Replacing Your Toilet Does Not Have To Be A Frustrating Experience
November 5th, 2008The job of replacing a toilet is the one fixture that has caused many people to experience a lot of frustration. Following these steps should lessen the trouble you experience as you install your new bathroom toilet.
Remember to position your toilet so it has a minimum of 2″ for the vent, and 3″ in diameter for the drain.
Tools you will need:
- Cold water supply stub out with a shutoff valve
- Flexible tubing
- 1 air chamber
- Putty knife
- Level
- Adjustable wrench
- Silicone caulk
Step 1: Using a putty knife, scrape the old wax gasket, roughly it up.
Step 2: Remove the bolts from the floor flange. To help prevent any leaks, you should scrape the flange clean.
Step 3: When you position the floor flange, the bottom side of the flange needs to be level with the finished flooring. Using a level, tighten the flange screws, being careful it is level.
Step 4: Put some plumber’s putty on the floor bolts, then insert them through the flange. Be sure to adjust them where they will line up with the center of the drainpipe.
Step 5: Turn the new toilet bowl upside down and carefully place the new wax gasket on the toilet horn that is located on the bottom of the toilet bowl.
Step 6: Carefully apply plumber’s putty to the entire bottom edge of the bowl.
Step 7: After you turn the bowl right side up, position the bowl over the bolts and lower it into place over the flange. You should feel the toilet push into the wax ring as you press down firmly applying pressure as you slightly twist. (Hint - warm the wax ring up a little before applying, as it will not sit properly if it is cold).
Step 8: Level the bowl using a level if necessary and adding shims in places they are needed.
Step 9: By hand, you can now tighten the nuts and washers onto the bolts.
Step 10: If one is necessary, put rubber tank cushion at rear of toilet bowl.
Step 11: Place the rubber gasket on the flush valve opening that is located on the underside of the tank.
Step 12: Carefully positioning the tank over the bowl, you can now tighten the nuts and washers located on the mounting bolts.
Step 13: Using an adjustable wrench, tighten the hold-down bolts that are located at the base of the bowl. It might also be nece ssary at this point to use the level, being sure that the toilet bowl is still level.
Step 14: Using plumber’s putty, fill the caps and fit them over the ends of the bolts. Using either silicone caulk or the plumber’s putty you can seal the base of the toilet bowl.
Step 15: Attach a shut off valve to the supply line stub after you have cut the end, then you can connect the shut off valve to the tubing and connect it to the underside of the toilet tank.