toilet replacement question

[nfalconer]

I had my bathroom tiled. The guy was also nice enough to dispose of all my old stuff including the toilet. What's left where the toilet once was is the hole and a simple black flange that lips around the opening by about 1 inch. Its all black and i see no screws or bolts holding it in place. The new flange I have is the same, but it has an additional metal ring surrounding the lip where I can screw it down.

Was this old flange glued or am I not seeing the screws (it does have some gunk around it, no wax though). Do I need to get in there and pry it out with a screwdriver? I don't see how the original flange was keeping the toilet in place, but maybe the worker removed a portion of it that I didn't see.

[Doug Miller]

Why do you need to put in a new floor flange? Is there some reason you can't mount your new toilet to the old floor flange?

[nfalconer]

Well there's not even a place on the old flange for bolting the toilet into place.

[Speedy Jim]

What you are looking at may not BE the flange. The flange could have rotted away eons ago and what you see is how it was "repaired".

I'm not there to see in person, but it's possible that there is the remnant of a lead bend or cast iron closet connection in the floor.

Dig out the black plastic and see if you can determine what there is. If you have access below, you'll learn more. Maybe take pics.

I advise you to tread very carefully and slowly. Whatever repair is made to this situation has to stand the test of time or you will have a leak and will be re-doing your nice floor.

Jim

[Doug Miller]

In that case, how was the old toilet fastened down?

Perhaps you misunderstand how a toilet is fastened to a floor flange. Here's how it works: flange bolts are inserted, head *down*, into the slots in the flange, and rotated 90 degrees so that the head of the bolt can't come back up. The toilet (with wax ring in place) is then lowered over the bolts. Finally, nuts and washers are applied to the ends of the bolts to snug the toilet down against the flange.

[Sev]

I think the taking pix and going slow is good advice- I'd even take those pix to a plumbing supply house- along with any relevant measurements- diameter of waste line, depth from that pipe to top of tile where toilet will sit. There are many kinds of flanges available- many more than you'll see at HD. They should be able to advise you what you'll need.