If you’re a homeowner, chances are that you will need to have a toilet replaced sometime. While there isn’t a lot of wear and tear on a toilet — there aren’t that many moving parts — there are things that can go wrong, necessitating the need for a new one.
If you don’t want to pay someone else to do it, there’s good news: changing a toilet really isn’t that difficult. There are few tools required and just a little knowledge of how a toilet works, so here’s a quick guide to doing it yourself.
Remove the Old Toilet
In order to get the old toilet off of the floor and out of the house, there are a few things you’ll need to do.
First, you’ll need to disconnect all of the plumbing that leads to the toilet. There will be a water supply coming out of the wall and leading to the tank, so turn that off, flush the toilet to remove the water from the tank, and then remove the line from the toilet. This requires a wrench, so make sure you have one handy (you can purchase one through RS Components). Once the line is disconnected, it will drip, so have a bucket or bowl ready.
Next, remove the tank from the bowl. There will be bolts connected the two pieces and a ratchet set works great in this situation.
Finally, unbolt the toilet from the floor. These bolts can vary, so make sure you know what type of tool you’ll need.Again, you may have some drippage, so have a few towels laying around.
Replace the Wax Ring
Once the old toilet is gone, you will notice a wax ring that is around the hole in the floor. This ring is there to give your toilet a tight connection to the pipe so there aren’t any leaks.
The wax ring is very sticky, so you need to scrape it up from the floor. A putty nice is perfect for this, but any thin, blunt blade will do the trick. Once you have the area around the sewer hole mostly free of old wax, bring the new toilet in and get ready to place it over the hole.
Set the New Toilet
You will have to place the new ring on the new toilet before you set it in place. Carefully line up the toilet with the hole and set it down. If you miss and need to readjust, you’ll have to replace the wax ring as well, so take your time and line it up correctly.
Once it’s down, gently rock the toilet back and forth to set the wax ring. Then replace all of the screws and bolts on the bowl first, then attach the tank and, finally, reattach the plumbing. Turn the water back on and look for any leaks: you may need to retighten the bolts.
Replacing a toilet isn’t very difficult if you have the right tools and you take your time!