I am a homeowner doing a bathroom remodel in a 60 year old house. I have gutted the bath walls and am now ready to pull up the pine subfloor that has been layed diagonally to the floor joists. The drain is cast iron. Do I need to remove the top part ( I think its called a flange), so the new subfloor will be installed underneath it? My concern is how do I remove the flange without breaking it? There is no way to get a pipe wrench around it with the close proximity of the floor joists.I thought of laying the new subfloor around the flange and then reinforcing it from below. Is there a wrench made, hopefully rent-able, that would go inside the 4″ drain pipe to remove it? The cast iron seems to be in great condition, so if I don’t have to replace it, I won’t.
Thanks
Replies
I can't see any reason to pull the flange if the cast iron plumbing is in good shape. Why are you removing the existing subfloor?
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
The old subfloor has a couple bad areas from a leaking tub, plus I want a more stable smooth surface for laying down tike over ditra.
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...and after...
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we just replaced the bad subfloor in the immediate area, then went over everything with cement-board, then tileView Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
you need the subfloor to go under the flange,i woud split the new subfloor so that i could slide it under the flange,then screw it back together once it was in place. larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Thanks, Larry. I thought about that also. It's probaly the simplest think to do, and I'm always a big fan of simple.
I too am wondering why you are pulling the subfloor.
If the flange and pipe are in good shape, there should be no need to replace. If you want to support the flange, cut some blocking in half circles to fit and nail between the joists underneath the flange.
There are two kinds of people who never amount to much:
those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.
Several good ways to skin this cat. Good info provided above. A lot of the cast iron flanges I have encountered are just rings slipped over the pipe and leaded. They can be carefully removed and reinstalled. Use a punch or cold chisel to reseat.
Another option is to remove it and then use one of the special flanges designed to slip into 4" cast iron and seal with a rubber knife edge seal or o-ring. There are some that have an expanding ring that you tighten up with bolts. This will let you sit properly on you new floor level if you are changing the build-up.
I have seen them at Lowes and HD but a good plumbing supply house will surely get you what you need.
Carl
check this link they manufacture rubber couplings that join differnt types of pipe I think this is what Rasconc is suggesting
http://www.fernco.com/
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Edited 4/13/2008 10:12 am ET by ZEEYA