Yesterday I decided to fix my wobbly toilet. When I removed the toilet I discovered that the closet flange was broken and installed wrong. Instead of having the slots for the toilet bolts at 9 and 3 they were at 12 and 6.

The old flange is pvc that fits over the outside of a 4in pipe.

The gap around and under the flange appears to be filled with grout and nowhere close to level. It would seem the old flange broke because it wasnt fully supported in spots. This is in the basement on tile. Will I need to rip up the tile or can I just fix the area under the flange?

Thanks

they make flanges that fit inside 4" PVC. one type glues directly to the inside of the pipe while the other type has rubber ribs that seal as you slide the flange into the pipe.
with some patience you can remove enough of the old flange to get it out of the way of the new flange. if you leave some of the socket part of the old flange it won't matter since the new flange will fit inside.
secure it well with tapcon screws and you will be good to go..
make sure to get a flange with a stainless steel ring..

The wide rectangular slots should be at 6:00 and 12:00 position.
The narrow short slots need to be at 9:00 and 3:00.
I'd use an inside pipe cutter and remove the old flange, add a coupling, short piece of pipe and new flange. The flange needs to be sitting level, atop the tile, and securely fastened thru the tile into the concrete.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I forgot I have a home warranty so I won't have to tackle this on my own. Hopefully I can talk them into cutting back the pipe and installing a new flange even though it would probably require removing tiles and concrete. Also planning to have them look at the upstairs toilet since it is cracked and grouted to the floor. I don't need a hidden leak causing problems.

So the plumber with the home warranty company recommended screwing a repair flange on top of my existing flange. In my opinion that is only a temporary solution since the existing flange isn't level.

Since it doesn't sound like the home warranty company will pay to have a new flange put in and the floor leveled I'll be doing it my self. My plan is to try to remove the old flange without damaging the pipe. Then level the floor and install a new flange. If that fails I'll do as NC Plumber suggested and break out the floor and install a new section of pipe.

Then it's a question of shim and silicone or grout the toilet to level it.

I've included a picture of the existing flange, you can see my cabinet on the right and tub is just off to the left.

for illustrative purposes:



flange does not touch toilet
flange rests on top of finished floor
toilet should be leveled and/or grouted to floor
wax seal makes watertight connection

(flange should be anchored to subfloor)

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

first thing first. Is the tile itself level? If the tile is level and the pipe is cockeyed, it would be better to remove the old flange, rough up the mortar, and level the area inside the cut with thinset. You can then install a new flange anchored to the mortar. If the tile isn't level and the flange is, I would consider busting the tile around the flange out and replacing it and the pipe.

Referring to your original posting, if the slots had been at the 12 and 6 locations, the toilet would have been installed "sideways" with its back to the sink.

You may be making too much of an issue about the "unlevel" flange. All that is important is that the flange NOT contact the toilet when it is set in place. The seal, whatever you use, will compensate for the unevenness.