How to Cut Backer Board for a Toilet Flange

Tile is a beautiful, durable choice of flooring for bathrooms. Many times, especially in wet areas, a backer board made of concrete or cement is placed underneath the tile to protect the subfloor and give the tile a mold- and mildew-resistant foundation to rest on. Backer board is normally manufactured in large sheets, 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. When laying out your bathroom floor with backer board, you may have to cut a hole in the middle of a sheet for your toilet flange or another drain. This is easily done with hand tools in less than an hour.

Things You'll Need

• Utility knife
• Pencil
• Hammer
• Tape measure

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Lay out the backer board to determine where the toilet flange will fall on your piece. Mark this area out on the board with a pencil.

   • 2

     Measure your toilet flange and trace a more accurate outline of its shape on the backer board.

   • 3

     Score around the outline of the toilet flange on the backer board with the utility knife several times.

   • 4

     Knock the scored cutout for the toilet flange out of the backer board with a hammer. If you experience difficulty in loosening the cutout, score an X shape across the flange outline and try again.