I'm renovating a bathroom, which includes replacing the flooring. After taking out two layers of finished flooring, and having a company remove the old asbestos tile and mastic-tainted underlayment, I'm down to the subfloor.
At this point, I realize I'm going to have a problem once the flooring is complete. The closet flange is about 1.5" above the subfloor, and I'll only be adding 3/4" of underlayment and finished floor. That's going to leave the flange 3/4" above the finished floor. The closet bend is 4" cast iron, the flange is attached with lead and oakum, and there's a basement below so I have good access to everything. I figure I have three options here:
So my questions are:
At this point, I realize I'm going to have a problem once the flooring is complete. The closet flange is about 1.5" above the subfloor, and I'll only be adding 3/4" of underlayment and finished floor. That's going to leave the flange 3/4" above the finished floor. The closet bend is 4" cast iron, the flange is attached with lead and oakum, and there's a basement below so I have good access to everything. I figure I have three options here:
- Add another 1/2" or so of underlayment.
- Shim the toilet 1/4" off the floor all around.
- Remove the flange and place a new one lower.
So my questions are:
- Are there other/better options I'm not considering?
- How low can the top of the flange be, relative to the top of the cast iron pipe? (I don't want to lower the flange only to find the toilet hits the pipe. Is that even a concern I should have?)
