FIXING A LOOSE TOILET AND REPLACING A WAX RING.
Your toilet is loose either from broken bolts or dry rot.
This is not that hard just depends on what problems you find.
The first step is to remove the toilet. Before you start you will want to put on some
Rubber gloves to protect you from germs. You will more than likely, after removing the toilet, not find any fecal matter to worry about.
Start by turning off the water to the toilet. There is a valve to the left of the toilet that you turn clockwise to turn off the water. After you have turned off the water,
Flush the toilet one more time. Remove the excess water in the tank and toilet bowl.
Either use a sponge or wet/dry vacuum.
Unhook the Hose that goes into the toilet, the white big nut that goes into the toilet tank should just unscrew. There are other set ups that we won’t go into at this time.
Email us if you have a unique or different problem
It would be a good idea to have a small trash bag ready for your old wax ring.
Next on each side of the toilet you will find the caps that cover the bolts. Pop the caps off, using a small putty knife, then unscrew each of the bolts. Most toilets have 2 but some have 4 bolts.
Now gently rock the toilet and unless it has a lot of caulk holding it down, should be able to tip it forward.
Now comes the fun part, removing the wax ring. With the toilet tipped to the front, scrape with a putty knife, any leftover wax ring and any caulk from the toilet.
Now pick up the toilet one hand on the front, under the bowl and one hand under the toilet tank. Lift and Set it aside for now. Setting the toilet Inside the tub is a good idea, so as not to tip over.
Now remove the rest of the wax ring from the toilet flange and the toilet bolts, might as well replace them at the same time.
You might come across a situation, where the bolts are broken or the toilet flange is damaged.
Most toilet flanges today are plastic, but if for some reason the flange is broken or the flange can no longer hold a bolt, you can purchase from Home Depot, a metal repair flange kit that sits over the existing flange.
You might run across an older flange that is metal and the bolt is broken. Your best bet would be to cut the bolt flush with the toilet flange and using a hack saw, drill out the bolt and then re-tap the hole. Home depot or your local hardware has these items.
You should be using a #2 wax ring, make sure the package contains the bolts you will need and the horn ring, that sits in the hole will be plastic. One more thing, sometimes the flange sits below the finished floor. Depending on the difference, you can either add a flat toilet flange for this purpose or buy a double stack toilet wax ring. It comes as one package and the description will be double stack, two wax rings in one package.
Now put the wax ring either on the Toilet Horn, as it is tipped forward or set it on the toilet hole. Install the bolts next. They should come with plastic washers. These are the ones that are semi-transparent, not the ones that are the same color as the toilet caps. Slip the new bolts in and under the groove of the toilet flange and install the washers over the bolts and push down till it touches the toilet flange. This will keep the new toilet bolts from moving and straight.
Lift up the toilet and line the toilet holes up with the new toilet bolts.
Lower the toilet as far as you can and start rotating it each way until it can not go down any farther.
Install the big washer that is the same color as the cap. if you install it right, there should be a slight gap to allow the cap to snap onto. If not, the washer will be flush with no gap at all. Add the metal washer and start tightening.
Go back and forth on each side. Until the toilet no longer rocks, if it does continue to rock, then keep tightening. At a point when the bolts are pretty tight to sit on the toilet which helps set the ring.
Cut the bolts short enough to allow the caps to go back on. Most bolts has a groove, cut it off at this point using a hacksaw.
Last is the Supply line, would suggest a metal braided line. If you are not sure what to buy, take off the supply line and match it up at the Store. More than likely will be either 3/8” compression to toilet or ½” compression to toilet.
Word of caution, if the pipe coming out of the wall is copper there might be a chance that the angle stop valve (the valve that goes to the toilet) could be what they call a compression fitting. This pipe could break when you unscrew the bottom part of the supply line. Make sure you hold the front of the Valve with another pair of pliers and to be on the safe side turn off the water to the house.
After this is all done, make sure you caulk around the base to fill in the gaps of the toilet to the floor.
