Ethan

Repair a Broken Toilet Flange

May 25, 2010 | by Ethan (email) |

My bathroom remodel is still on-going but I’m very pleased with the results thus far. Each week I’m able to cross one or two things of the to-do list and this past week I got the toilet squared away.

You may remember that I was planning on reinstalling the old toilet to save money. It turns out that toilet wasn’t in good enough shape to keep. My plumber was out to re-route the shower controls and took a look. He told me I was better off installing a new one, so I did.

At this point, I’ve replaced or reinstalled every toilet in my house (for a grand total of three). They all shared one thing in common- a broken toilet flange. I’m beginning to think it’s a fairly common problem to discover. Fortunately, repairing a slightly damaged toilet flange is not too difficult.

What is a Toilet Flange

Toilet Repair FlangeYou may hear people toss out the word flange and wonder what it means. There are several definitions including a “projecting rim for fastening”. When people talk about toilet flanges, they are referring to the flat collar that mounts a toilet to the floor and connects the toilet drain to a drain pipe.

Over time, flanges can crack or small pieces may break-off. This is especially common around the bolts that anchor the toilet in place.

How to Install Flange Repair Kits

Fortunately for DIYers, toilet flange repair parts are easy to find and relatively inexpensive but they can’t repair all types of damage.

Appropriate Use

New Toilet Installed

Flange repair’s are an effective means to fix the outer rim of a broken flange- small cracks, broken pieces around the bolt housing, things of that nature. They are not useful for repairing cracks within the flange or replacing major pieces.

Required Materials

  • The repair flange, sometimes called a water closet repair flange, is available as a full circle or semi-circle.
  • Galvanized screws won’t rust- always important around water. I purchased 1 ½” wood screws. Make sure the screw-head is wide enough.
  • Silicone sealant is useful to create a watertight seal.

Installation
Apply silicone to the underside of the repair flange. Place it over the existing flange and align the bolt holes (as best you can). Screw the repair flange in place. Take care to anchor it evenly. Add another bead of silicone to the inside edge of the repair flange. Allow enough time for the silicone to dry before installing the toilet.

What do you think? Ever install a repair flange?

5 Responses
  1. hari says:

    best

    best

  2. Joanne says:

    I need to level my bathroom floor. It has old asbestos lino, and there was a new lino installed over that. Due to flooding, the new lino has been pulled out, leaving the glue and backing behind on the old lino. Plus, I have removed the built-in vanity, which had no lino under it. I will be going with a smaller vanity, so I have to level where the old one had been. Plus the floor drops down a little near the toilet. The old asbestos lino is also lifting around the toilet. Should I cut that part off, or just leave it? I am worried that it will create problems when I go to tile. Also, I want to use a self-leveling compound. How to you suggest I keep the levelling compound away from the toilet flange? and is it okay to build the floor up around the flange?

  3. Sarah says:

    Yes! We just did this. It was a huge pain, as our home is on a slab , and the screws (that went into the slab) were loose from my kids constantly rocking on the toilet. Soooooo–we got longer screws, and went even deeper into the foundation. Totally scary to drill down and wonder if we weren’t doing more harm than good, but now it’s now solid as a rock.

  4. Paul&Aundrea says:

    Wish I could have used this on the flange we just replaced. We too are on a slab and the old flange went on the outside of the pipe. Luckily we found a new flange than fits inside our pipe so we just had to chip away at the old one until the new flange could be installed properly. We are replacing our second toilet soon, and are hoping the flange isn’t damaged on this one.

  5. In the modern materialistic world, most of the time people are obsessed with the buildup
    of fiscal sources. Some earn a huge bulk of them while the
    others don’t have any choices other than being
    pleased with a small share.

Leave a Reply