May. 12, 2025
A Toilet flange is a pipe-fitting device that holds the toilet in place and connects to drain pipes. It is also called a closet flange. A toilet flange meets two primary purposes. First, it keeps the toilet bowl safe from shaking or leaking on the bathroom floor. It is also attached to the drain pipe to remove the waste from the bathroom. Another significant purpose of the toilet flange is to avoid leakages and damage to the finished floor.
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Toilet flanges are made from various materials. Nowadays, plastic flanges are the cheapest. A toilet flange is made from various materials.
Stainless steel toilet flanges are resistant to rust and erosion. These flanges are suitable for sealing your drain pipes. The only stainless-steel part of the flange is the piece that fits the wax ring. Other body parts are made from plastic, copper, and cast iron. Stainless steel flanges are durable & suitable for various environmental factors without growing rust. These flanges are expensive, like brass and copper toilet flanges, but they help to provide longer-term sealing than plastic.
Copper is an antibacterial, biostatic, and flexible metal, so there are no worries about bacterial or fungus formation. Copper flanges are a good choice if you want a consistent and hygienic solution for connecting your toilet to the drain pipe. These are durable & long-lasting also. There is both soft & rigid copper. Soft copper bends frequently. It can be easily installed compared to rigid or stiff copper toilet flanges. Hard copper flanges require elbow joints to fit into a drainpipe properly. These elbow joints help to meet the joint gap and provide a perfect fit.
PVC Toilet Flanges
When there is a question about budget, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) toilet flanges are the best option. These flanges are widely used in residential and commercial toilets because of their lightweight, easy installation process & rust resistance. These make them an appropriate choice for budget-friendly plumbing fittings.
There are variations to plastic toilet flanges. Some are entirely made of PVC. Others have a PVC base and a metal top. There is no need to use adhesive when installing a gasket-sealed PVC flange. ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) toilet flanges are also made from plastic. They are highly rigid & more economical than traditional PVC. ABS is also resistant to water, heat, and shock. To strengthen, some ABS toilet flanges are fitted with an extra ring made of metal.
Brass is a metal alloy of zinc & copper, which is bendy & rust-resistant. It is a sturdy alloy commonly used in plumbing materials & toilet flanges.
Brass flanges are durable, heat resistant & long-lasting. They are in various shapes & regular, offset, and deep seal sizes. There is no compromise of forming microorganisms such as bacteria in brass toilet flanges. A brass flange could be an excellent option for replacing an old toilet flange for a new installation. The cautious part is oxidization. So, you must be careful about water & air contact while installing a brass toilet flange.
Pure aluminum is strong, lightweight & erosion-resistant. This aluminum is used to make different plumbing materials. Composite aluminum is infused with copper, zinc, and manganese. This type of aluminum is not long-lasting like pure aluminum. In this aspect, pure aluminum toilet flanges are a good choice.
The construction of these flanges is almost the same as that of stainless steel toilet flanges. The installation process is easy so that you can choose an aluminum toilet flange.
Cast iron is heavy & oldest type of flanges. These are sturdy and can exist for over a decade without damage or cracking. Cast iron toilet flanges are best to use in pipes lower than the subfloor as they are intended to extend down to the pipes.
These come in a variety of sizes. Deep-bodied cast iron flanges are used on drainpipes. One of the most significant drawbacks of cast iron toilet flange is it might be rusted. If the flange is not maintained properly & timely, it will be corrupted. These toilet flanges are more expensive than others.
Offset flanges support Toilet relocation. These flanges allow you to shift the toilet away from or off-center of a drainpipe by just a few inches. They are convenient when there’s an unusual location for the drainpipe opening. An elbow feature in offset flanges helps to make proper fitting.
These types of flanges don’t need cement or screws to fit inside the drainpipe. Push-tite flanges are used for renovation or repair work. The installation is very simple & it is compatible with any pipe materials. The main drawback is that these types of flanges are not long-lasting like other types of flanges.
This flange type is designed with a gasket that enlarges inside the pipe. It helps to repair worn-out or corroded toilet flanges without swapping the whole device. You can reduce your expenses by avoiding complete flange change.
2 different sizes of toilet flanges are commonly used in plumbing systems. 3-inch & 4-inch Toilet Flanges. The bottom & top are exactly 3 inches wide in a 3-inch toilet flange. These flanges are suitable only in a 3-inch bend or a 3-inch diameter pipe. A 4-inch toilet flange’s top & bottom have a 4-inch diameter.
The following tools are needed to remove an old toilet flange & install a new one:
At the beginning of removing an old toilet flange, you have to shut off the water supply to the toilet. Flush continuously to empty the tank and bowl. If it’s impossible to get all the water out by flushing, use a sponge to soak up extra water.
Use an adjustable wrench to separate the flange bolts at the toilet’s base. After removing the bolts, try to lose the connection between the wax & toilet. Once the seal has been broken, Remove the toilet from the ground and set it aside. After that, using the putty knife, scrape away the wax & then unscrew the old toilet flange to remove it.
