How do I fix this pvc flange?

[Aloishhh]

So, here I am, joining yet another forum bc I'm stumped. My name is Alex, long time reader, first time poster. As a homeowner and single mother, I've learned so much online about things so far beyond my lady brain and I am so proud of myself. But I need help yet again. I'm clearly not a plumber and I'm at a fork in the road here. What should I do to cause little to no disaster?? Thanks for reading.
Ok. my toilet started leaking at the floor the other day, no problem I've got this. Not my first rodeo. Have the extra parts to replace the fill and flush valves and the gaskets. Cool. Decided to use a waxless thing, seems good since I know myself and will have to pick up and reseat the toilet anyway.
Cut to, me lifting the toilet off the floor. The pvc flange(I'm assuming a drop in extender thingy?) Is cracked. "Why would that be?" I ask myself. That's strange. So I clean up the wax and whatnot, put my new bolts on and notice the lazy tile job that had been done. Unless I'm wrong then my apologies to the tile guy. But as you'll see in the photo, the flange isn't able to be flat and level bc said tile isn't cut back far enough. Right? "Whatever, it was fine before it'll be fine again" I tell myself. Put the bolt back in, seat and reseat and reseat the toilet again. Got it. Ok tighten the bolts back and forth, back and forth. CRACK. " **** me.. " I knew it was the flange, however, toilet wasn't rocking(it wasn't rocking before this either) so I continue on with the install. Everything is good, turn water on and no leaks. Yesss
But I can't stop thinking about the geyser of **** water it'll become, sooner or later. So, I go get a flange repair thing, undo all my previous days work, go to put the thing on and I can't. The tile is too close. I want to just grind it away from the flange, finally having a flush and level base, but I'm second guessing myself. Is that the right thing to do? What do I do?? Please talk me down or tell me I'm right. Either way, I need advice, criticism, something. Lol any feedback is welcome. Please and thank you.

P.S. I have removed the bolts to this thing bc I was gonna take it off. Then I decided to ask for help.

 

[havasu]

You did good until you started rocking it back and forth. Replace flange, add a double wax ring, wiggle 'slightly' as you sit on the toilet, to give it a good downward squish, then caulk the front and sides, leaving the back open as a visual warning that your seal is blown.
You got this girl!

 

[Geofd]

So it looks like one of those (ears) is cracked,you just need the proper size Allen
Wrench loosen them up and the flange comes out, bring it to home Depot or Lowe's, and get another,there is also another type with a black o-rings that spins in and tightens at the same time, you should anchor it down with concrete screws (tapcons) it you don't have the ability to do that, caulk the base of the toilet,that way it won't move

 

[Aloishhh]

So it looks like one of those (ears) is cracked,you just need the proper size Allen
Wrench loosen them up and the flange comes out, bring it to home Depot or Lowe's, and get another,there is also another type with a black o-rings that spins in and tightens at the same time, you should anchor it down with concrete screws (tapcons) it you don't have the ability to do that, caulk the base of the toilet,that way it won't move

Ok so will this work?
I had the Allen bit in hand as I was writing the post. I just was like wait a tick *****. I've gotten myself deeper in a hole by doing exactly that. "I'll just take it off and see what happens" is always my go to but it doesn't really ever make it less of a project. Lol so if I take it off, can I, theoretically, put the repair thing on it, put it back together and go from there? I thought the flange should be even with the surface(I. E. Tile, subfloor, etc.) That will indeed fix the flange, but will also then make it slightly higher than the tile. Is that ok or no?

 

[Aloishhh]

You did good until you started rocking it back and forth. Replace flange, add a double wax ring, wiggle 'slightly' as you sit on the toilet, to give it a good downward squish, then caulk the front and sides, leaving the back open as a visual warning that your seal is blown.
You got this girl!

I'm gonna stick with the waxless, just for the fact that I will for sure need to pick it up and reseat it. And as I understand, wax doesn't really allow that. Also, to clarify, I wasn't rocking it back and forth I was going from one olt to the other, back and forth. And it wasn't rocking prior to me starting this or during and even after. No rocking.

 

[Geofd]

No, buy what came out, there is another style like that that twists in being a bit higher is ok, caulk the base down if you can't secure the flange to the floor

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

My own opinion here. I've run into this before on my last bathroom remodel. The floor flange is supposed to sit ON TOP of the finish floor (in my case and in yours, that's tile) not set flush or below.

What I did was use an internal pipe cutter like the one shown here, cut off the pipe below the flange and removed the old flange and a section of pipe. I repaired the floor, and tiled up to and around the hole in the sub floor. Then I got a 3" PVC pipe coupler, a short length of new 3" PVC, and a new flange. I dry fit all the pieces, and when the floor was ready to accept, I did the traditional solvent weld of the pipe/flange into the old pipe through the coupler. the photo attached is of the floor during the grout process, but you can see the tile going right up to the hole, and if you look carefully, see the waste pipe below the floor. This is what I did the dry fit to, and what I solvent welded too after grouting. Though you cannot see it here, the subfloor did need a little bit of work here prior to the tile board being laid down. (prior tile was right on the subfloor).

Once all set, I used a tile bit to drill through the tile, and I installed the flange with 4 x #12 stainless steel flathead screws.

