Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Basement toilet on cement floor

Hi all,
New here, just got a quick question. For now anyway.

Getting ready to finish the basement and in the bathroom I have the toilet plumbed up out of the floor about 4 inches with a 4 inch pipe and cap. I don't have a whole lot of room as they plumbed it for a 10 inch rough in. Anyway, how do I go about putting the toilet holder downer thingy on? Flange??? Do I cut the pipe off flush with the floor and use an inside mount flange or do I break the cement up around the pipe and use an outside mount one? Does the flange thingy need to sit flat on the floor? Will I need to break up the cement so when I put the flange on it sit flush? Sorry for all the questions.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Les

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3698/toiletflangewd1.th.jpg (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=toiletflangewd1.jpg)

Did my downstairs 1/2 bath last summer-cut pipe flush w/ floor--thingy flange on top of
floor going down into pipe--gooey ring on top--works good..........

When I put my basement bathroom in, I had the same situation as you do. My builder also only plumbed it for a 10" rough-in toilet. I needed a 2x6 plumbing wall and he only figured for a 2x4 plumbing wall. Guess he thinks
3 1/2 inches is enough wood to run lots of 2" vent and drain pipe as well as plenty of copper supply. Eljer sells a nice 10' roug-in toilet called the Patriot (see link here) http://www.eljer.com/Products/Toilet/Catalog-Page/0912165.pdf

I'd spend the extra few bucks and go for the elongated bowl and the ADA extra tall pedestal---Gotta have the comfort!

Anyway, your question about the closet flange goes like this. You can find various PVC flanges for 4" applications at the big box stores (HD/Menards/Lowes) or you can go to a plumbing supply place and get options for many more applications such as offsets etc. The price is not that much more at the plumbing supply place AND the guy working there might actually be able to answer questions you may have!

Most closet flanges I have worked with fit over the waste pipe (O.D.) You wouldn't want an inside-diameter fitting that would diminish the diameter of the waste pipe. This could eventually contribute to clogs/backups in the future. Give yourself the biggest hole possible!

On my floor surrounding the waste pipe that the builder roughed in, I had to chip away a small bit of concrete around the outside of the PVC and then cut it off a hair (about 3/4") below the floor level. I used a Dremel tool with an abrasive cutting wheel to accomplish this due to clearance. A Sawsall wouldn't have worked to go below grade. The key with your application of this flange is you want it to sit as close to flush with your sub floor as possible. So if you are going to tile over the concrete, you set it so you tile up to the flange, cutting the tile around the circumference of the flange. The finished profile will be close to level with the surface of the finished tile. The whole key is for your toilet not to want to rock on a raised flange when you go to set it. If your end result places the flange a bit below the grade of the finished tile, that is OK since the wax ring will make up the difference.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Mark

Use an inside flange. You're going from a 2inch +/- drain hole in the toilet itself to a 3 - 4inch waste pipe so clogging isn't an issue. The flange itself needs to sit on top of the finished floor (tile/linoleum/etc.). I always finish the floor, then cut the pipe flush with it and install the insde flange, securing it to the floor well as it is what supports your toilet.

Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate your time. All the ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks