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Hi:
It seems like my current needs would warrant a new magazine “Fine Plumbing” (Better Pipes and Toilets?)…
Anyways, while tearing up the soggy, ant-infested floor of my bathroom (It’s been 6 days, looks like the first home purchase honeymoon is over…), I realized that I was about to cross the line into ‘real’ plumbing – not the sort that I’ve done up to this point (governed by two rules #1. Give it 1″ drop per 4′ and #2. Caulking fixes nothing) which routinely involved a connect-the-dots approach.
My question: I’m replacing the closet flange, and the old one appears to have simply been pressed into the old (lead) soil pipe using a generous application of a thick, vaseline/wax-type substance. Is this the approach I should take to seating the new closet flange? Is this goop ‘plumbers putty,’ is it ‘plumbers pipe/gasket lube,’ or is it something else yet?
As I mentioned, the pipe coming up off the closet bend is lead, and it flares outward towards the top (like a funnel), which means the extension from the closet flange seats down on the inside of this. It looks like it would be real easy to just goop up the flange and seat it down. I really, really do not want to replace any more plumbing than this, but at the same time, I have no love of ants or sewer gasses. Any guidance would be appreciated.
And yes, I’m too cheap to pay a plumber.