The installation of a new toilet flange can be begun in two ways. Attach the replacement wax ring to the toilet’s base or place it on the flange before attaching it to the drainpipe. Use mounting screws and ‘T’ bolts to protect the new closet flange after the ring has been placed in the correct location.
Replace the toilet on top of the flange carefully & align the toilet’s bolt holes with flange bolts. Apply pressure to make the wax ring seal & closet flange strong when lowering the bathroom on the ring. Bolts should be tightened correctly at the base, but overtightening may crack the porcelain.
Finally, turn the water supply back on. Let the tank fill. If there is any leakage, turn the water supply back off. If you see no water leaks, flush it several times. Even after that, if there is leakage, remove the toilet again and check the position of the ring. Also, check the toilet flange to see if it’s loose.
Different toilet flanges are designed for various installation scenarios and pipe fittings. Replacing or buying a new toilet flange will be crucial if you don’t know about flange & pipe materials, configurations, sizes & specific installation needs.
Flange standards used on Viking pumps have been in place for over a century so EVERYONE should be experts on this now…right? It turns out not so much. There are various standards and various design differences in each standard. AND the standards have evolved over the years, leading some to use obsolete terms which only compounds the confusion. The following should help clear up some of this confusion as well as give you a resource to help answer questions for others.
Let’s start simple. The word “flange” can have a lot of definitions but in the pump industry it refers to a style of pipe
connection consisting of machined faces that are joined with bolts where a gasket between them provides the seal. This type of connection offers a key advantage over threaded connections; should the pump or sections of pipe need to be removed for inspection, cleaning, or replacement, the bolts can be removed to pull out individual components or sections of pipe. (see fig. 1)
And of course, it’s critical that Viking pumps connect with commercially available pipes and fittings. Viking Pump follows a few widely adopted flange standards. It’s important to note which flange standard is being followed to ensure the pump supplied will connect correctly with your pipes and equipment. Here are the 3 most common standards followed by Viking Pump:
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) maintains a set of flange standards commonly used in North America. These standards have evolved since they were first introduced over 100 years ago by the AESC (American Engineering Standards Committee). The AESC was later renamed the ASA (American Standards Association), which was later renamed the USASI (United States of America Standards Institute), which was later renamed ANSI (American National Standards Institute). Confused yet?
The important thing to remember is that while the name has changed, the set of standards has stayed the same (basically). But this has led to confusion…you’ll find documentation online at various sites for ASA flanges, ANSI flanges, ASME/ANSI flanges, and ASME flanges. ASME is the current, and technically correct designation for these standards. Don’t panic when your specification asks for ANSI flanges…they’re the same thing.
For more OEM cast iron flangeinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
“#” or “lb” or “pound” ratings are an old designation. Today ASME prefers the term “class”. If your specification is asking for 150# flanges, that’s the same as Class 150 flanges. Just like the old “ANSI” terminology, “#” ratings yet to be updated can still be found in a lot of online resources.
The term “class” is preferred because using “150#” can lead to the false assumption that the resulting flange connection would be limited to 150 PSI (pounds per square inch). ASME Class 150 flanges are rated to pressures higher than 150 PSI at ambient temperatures. And at very high temperatures these flanges would be rated to pressures lower than 150 PSI. Using the current “class” designation helps clear up this misconception.
These old “#” designations date back to steam ratings which are at elevated temperatures. For example, Class 125 flanges are rated to 125 PSI at 450°F (232°C) but are rated to 200 PSI at ambient temperatures.
Common ASME flange classes used by Viking pumps include:
Pump Casing Material
ASME Standard
Standard
Optional
Cast Iron
ASME B16.1
Class 125
Class 250
Ductile Iron
ASME B16.42
Class 150
Class 300
Carbon Steel
ASME B16.5
Class 150
Class , Class
Stainless Steel
ASME B16.5
Class 150
Class 300, Class
1 Some Viking Pump steel pump series are fitted with Class 300 flanges as standard (i.e. Series™)
2 This is an uncommon option for Viking Pump and limited to only a few series
Flanges can be offered flat or with a raised face (see fig. 2). Flat face flanges (commonly noted as “FF”) are machined flat across the entire mating surface. Raised face flanges (commonly noted as “RF”) feature a raised ring near the middle where the gasket is compressed and sealed. The surrounding surface, where the bolt holes are located, is machined back. This creates more sealing pressure due to less area of the gasket.
Even though the flange is machined slightly thinner than its flat face counterpart, this does not affect the rating.
Raised face flanges should not be used with Class 125 flanges as overtightening of the bolts can lead to cracking of the cast iron flange.
ASME is certainly the most common flange standard used in North America. But in Europe the most common flange standards are DIN (Das Deutsche Institut für Normung or German Institute for Standardization). As you could have likely guessed, these are like ASME flanges in general design, but with metric dimensions and ratings in BAR rather than PSI. One nice change is that the ambient temperature ratings are clearer in the class names for DIN. For example, PN16 flanges are rated to 16 BAR at ambient temperatures.
SAE flanges accommodate higher pressures than ASME or DIN connections. These flanges utilize adaptors that are welded to the pipes or adapt to another connection type. An O-ring in the adaptor creates a seal between the mating surfaces (see fig.3).
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