The Flange.

8/7/19:

(Above: The result of flange-morning.)

Building Summary: I left old-house a bit late this morning due to rainy weather. On the following ride through the beef pasture with Padre, we determined that the next step for me to take in regard to Jacobhouse was the toilet installation. So, when I got to the work site, that is what I began to do. I extricated the toilet from the cluttered office area, opened the box, and found the instructions. It was shortly after reading the manual that I discovered there was no flange included.

Fortunately, Wag was able to give me a ride down to Sparr Farm Supply, and there I procured a 3″ flange as well as some 2-½ screws*. On returning to Jacobhouse, I discovered that the 3″ flange, while being the right diameter, was slightly too long to fit above the sewer pipe. So, my next task was to shorten that flange by about ½”. I did this quite carefully with the hacksaw and then measured / cut a piece of 3″ pipe to a length just long enough to connect the flange to the sanitary ‘Tee’.

I soon discovered that my modifications had damaged the flange in a way that would not permit the 3″ piece of pipe to easily enter, and so went down to Sparr once more – this time with Padre. There, we obtained another PVC flange and were also notified by the paint-counter man*** that the previous flange I had chosen, while correct, would perhaps rust because of the metal surrounding it. That is part of the reason we got the second flange, and it is fortunate we did (more in commentary).

The final steps of installing the toilet flange were: fastening some ½” plywood around the rough opening via 2–½” screws (to close-in around the sewer inlet so the flange screws could actually seat themselves in something other than empty space), cleaning the sewer pipe inlet, gluing the flange-and-pipe to that orifice, and then using four deck screws to root the toilet flange in place.

(7:48 PM Update): Well, I was going to work on installing the toilet this afternoon, but before I got to that, I discovered that there were pieces of chewed foam under and in Jacobhouse. Rodents had permeated the seal, so I deemed that there must be immediate actions taken. Padre helped me by removing a lot of the underside foam while I went to Sparr Farm Supply (third time today) for more sprayfoam and coarse steel wool. Padre commenced to stuff in the steel wool, and I did the spraying of the new foam. It took about an hour of time total, $10.00 in materials, and some snips of my hair to rid it of a glop of sprayfoam that had flicked down onto me (that’s why we wear goggles). It was all worth it for a pest-free home.

Commentary: The flange installation process in Jacobhouse was a bit of a shenanigan. I say this because the sanitary ‘tee’ to which the flange needed to connect was about ½” too high. Thus, when it came to the flanges procured this morning, I needed to remove about that amount from the end, and I needed to cut a 2–¼” piece of 3″ pipe to go along with both (to make the connection between flange and sanitary tee).

As to why there were two attempts, that was a shenanigan in its own right. In the summary, I mentioned that the 3-inch flange I originally obtained (the one with the metal ring) was the correct piece for the job despite its tendency for rust. Thus, when Padre and I returned from Sparr, we decided to attempt using that part despite its very tight fit and slightly warped shape. This proved to be doable through use of a Padre-procured file, for with that implement, he rounded the 3″ pipe edge, allowing for it to slip into the imperfect flange.

Alas, when it came to gluing, the piece of 3″ pipe was reluctant to fit into original flange, so Padre forced it. As he did this, the piece of 3″ pipe shot all the way through the flange to such a point that half of it was hanging out the other side. We attempted to push it back, but by that point the glue had already set. Some less-than-proper words emanated from Padre at discovering this.

Luckily, we still had the second flange. Thus, when Padre went to go tend to some farm activities, I set about cutting the flange down to the right length as well as another piece of 3″ pipe. The new flange had a cap in it, so it was really easy for me to tap the two pieces together without any overextension. Then, I just used a hammer and some wood to knock out the blockage. Padre returned right after I’d finished doing all this, and he commenced to help me add that aforementioned plywood around the drain and then install the first and final toilet flange of Jacobhouse.

It was quite the process making that little connection, but now it’s done, and it’s done well.  

Final Note: Tomorrow I believe I will be placing the toilet onto the flange that was installed today. After that, it will be time for the vanity sink installation.

*These screws were procured because I need something slightly shorter than 3 inches to fasten the top cow-wood board to the front 2×4 that runs at the base just behind it. I should also use this side-note to mention that yesterday afternoon**, Padre helped me install that top piece of lumber via glue/clamps and a couple of deck screws. Thus, the fasteners procured this morning are not entirely necessary but will provide that board with even more support than it already has.

**Side-note within a side-note. Yesterday afternoon, I also installed the aluminum trim just above my bed via rivets, and I added some channel aluminum to the edges of the bedroom-office shelves (used glue instead of rivets for those… worked well.)

***Regrettably, I do not know the fellow’s name despite the multiple times he had provided me with excellent information. I do know that he retires in 2-years, though, and that is fortunate the Jacobhouse shall be complete before then.