Oatey 42255 4-Inch Cast Iron Closet Flange - Durable Toilet Drain Pipe Fitting for Bathroom & Plumbing Repairs | Perfect for Home Renovation & DIY Projects

I will state here, in short, what I explain in some detail further on. This is a great product that serves as an alternative to an old style "oakum and lead" joint in replacing a broken cast iron flange. It can be used by DIY'ers, but you must be prepared to do any clearing and chiseling work needed to get the flange down so the top of the flange is no more than 1/2" above,and and no lower than even with, the finished floor level, the job that you would otherwise be paying the plumber to do. It can also be used to raise the level of an older cast iron flange by replacing the flange, but simpler and easier alternatives are available for that.For novices seeking or needing more information, you may wish to read some or all of the following:1. This flange is designed to replace an existing cast iron flange that is broken, or, possibly, to replace an existing cast iron flange that is below the level of the floor. It is not used to elevate or repair an existing flange. It uses a rubber gasket and a bolt down brass plate instead of the older oakum and poured lead method of sealing the joint between the flange and the drain pipe. If you look at the picture, you can see the brass plate and, below it, the rubber gasket it compresses. This is the area that in "the old days" would be filled with oakum and then have molten lead poured into it. The picture also shows two of the four extended areas in the iron casting mentioned in 6. below that are the reason you may have some "chisel work" to do.2. It is designed to work with 4 inch (inside diameter) cast iron drain pipe found in most older houses, not with the PVC/ABS (plastic) pipe found in most newer homes. This is one reason the product is not commonly available in hardware and home supply stores.3. It will not work on 3 inch (inside diameter) drain pipe used in some toilet installations. Unless you already know, you have to measure. One of the negative reviews of the flange is almost certainly by someone who tried to use the flange on 3" drain pipe.4. I cannot say absolutely that the flange cannot be used with 4 inch PVC/ABS drain pipe, but because the wall of PVC/ABS drain pipe is thicker than that of cast iron pipe, the outside diameter of the pipe is greater and will likely prove to make tightening the brass plate onto the rubber gasket difficult if not impossible. Some reviewers have indicated they have successfully used this flange on lead drain pipe, and I have no reason to doubt that, but suspect the results will depend on the thickness of the lead pipe. If the outside diameter of the lead pipe is significantly larger than that of cast iron pipe, then you may experience the same potential problem as with PVC/ABS pipe.5. The purpose of any toilet flange is to allow the toilet to be firmly bolted to the floor so that it doesn't wobble or move, and to seal the gap between the flange and the drain pipe. It's purpose is not to make a water tight seal between the toilet and the drain. That is the function of the wax (sometimes rubber) ring that fits between the flange and the toilet when the toilet is set on the flange. There is confusion about this sometimes, because when the flange is broken, the toilet usually leaks, but the leak is caused by the broken flange allowing the toilet to wobble, breaking the seal of the wax ring.6. Ideally, the top of a toilet flange should be no less than level with, and no more than 1/2" above the finished floor when it is installed. If the flange is too high, the toilet will sit on the flange rather than the floor. The toilet should sit on the floor, not the flange. If you install the flange so that the top of the flange is more than 1/2" above the finished floor, you may have to shim around the base of the toilet so the toilet's weight is on the floor and not the flange, and then caulk between the base of the toilet and the floor. This may work if you are able to get enough of the drain pipe into the flange and rubber seal to still make a strong solid connection, but it is not the way a toilet is intended to be installed. If you allow the toilet to rest on the flange and not the floor, it will appear to be fine and work well for a while, but it will eventually wobble and break the seal of the wax ring and the toilet will leak. I say all this because getting this flange down to the above mentioned level can be a bit of work in some installations Such work may be necessary because this flange has extended areas in the casting to receive the bolts for the bracket that compresses its rubber gasket, and these extend beyond the ordinary circumference of the barrel of an old oakum and lead flange. If you install it too high because you have not done any needed "chisel work," to get the flange down sufficiently, it may attach to the pipe, but not be a satisfactory installation.7. If your floor has been built up (say tile put in over wood, or in place of old linoleum) and your old flange is below floor level, this flange might be used to raise the flange height to be even with or slightly above the floor by replacing the old flange and installing this flange at an appropriate level to the finished floor, so long as it is only 1/2" or so above the top of the cast iron drain pipe. But much simpler fixes are available in steel, iron, or PVC "extenders," or an "insert" PVC flange with a sleeve and rubber gasket that slide down into 4 inch drain pipe with the PVC flange sitting on top of the old flange. These type of products are readily available in most hardware and home supply stores as well as online. The "insert" effectively reduces your 4 inch drain pipe to a 3 inch diameter at the toilet, but this is, ordinarily, not a problem since the toilet's drain hole is, itself, actually smaller than 3" in diameter. A flange that is slightly below the finished floor can likely be simply compensated for with an extra thick wax seal. The problem you may well encounter if the flange is more than slightly below the floor is that, even if you get the toilet bolted down securely with extra long bolts, and use one or more extra thick wax rings, you will be using the wax ring to do a job it is not intended to do. The wax ring is intended to provide a seal between the bottom of the toilet and the flange, not to be a wax "pipe" for the passage of waste water, and if you push it beyond its structural limits, the ring is going to fail and leak. Combination rubber and wax products are available that let you "push" this limit a little.I was tempted to give this flange only 4 stars because of the complete lack of instructions, which has no doubt led to some of the expressed dissatisfaction with the product, but decided that would be unfair since Oatey apparently does not consider this to be a DIY item. The "This Old House" video is very helpful in showing how the flange is used. Some caveats: The video shows the installer breaking the old flange in two places and, fairly easily, prying it out. Unless the installation is on wood, this may not be the case for you. Also, old cast iron flanges installed on cast iron drain pipe are commonly packed very tightly with oakum and lead and this will have to come out as well since the packing sits in the space where the new rubber gasket will go. Many flanges are also screwed or bolted down in some way and those screws and bolts are going to have to be removed or cut. The video shows the installer pushing the rubber gasket down into this cast iron flange fairly easily with finger pressure and a few hammer taps. This also may not be the case for you. I have had to use an improvised thin wood "driver" and/or temporary long installation bolts to get the gasket far enough down into the flange to be able to use the supplied bolts with the brass compression plate to complete the installation.Hope this helps.