Replacing-A-Toilet...
Raising The Seat To A New Level!

Replacing-A-Toilet... not something you've got to do very often unless you're a plumber. Toilets are definitely NOT my favorite thing to work on so it's a good thing it's an easy and quick job. The toilet I'm installing here is a 17 inch (seat height) one perfect for anyone with bad knees, the elderly or otherwise handicapped. It's pretty nice if your tall too. Standard toilets are usually about 14 inches so if you're shopping the home centers make sure you're looking at the "seat" height and not the overall height. Well, that's about all I have to say about toilets so let's start... Replacing-A-Toilet.

Replacing-A-Toilet prep...You're going to need some old towels or newspaper, a bucket, an adjustable wrench, a small level, a hooked scraper (if you've got one) and a small paint scraper.

Removing your old toilet

STEP 1:Shut-off Water Supply It's located below the tank on the left side as you're looking at the toilet. Find the supply hose on the bottom of the tank and follow the hose down to where it meets the supply valve. Turn the valve clockwise (to the right) to shut off the water supply to the toilet. Flush the toilet and get as much water out as you can. Remove the tank's lid and sponge-out the rest of the water in the tank. Leave the tank's lid off so it doesn't fall and break when your moving the toilet. (yes... I did that!)

STEP 2: Remove Mounting Nuts There are two mounting (closet) nuts that hold the toilet down covered by a plastic (dome looking) cap. Your new toilet comes with new caps so you can pry them off with a pair of pliers. Once you've exposed the nuts, remove them with the adjustable wrench. There will be a washer and the plastic seat that the plastic "nut" cap snaps into... remove them as well and set aside. Your new toilet will have new closet bolts, nuts and caps so it's safe to throw them away. If you're replacing-a-toilet that's used then you might want to purchase new ones.

STEP 3:Remove Toilet... The toilet shown in the photo was caulked where it meets the floor. I don't suggest you caulk a toilet and here's why... if the wax ring fails and the toilet begins to leak you will never know. If your house is on a crawl-space a leak could cause the wood floor to rot over time creating a costly repair. Remove the old caulk before attempting to lift the toilet off the wax ring.

Now that the nuts & caulk are removed, grab the toilet by the bowl next to the seat hinges, pull it off the wax ring and set it on news paper. You can stuff a rag into the soil pipe so the water that's left doesn't slosh onto your floor. You can try to drain it into a bucket if you're strong enough to hold it while it drains. Then you can give it to habitat for humanity or sell it to a recycle yard.

STEP 4: The Toilet-Wax-Ring... Scrap away any old wax from the flange. The wax ring is nasty so you may want to use some gloves (I forgot mine that day)... make sure you wash-up when you're done!

Use the paint scraper to remove the old wax... remove the old closet bolts by sliding them along the slot in the flange and install the new ones. Install the new wax ring... I like to install it onto the toilet rather than putting on the flange. That way I know it's seated to the toilet exactly where it's supposed to and reduce the chances of leakage. Now you're ready to...

Handyman Tip Don't caulk over old caulk... you may mask the problem only to discover months later that water has penetrated the seal and caused a more serious problem. Also, another problem could occur if acrylic caulk is used over silicone caulking or vice verse. They just don't bond together properly to each other.

Installing the new one...

STEP 5:Replacing-A-Toilet... Since this is a new toilet, don't install the tank until after the bowl is in place. That will make life much easier.

Line-up the holes in the bowls base with the closet bolts from the flange. Set the bowl down and apply even pressure to seat the wax ring. Check for level... place your 12 inch level on the bowl and attempt to level the bowl. If you have an old home with wooden floors it may be necessary to shim the bottom of the bowl to achieve level. Now you're ready to refasten all the connections.

STEP: 6: Install-toilet tank... Prep the new tank by installing the tank gasket and the bolts as shown in the image. The gasket is placed with the tapered side down (towards the bowl)... I know what you're thinking... the tank pictured is upside down so... when you turn it around the taper will be down... towards the bowl. The bolts on the Kohler have a neat metal flange the grip the bolts and hold them in place.

Now your ready to place the tank and fasten it to the bowl.

Once you've got the tank secure you can reconnect the water supply hose and turn on the water. Remember that the hose connection is a hand tight connection. check for leaks while you give it a few flushes.

That's it... Replacing-A-Toilet complete!