I just had the floors in my bathroom replaced and now the flange is too high. When I put the toilet on top, the front touches the floor, but the back does not. The flange and piping are PVC, and the floor is concrete with vinyl on top. I'm not sure how to approach this problem. There are many solutions for a flange that is too short but not for one that is too tall.
Toilet Flange Adjustment – What to Do About a Toilet Flange That Is Too High?
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Related Solutions
The flange should sit on top of the finished floor, if it doesn't you'll have to modify the plumbing or find another way to achieve this.
Notice in this image how the toilet waste pipe sits just inside the flange opening, this is the proper way for a toilet to sit on a flange. Even without a wax ring, this union is not likely to leak under normal circumstances (I'm not recommending a wax ring not be used).
Wax as a waste pipe?
Some folks recommend using a thicker wax ring, or even doubling up wax rings. The problem with this, is that you end up with a waste pipe made from wax. Now this might hold up, but more than likely it's eventually going to fail, and leak.
Modify the plumbing
If you have access to the flange from below, you might be able to modify the plumbing to make the flange sit atop the floor. In most cases, however, this is not an option.
Adapters
There are adapters available, that solve this exact problem. The Set-Rite Toilet Flange Extender Kit; described in the answers to this question, Comes with different size spacers, which allows it to compensate for various sized offsets.
Check out some of the fittings and repair parts from Oatey. Not sure what sizes of pipe you have. But if you have a 4 inch pipe, 43539 is supposed to slide inside of it. It has a rubber piece that expands using 3 socket cap screws.
Link to Oatey site product page for the fit inside, expanding rubber flange
I have been repairing my own toilet bend, which is a lead piece coming from a cast iron drain stack. I would have used that part above, but I think I'm going to go with a 3x4 repair flange instead because this non expanding flange was shorter and fit better. The "3x4" part means it will fit over a 3" pipe or fit inside a 4" pipe.
I hope this helps, every toilet flange problem is different. I had to buy many of the repair parts and test fit them before I found the right piece.
Related Topic
- Flooring – How to extend an offset toilet flange when tiling
- Is the toilet flange too high off the ground
- How should I attach a toilet flange and toilet with this particular situation
- Plumbing – the correct height of a toilet flange relative to the finished floor
- Toilet Flange – Replacing Flange Concreted into Floor
- Plumbing – Toilet Flange – Replace, Keep and Shim, or Something Else
- Plumbing – What to Do When the Rough-In Hole in Concrete Is Too Large for a Toilet Flange
Best Answer
I found this 2 part video on YouTube that helped me understand what to do.
part1 part2
I ended up cutting off the top of the flange with a PVC pipe cable saw. I then used a mini hacksaw to cut some segments into the fitting and wedged the pieces out. After removing 2 small parts of the ring, the rest just wedged right out without much effort. I cut down the pipe to be flush with the floor using a pull saw. I put a level down and found the concrete was not level around the pipe. I used a rub brick and the mini hacksaw, which I could angle to cut the inside of the pipe, to get the pipe and surrounding concrete truly level with the rest of the floor. This took a while.
When I finally got it level, I put in a Twist N Set Closet Flange. I drilled 4 pilot holes and put in concrete screws. The toilet is now level and not going anywhere. Now I just have to fix my guest bathroom which has the exact same problem. At least I got a good deal on the house.