Hi There

- I need a plumbing guru. I know nothing.

Ok so I removed the toilet in the 100 year old apartment building ( to put in new floor tiles).
I see this mucky old black wax ring. The Internet told me to remove it - which I did.
That lead me to an old iron flange and a crumbling blob of spackle on the floor around it.
So Then I gouge out the floor filler and try to remove the flange. But it is welded to the pipe with lead.
So the Internet tells me to drill holes in the lead - which I do.....until it is swiss cheese and I can rip it off the edge with pliers - but I did bang it a lot with a hammer too.
Now the edge of the pipe is quite jagged. See picture. Also, the pipe seems to have a bit of a bulge at the top.
I thought I could just put a new flange on but now the internet says that if I was worth my salt, I would not keep the lead drain pipe either! As the concrete floor is not in great shape, I suppose I could break it off and expose the wood planks and get down to the pipe....but so these are the questions.
Is this an never ending rabbit hole of incompatible Old Things that reveal more Old Things, until I have torn down the whole building? If i try to attach a PVC pipe to the old Fall Stack, will it fit?
If I leave it in place, can a new flange still fit on it? I don't want to deal with lead, but I am reading a lot of talk about brass and lead ( way out of my competency)
If the top edge is all jagged with lead left overs, can I just file them flat and pop a PVC flange on it? and some wax? or are there Rules? I'm guessing there are Rules.
Please help...thanks you so much!!!

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it is very hard to be sure but you might get lucky and a push-fit flange will work ??

the flange will need to be well secured to the floor also..

Thank you so much. Yes the old flange was not attached at the floor -

How do i make the jagged edge even?

It is difficult to see from your single photo. Try to get some light on the closet bend and take a couple more photos from different angles to help us see what you see.

the only thing that needs to be round and smooth is the inside of the lead pipe. the top outer edges can stay like they are because they do nothing if the new flange with its rubber ribs inserts.
as i said, you won't know until you get a couple of different flanges and try them for a tight fit and proper insertion depth.
don't forget that the fully inserted flange must rest ontop of the finish floor tile and be securly fastened to the floor

Hi - thanks for all your help everyone
I am trying to figure out how to post a whole series of images from Photobucket so it is clearer to see.

uhm - learning a lot today.....

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nope
ok -

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technical difficulties, please hold....

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the different views help. you have an old, old "wiped lead joint"..
i'm gonna walk back my original idea. i'm not so sure now that i see what you actually have.
i'm thinking you may have to remove some of that 'mud job cement' and cut up the floor boards to get at that pipe below the floor. from there you probably have cast iron that the lead is attached to.
you have a touchy job that you may be able to handle but i can't tell until i see what is below the floor.
should be something like this..

Thank you so much!! Ok I'm starting to feel like I'm biting off more than I can chew.

I think I'm going to have to call a plumber. I am afraid that if I pull out the elbow under the floor, then there will be a new issue with how to connect at the next point....

But the last plumber I had, put the sink faucets on backwards and installed my toilet kind of like a rocking chair.

Call a different plumber.....
.
.



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Is this your apartment building? How many units, for a 100 year old building? If you are a renter, and not the owner, I would stop and not proceed.

If this is YOUR building, then yes a Licensed Plumber.
Best Wishes

Hi there

We have 9 units/owners ( yes I know i could flood all of them ) - which will not make me popular.

I ended up getting a quote from a plumber, but now I am uncertain if the quote is high.
He says he has to change the lead elbow to pvc ( which i expected)
But he says he also has to change the lead drain pipes to the sink and bath because they connect to the toilet elbow.



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