Replacing A Toilet DIY Tips - See Other Articles

REPLACING A TOILET DIY Tips – See Other Articles
Posted on November 23, 2015 by Plumbing Manager    

I have been a plumber for over 25 years and like to send articles out to help home owners or businesses on plumbing jobs they would like to try them selves to save a few hundred dollars. Replacing a toilet if you have never installed one can be tricky and I have some help tips & tricks to make the job easier.
Finding The Right Toilet For Replacing a Toilet

A lot of customers don’t do the research before buying a toilet,  they will just go to Home Depot & see a deal and go for it.  When Replacing a Toilet you want to make sure you do your home work which is very important because of the water savings & the way the toilet flushes.  A lot of toilets in today’s world are set up for water savings which then reflects the way your toilet flushes.  I highly recommend a TOTO toilet.  This toilet saves water and has a great flush.  Now the price of a Toto toilet might cost more but you do pay for what you get is the bottom line when replacing a toilet.  “Bottom Line”  Now for a lower end toilet which has a great name would be American Standard.  This toilet is a little cheaper but still has both the water savings and a good flush.
Step 1 On Replacing a Toilet – Tools & Parts

First of all make sure you have all the tools that you need.  Most new toilets come with the tools you need to put together the new toilet.  Then you will need a crescent wrench, small pair of channel locks, flat head screw driver & a handy bucket for water.  If you have one a hand pump which I use to get all the water out of old toilet it so its easier to remove and you won’t get water every wear. Also make sure you have a wax wring and an extra set of closet bolts & some caulking.
Step 3 Replacing A Toilet – Putting Together New Toilet

I always put together the new toilet the instructions come in the box it comes in make sure your new toilet comes with a wax wring.
Step 4 Replacing A Toilet

Turn the water off behind the toilet on the water valve called a angle stop before you do any thing else and make sure that valve is off by flushing the old toilet and if the valve is off the tank will not fill up with water.
Step 5 Replacing a Toilet – Bolt Removal

There will be two caps on the bottom of each side of the toilet you will want to pop those off with a flat head screw driver & take your crescent wrench and loosen and take the nuts off each side that you popped the finish caps off.
Step 6 Replacing a Toilet – Water Supply

Disconnect the water supply line that connects too the toilet.  If that angle stop and supply line look old now is the time to replace it. If that’s the case I would think about calling your local Plumbing Company.
Step 7 Replacing a Toilet – Remove Water

You will now want to make sure all the water if taken out of the toilet you can use a cup,  but if you do have a hand pump that’s the best way to go. Once water is taken out you can now lift the toilet up and keep it level and carry it out of your home or business.  If you do not keep it level water will spill on the floor because you will have water in the p-trap.
Step 8 Replacing a Toilet – Remove Old Toilet

You will want to remove the remaining wax left over from the old toilet they you will want to take your closet bolts & Washers that came with your wax wring & the extra set of bolts and nuts that you got and put the bolts on the closet flange slots on each side of the flange. You will now have an extra set of washers & nuts to tighten new toilet down.
Step 9 Replacing a Toilet – Install New Toilet

You can now set wax ring on the closet flange & bring in new toilet and line up hole on Replacing a Water Heatertoilet to bolts you just set.  Once you have set toilet down you will want to sit on the toilet and rock back and forth with your weight a little to really get that wax wring to set so you have no leaks. You will now use those extra bolts & tighten new toilet down.  You will want to go back and forth on each side and tighten the bolts a little bit at a time to make sure the toilet sets level.
Step 10 Replacing a Toilet – Supply Line & Bolt Caps

You now can set the finish caps onto the bolts you just tightend down this is to hide the bolts to make to toilet to look finished.  You then can hook up water supply & turn the water on. You will want to flush a couple of times to make sure everything is working properly before you caulk the bottom of the toilet because that can become a mess. If all is working properly go ahead and caulk the bottom of the toilet and let it dry for an hour and your good to go.

Published By “Plumbing Sacramento Manager”