A quick, easy task with a significant impact on your bathroom’s appearance, replacing your toilet seat, is an easy DIY project to update the look and feel of your bathroom. One way to get comfortable with installing a seat is to read and follow these steps:
Tools you’ll need:
- An adjustable wrench or pliers
- A flathead screwdriver
- Spray oil such as WD-40 (optional)
- A small hacksaw (optional)
- A level (optional)
Disconnect the supply line.
- The supply line is usually located near the tank and can be undone with a wrench. Once it’s disconnected, turn off the water supply to prevent any leaks while you’re working on this project.
- Next, use a rag to catch any water that may leak out of either end of the line while you’re disconnecting it (if there are any leaks).
Turn off the shutoff valve, then flush the toilet to drain the tank and bowl.
Remove the old seat.
- Pop off the bolt caps. Look at the edge of the old toilet seat near the tank. You may see plastic caps where the seat’s hinges attach to the toilet bowl. If so, slide the flathead screwdriver under their edge, prying the lids off.
- If there are no bolt caps, you will see the bolts themselves attaching the hinges of the seat to the toilet bowl.
- Loosen the nuts. Look underneath the edge of the sides of the toilet bowl, and you’ll see bolts channeling into the porcelain, held in place by nuts. Attach the adjustable wrench to each.
- Remove the old seat’s bolts. The bolts at the base of the hinges on top of the toilet bowl may be slotted for a screwdriver. If so, use yours and turn each bolt counterclockwise until it comes out.
- If your old toilet seat has washers between the nut and bowl, remove those as well.
- If they’re stuck, you may have to wrestle with the old bolts if they’re stuck as the bolts may have rusted in place on some older toilets by accumulated dirt. If so, they may not come out quickly. If they are not coming out easily, don’t worry – you have some choices. Spray the lubricant on the threads of the rusted bolts, letting it sit for 10 minutes, trying to remove them.
- If that doesn’t work, place your adjustable wrench on the nut. Hold it as you use the screwdriver in your other hand and attempt to turn the bolt out.
- If the bolts are still stuck, use your small hacksaw to saw them off. Place the blade just under the toilet bowl, at the top of the nut, and gently saw back and forth until you cut the bolt off.
- Safely get rid of the old seat and nuts and bolts. Alternatively, you can call Restore to donate or recycle.
Install the New Seat.
- Stand the new seat in place. The hinges will be pre-attached, so place these where they were located. The new toilet seat box will contain bolts and nuts and plastic caps. Set this hardware to the side.
- Take a bolt in your hand. The hinges will have holes for the bolts to be inserted. Since the toilet seat is in place exactly where the previous seat was, these holes will also be positioned directly on top of the holes in the top of the toilet bowl. Drop the bolts through the holes in the hinges and bowl, with the head of the bolt on top.
- Thread the nuts onto the bolts. You should now see the end of one of the bolts sticking down through the top of the bowl. Turn the nut onto the bolt (clockwise) until it is as tight as you can get it by hand. Use your adjustable wrench to tighten the nut just a bit further. Repeat with the other nut on the other side of the toilet.
- If your hardware includes washers as well, place these on the bolt threads, then put on the nut.
- If the hinges have plastic caps attached (or if these are included in the box with the new toilet seat), snap these in place by pushing them down on the heads of the bolts once you’re done.
- Snap the seat into place. For some models of toilet seats, you don’t drive the bolts through the hinges; instead, you drop the bolts directly into the holes on either side of the toilet bowl instead of forcing them through the hinges first. Then fix them in place with nuts. The seat’s hinges will snap onto or slide over the bolt heads.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed a new toilet seat.
Gene Wagner Plumbing understands our customers can do many projects. When a plumbing project becomes overwhelming, know that Gene Wagner Plumbing provides the highest quality service to our customers while using the most state-of-the-art materials in the marketplace. We take pride in our customer service, which shows through our customer testimonials. Contact us or call us at 414-541-9217.
