I should be able to offset it a smidgen toward the wall and buy another quarter inch or so between the toilet and the door. Such are the joys of an old house. I guess it could be worse. It could be cast iron and oakum. Wish me (more) luck.
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Minor Deity |
Gravity is on your side.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
That conforms to the first inviolable rule of physics.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Well, suddenly, my phone won't send pictures to my computer. I manually transferred this one. When my phone cooperates, I'll post all of the steps that led up to this. I tried the ABS flange with a 3" fitting, but it sits up too high and when I set the toilet base on it, it was 1/8" up off the floor. I took that one back and got a plain stainless steel flange ring and another wax ring and a half a dozen stainless steel screws. I melted some of the wax into the gap between the existing lead flange and the carppy vinyl flooring. Then I warmed up the wax and pressed it into the underside of the flange ring. I think this will yield a good water-tight and gas-tight seal. I set the toilet base onto it and everything looks good. I screwed the flange ring to the floor and as the wax gooshed out, I smeared it back around the inside of the ring. I did move it backward about 1/4" to buy some more clearance at the front of the bowl for the door to get past it, but there's still at least a 1/4" overlap with the lead flange.  Looks like it should resist nuclear attack. Then I ran out of steam and went to bed. Today, I'll clean the wall behind the tank, set the toilet back over the flange and make sure it's level (coins at the ready), then, with luck install it. The guy at the hardware store recommended the Harvey No. 10 extra thick wax ring that also has a plastic alignment flange. Looking at it, it turns out that that plastic flange I pulled out of the hole must have been part of one of these wax-ring-with-plastic-thingy things someone used about 40 years ago. It never leaked. I'm going for it.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
The pictures finally came. Melting some wax into the gap around the old lead flange:  Filled the new flange ring with wax:   This is the wax ring the guy in the plumbing department at the read hardware store recommended:   Test fitting the flange ring and the toilet base:    It all looks good so far. I looked at another wax ring replacement thingy with a foam rubber gasket. It's guaranteed for ten years. I think I know when it will fail. I'm not a fan of foam rubber where something needs to work for a couple decades. Again, the old wax appears to have stayed water-tight for about 40 years. I'm sticking with wax (literally). The floor appears to be level where the base sits on the floor. I'm going to do one last test fit, then go for it!
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Oh, and my trusty Sunset "Basic Plumbing" book says one can replace a toilet in an afternoon. Hah! I started this on Wednesday.
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| Shut up and play your guitar! Minor Deity  |
Good job! I knew you had this.  | |||
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Mark, You and I are around the same age. How is it you’ve replaced seven toilets and I’m on my first? Of course, I’ve been in the same house for 35 years. That may have something to do with it.
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Beatification Candidate |
If I remember correctly, Mark's house has seven bathrooms. That might be part of the reason. Big Al
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
So... one last trip to Lowe's. I thought I'd re-use the old supply line. Nope. The seals were shot. That's the way it usually goes with this house. Everything is fine... until you open it up, then you'll never get it to seal again. Heck, a while back I just closed the shutoff valve for the downstairs toiled. It probably hadn't been touched in 20 or 30 years. Just trying to turn it off it started leaking. I had to shutoff the water to the whole house and replace the shutoff valve. Another funny thing... I took a look at the installation instructions on Lowe's web site. The ones that came in the box were different. The ones online said to put a bead of plumber's putty around the base. The ones in the box didn't mention that. I put a bead of putty on the base anyway, mostly to keep any moisture from sneaking under the toilet when mopping the bathroom floor. So, here it is with the wax ring in place, ready to put in position:  Of course, the wax ring fell off when I tilted it upright, so I put the wax ring on the floor and set the toilet over it. Oh, and I love plumber's putty. I need to use more of that in my life. That tub is probably 20 years old and it's still perfectly pliable and works great. Level this way:  Level that way:  And viola! ready for service:   Only four days to to what the Sunset book said would take an afternoon. And five trips to the hardware store. Mrs pj tried it first. I told her it was just like on The Enterprise. Call me Flush Gordon. I don't think I'll be replacing the downstairs toilet anytime soon. It gets used a lot less, so the four gallon flush isn't as big a deal. Happy New Year.
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| Shut up and play your guitar! Minor Deity |
Replaced the toilet in our first house and all 6 toilets in our current house. | |||
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| Beatification Candidate |
I've never been fond of plumbing tasks. Congratulations on a job well done. Big Al
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
I’m not fond of paying plumbers if I can do the job myself. At Mrs pj’s condo, a tiny leak from under the toilet annoyed her. She called a commercial plumber. I think it was about $200. If I knew how easy it was (assuming it was just a simple wax ring replacement), I’d have done it myself. But the condo has only one bathroom, so if it was out of commission for a day, it would have been a major inconvenience.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Epilogue: Last night I put the old toilet on Craigslist for free. Lotta pictures. Accurate description. At 10:30 this morning, a fellow asked if can come get it today. At 1:00 a young couple showed up, put the toilet in their car, and left. I didn’t ask if they were going to use it for a toilet or yard art or just what. It didn’t go to the landfill. I did keep the soft-close quick-release seat. I will put that on the downstairs toilet someday.
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| czarina Has Achieved Nirvana  |
can you instruct on how to install a new kitchen sink faucet? We bought one on sale, then had to take it back because we could not figure out how to install it. We have the guy who put in our hot water heater. He is so backed up he doesn't even want the job.
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