I have to install a new flange for one of my toilets. The previous owner didn’t put a flange under the toilet, bolting it directly to the floor.
I don’t know how to secure the new flange to the wood floor. I don’t think just using wood screws would do the trick. Do I have to drill through the floor and secure it from below? Should I also glue it?
All online sites I’ve found seem to assume that the flange is already installed and I can’t find anything about installing new ones. Any help would be appreciated.
Ordinarily the flange is part of the waste pipe terminus.
There will be a pipe into which the flushed stuff drains. It is to this waste pipe that the flange is secured.
You need to clarify if you are dealing with PVC or not.
If it is PVC, you will need to get access to the waste pipe enough to glue on the flange assembly.
ETA: if it is PVC, and already properly attached (glued) to the waste pipe, and the subfloor is dry and in good shape, you can secure the flange with screws (I always use stainless, but that’s a bit fancy). There is another bolt assembly that secures the flange to the toilet, and that’s actually the secure connection to hold the wax ring in place and keep the connection from leaking.
Just to clarify (and it’s always tricky to do homeowner tips with text descriptions):
the purpose of securing the flange is really just to prevent lateral movement. The flange itself is integral to the waste piple when properly attached, and its installation should leave it already flush with the subfloor. You just don’t want it scooching laterally when the sitter plops down with a sideways force. But the integrity of the water-tight seal is maintained by little bolts with flat heads that fit into slots in the flange and snuggy up to the porcelain base by bolts. This is what secures the toilet to the flange, and this is why the security of the flange to the subfloor is just not that important, except to prevent the flange from lateral movement.
It is critical that the flange itself is properly attached to the waste pipe or the sucker will leak and you will be sad. It is equally critical that the flange and toilet (usually with a wax johnny-ring seal in between) be tightly bolted together. There will be times when the toilet is backed up, so you need an actual water-tight seal and not just a gravity-dependent drain. I prefer the wax rings with a plastic collar, but in any case make sure you don’t squish the wax into the drain orific and occlude it.
A stable toilet is much less likely to develop a seal leak than one with lateral or rocky motion, which will break the flange/toilet seal over time, so pay attention to making sure the toilet is stable once it is set. But I am babbling on too long.
It’s Cast Iron. After reading your reply I’m guessing that this piece must be there, just degenerated or maybe I just didn’t remove enough old wax. I don’t want to open it back up until I’m completely ready to put it back together. I surely don’t want to replace the waste pipe, that would have to be a plumber’s job.
I replaced the wax seal a couple of weeks ago (that I’m comfortable doing) and this is when I noticed how the toilet was attached to the floor with bolts and not a flange. I replaced the toilet using the same configuration (It was fine like that for the 7 years we’ve been in this house) and it is moving more than I’m comfortable with, which is why I bought something like this. It has a neoprene gasket to seal to the waste pipe. The one I got doesn’t have the gasket (It’s a “brass closet flange”) so after reading your reply I think I should get one like in the link. I’m just wondering what to use to secure it to the floor to prevent lateral motion. Also the one in the link has its own bolts so I wouldn’t have to worry about which kinds to use.
It’s also tricky to know how much info to give without rambling.
Brass closet flanges are only used with copper waste lines, and are soldered to them. I’d take the time to scrape off all of the old wax to properly evaluate the existing flange. If it is solidly attached to the waste line, but has one of the bolt retaining slots broken, then use the flange repair ring shown to the right on the page you linked. They can be had at any big box or plumbing wholesale outlet, and work nicely.
I just wanted to thank both of you. I fixed it last weekend using a flange repair ring. The part where the bolts went was missing. It’s solid and not moving.