Flooring Replacement & Toilet Flange

[DEITZ645]

While replacing the flooring in our trailer I have hit a little bit of a road block. The new flooring is 3/8" thick and now the top of the closet flange is just level with the top of the new floor material and as a result the toilet will not compress the toilet flange seal. I was wodering if there is such a thing as a closet flange extension or an extra thick foam seal for RV's? I know the standard house wax rings come in extra thickess for remodels, but of course an RV toilet does not use a wax ring

The toilet is a Thetford Bravura. The current flange is a NIBCO ABS plastic male threaded flange. So I am toying with placing a "donut" of the flooring under the flange so it sits the requisite height above the flooring.

Does anybody have any thoughts or experience with this sort of thing?

[maccamper]

This may not necessarily work on your trailer, but on ours the threads extended further into the tank than was really necessary. I simply turned the flange counterclockwise a little and that raised up the flange to the proper height. I could feel that the threads on the flange still extended below the threads on the tank. I hope it works on yours.

[DEITZ645]

maccamper,
Thanks for the reply. I think it will work on my installation too. My threads extended way past the bottom of the tank fitting too. I cut a "donut" out of the flooring and tried a dry fit. With the spacer under the flange I think I get plenty of rotations so the threaded portion of the flange is well into the female tank threads, although now it doesn't extend past the tank fitting. I don't think this will matter though. I am going to go to my friendly local RV dealer to see if I can purchase a closet flange with a longer threaded section. I want to wait until winter breaks to do the final install so everything is warm and flexible instead of cold and brittle.

[lebolewis]

Carl, I have a similar problem...did you find a Flange that has a longer thread depth than the original? If yes, where did you find it? Bill

[Aage]

Might be a good idea to use the wide Teflon plumber's tape , if you stick with the idea of not screwing it in as far as it was. That should ensure that you keep a good seal.

[Dan@LED4RV]

Are there screws holding the flange down? And are there threads on the flange itself?
I had that problem one time and was able unscrew it and allow it to go high enough to seal. The flange has to be the screw in type.

Click here to see the screw in type flange.

Dan

[reday]

A new "uncompressed" seal took care of my problem...

[Dan@LED4RV]

Was it wax?
Dan

[reday]

It was a standard Thretford replacement seal. Just got back from a 1000 mi trip... no problems with it.

[nvestysly]

A few years ago we had a laminated floor installed in our trailer. Ever since then we have a bad odor when the bathroom exaust vent or Fantastic vent are used.

I removed the toilet recently to repair a water leak and noticed the foam gasket under the toilet was not compressed. Seems the floor installer did nothing to shim the flange when he added the 3/8" thick flooring.

I used the donut spacer idea mentioned in a previous post and now the gasket is compressed when the toilet is secured. I have not been camping yet but this will surely reduce the foul odor.

Thanks again to this forum for plenty of useful ideas and solutions.

Lucius

[Joebanjo]

Warning....Warning......Warning!!!!!

Do not use wax toilet flange seals on your RV, especially if you store your Airstream in hot summer weather. The wax seal will soften and in some cases almost melt under your toilet, allowing the loss of a good toilet to flange seal.
Take it from someone who made the mistake...

Mike