I had access to the pipe below in the basement. This made the installation a bit easier, if you don't have access and the pipe is flopping around in the breeze you may find issues in stabilizing the pipe for the proper solvent weld, especially knowing full well these things have a habit of wanting to separate until the weld sets for a few minutes.

That's what I did, and others may have other ideas.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-1-1...71c72f2083ac1e8fd7cc4c2fe5ba0f9c&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

[Aloishhh]

Ok so I have the flange repair deal on there now. I ended up *trying* to cut the grout and tile back with a Dremel. That was interesting. And sloppy. But I've attached photos. I feel like it's pretty level, and not too high over the floor. I'm just worried about the cracked tiles. They'll be under the toilet obviously, but what should I do? Caulk them? Grout them? What about the empty space around the new flange?

 

[Geofd]

I think you will ok, like you said the cracked tiles will be under the toilet, I would caulk them,after setting the toilet use water soluble caulking, get the tube warm with water make a small hole in the top, start applying, keep a clean warmdamp rag with you so clean up the excess,don't worry if it's a bit messy it will cleanup ,then let it set up for a while best overnite

 

[Aloishhh]

I think you will ok, like you said the cracked tiles will be under the toilet, I would caulk them,after setting the toilet use water soluble caulking, get the tube warm with water make a small hole in the top, start applying, keep a clean warmdamp rag with you so clean up the excess,don't worry if it's a bit messy it will cleanup ,then let it set up for a while best overnite

So the repair piece, over the pvc piece, is a bit cockeyed as you can see. Do you think that's too terribly bad? I mean I got it secured to the pvc piece and I have my closet bolts in pretty well parallel to the back wall. I'm gonna do ahead and put the toilet back on and see what happens and how straight it stays .. but my concern now is the closet bolts aren't both pulled down into the skinny part of the little guide channel thing? Whatever that is where it's big to get it in then goes thinner to not allow it out. The right one is all the way in the skinny part but the left one is not, it's in the wide part, I've just got it turned so it's long way is perpendicular with the wideness of the hole. Does that make any sense? Probably not. Lol here's a picture. Caulk anything yet? 100% silicone?

 

[Geofd]

Iif I were you, I would buy a couple of conventional wax rings they have worked for decades, no sense in reinventing the wheel that just my opinion,buy two just in case you miss the first time,there are also adjustable "johnny bolts, more expensive
But there's no need to cut the excess bolt off

 

[havasu]

Unless you get those bolts into the narrow slot, there is a good chance they will not secure properly. Do you have access to a Dremel tool to get the bolts where they belong?

 

[Aloishhh]

Well I had gotten the toilet on there and had to go to the farm bc my dad got stuck in his wheelchair out in the yard. But surprisingly the left one was secure when I was tightening the bolts and the right one kept popping out. So I'm going to just take the toilet off and the flange repair thing and maybe see if I just can reposition it. Idk. This is taking way longer than I ever thought it would and I really am over it. I must say tho, the waxless thing isn't terrible. It fits very well in there and seems to have good contact. I didn't use the spacer thing now that the new flange is slightly above the floor. Even after my first go, with the spacer on it, the leaking wasn't coming from the bottom. But then again, I may change my tune here sooner or later. I'll get some wax rings to have on hand tho, bc your logic is sound. If it ain't broke and all. So fingers crossed I can get that damn thing to line up the way I need it to, the bolts stay, the toilet pops on there nice and easy and my gaskets don't fail so I can call it a day and begin my next task of fixing my log splitter's engine.. again. thanks for your help everyone. I'll give the final update when I've finished.

 

[TomFOhio]

Can't tell for sure but do you have the flange fastened to the floor??

 

[Geofd]

Can't tell for sure but do you have the flange fastened to the floor??

No she doesn't we mentioned securing the flange, and if she couldn't do that to caulk the base of the toilet

 

[Aloishhh]

I believe so.. I mean, I got the repair part fastened to the existing flange.. is that not correct? That's what the instructions told me to do... Anyway I got it tightened down and it's not leaking or anything abnormal, however, I don't know that it's flushing properly. Again, it's not leaking or rocking or backing up at all. It just seems to like not flush as strongly as it should and kind of water fountains water up thru the fill valve tube thing that the little fill hose attaches to. Any ideas why this is now a thing?
it's not the water fill level too low or too high, I measured that out correctly, I've read that it maybe a seal issue, but it's not flooding anywhere.

 

[Geofd]

What we mean by fastening the flange is drill holes in the wood or concrete so the flange is secured to the floor,another method is caulking base to the floor you leave a space somewhere so if the wax ring fails you will know

 

[House Doc]

the broken flange looks like an Oatey #43539 flange (if it's a 4" drain). If it's 3" get that size. Loosen the 3 allen head screws and you should be able to twist and remove the broken flange and replace with new one. Ideally the flange should be anchored to the concrete with Tapcon screws. The orientation of the "keyhole" slots should be that the end of the narrow slot be directly to the right and left, parallel to the back wall. The flange of the bolts drop into the larger end and slide to the small end.
I have never seen this kind of repair flange, and if it doesn't have a lip/flange to catch under the existing flange I can't see how it would accomplish anything.
On a personal note, I have had great success using the poly Danco rubber/poly ring, instead of wax.