Installing a toilet seems like an intimidating DIY project but it's surprisingly easy to do yourself. Once you choose one you just need a few basic tools and a good step-by-step guide.
Most people don't even consider installing their own toilet. Not because it's such a complicated task, but because screwing up a toilet install? That has bigger consequences than other home DIY tasks.
If you hang a picture in the wrong place, you move it, fill the nail hole in the wall then forget about it. If you install your toilet the wrong way the result could involve you being chased by poops.
That isn't the sort of thing you ever forget.
Table of Contents
How to Install a Toilet
This is one of the easiest home improvement jobs you can tackle. It's way easier for instance than pouring self levelling concrete.
It also scores very high on the official bragging rights scale because it impresses most people; most people not knowing how simple it is to do.
It'll take 2-3 hours. About the same time as making a pumpkin pie. Maybe 4 if you run into a bit of trouble.
Materials
- Toilet (bowl and tank should come with bolts etc.)
- Wax Ring
- Wood shims
- Rags
- Pencil
- Masking Tape
- Caulking
Tools needed
- Adjustable wrench
- Vice grips
- Caulking gun
- Screwdrivers
- Tape Measure
Instructions
STEP 1. Turn off the water supply. If it's stuck, use WD40 and/or vice grips.
STEP 2. Flush the toilet.
STEP 3. Soak up any remaining water from the tank & bowl with a towel and/or small bowl.
STEP 4. Undo the water supply line.
STEP 5. Remove the tank from the base by removing the bolts located inside and underneath the tank.
STEP 7. Remove the bolts holding the toilet to the floor and haul away your tank and toilet. You're now toiletless!
STEP 8. Plug the now open drain hole with toilet paper or a rag to stop sewer gasses from coming into the bathroom.
STEP 9. Scrape up any wax from the wax ring left on the flange and inspect it. If it's cracked or broken, remove the flange using a reciprocating saw, hammer and chisel and replace it with a new one.
STEP 10. Install your new bolts to the toilet flange and finger tighten them. This secures the toilet to the floor. Make sure they're in the right place by measuring from the wall.
STEP 11. Apply a new wax seal to the new toilet.
STEP 12. For a skirted toilet you won't be able to see the bolts as you set the toilet down. Mark the centre of the bolts with masking tape on the floor.
STEP 13. Lower the toilet to the floor then sit or crouch on it to help set the wax seal. Hand tighten the bolts to finish setting the toilet.
STEP 14. Attach the water supply line to the tank.
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STEP 15. Secure the tank to the toilet bowl. My toilet came with a little tool for tightening the nuts. Hook the water supply line up to the water source.
STEP 16. Flush the toilet, check for leaks and adjust the float. If you have leaks from the water line tighten the connections. If the leak is from the tank tighten the tank bolts. If it still leaks, remove the tank and make sure the gasket is placed correctly.
STEP 17. Flush the toilet again and check for leaks underneath the toilet. If there is leakage your wax seal wasn't set properly. You'll need to remove the base, remove the wax seal and attach a new one.
Those are your steps. Here is the video of me removing my old toilet and installing my new one. It shows me actually doing all the steps above, so watch this video before you install your own toilet.
It'll help make things much easier to understand and make you feel more confident that you can do this.
Installing a toilet with roughed in plumbing
If you're working with a new build and are working with roughed in plumbing there are only 2 extra steps you'll possibly have to take.
- Installing a soil pipe.
- Adding on the closet flange.
All the other steps will be the same.
Toilet Buying Tips
1. Check the MaP (Maximum Performance) rating of your toilet. Anything over 800 is good. Over 1000 is GREAT. Avoid anything that has a MaP rating under that if you want a powerful flush and little chance of clogging.
2. Pay attention to the bowl shape. Round bowls are shorter and elongated ones are longer. If you are really cramped for space you'll save a couple of inches by getting a round bowl.
3. One piece toilets are usually heavier and harder to install yourself. If you're doing this on your own, a two piece toilet make not look as sleek, but it'll be easier for you to maneuver into place and drag up the stairs by yourself.
4. Bowl height? Yes, toilets come in different heights with the majority of toilets now being "comfort height". Which are only comfortable if you're relatively tall. If you're short you may find your legs dangling.
5. If you hate looking at the side of a toilet that looks like its colon is showing, get a skirted bowl. The "guts" of the toilet are concealed, so the toilet has nice smooth sides that are nicer to look at and easier to clean.
6. The toilet seat is where you'll actually set yourself down on so get a good one. Options are heated seats, bidet seats and slow close (slamless) seats.
The bowl that I went with has a MaP rating of over 1000 (the Cadet). I had NO idea there was such a big difference in toilets and how well they flush. Like I said, I just figured low flow toilets didn't work well. As it turns out, only certain low flow toilets don't work well.
This one works great.
As a general rule it's pretty darn easy. It just looks scary. But it takes time and of course is terrifying because you've never done it before and you're afraid it isn't going to work.
Nope. If you're just removing an old toilet and replacing it with a new one any homeowner can do it themselves.
Most building codes require that toilets be caulked to the floor after installation to help keep the toilet stable and to prevent odour and gases from leaking out of the sewer line.
If your bolts are tightened and everything is set properly but your toilet has a bit of a wobble to it, add shims. They'll stabilize it and prevent it from cracking.
That's really all there is to installing a toilet. Sure something's gonna go wrong. The water line is going to get knocked and spray water everywhere, or you're going to get part of the wax seal in your hair or you'll find out your water supply line is too short for your new toilet and you have to go buy a new one.
But all in all, installing a toilet is really one of the easiest jobs you can do in your home.
And definitely easier than using your neighbour's bathroom every time you have to go because you're too afraid to use your own crappy toilet.
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beks
Can you share what model this is? I need a loo with a side handle like yours, but the link in your post goes to one with the button on top. Also how's the seat working out for you? I think I may have found the toilet on lowes.com and people have posted very strong opinions on it!
Karen
Hi Beks! I mention in the post that I bought the Studio toilet bowl and the Cadet tank. I could do this because I bought it at a plumbing wholesale place. The Cadet has the handle flusher, the Studio doesn't. That's why I mixed and matched. You'll be fine going with the Cadet for the bowl and tank though. :) ~ karen!
Gwen H.
Thanks to you I replaced my toilet seat. It may not seem like a big home improvement but to me it ROCKS!!!
Jennie Lee
I'm only 5'1" nowadays, but the taller toilets I got 1.5 years ago don't cause my legs to dangle. The plumber, who had bad knees, like me, suggested them, and it really does make getting up easier. Since you mentioned a step stool, I'll go ahead and mention the fact that putting your feet on a 6"-12' stool while you're on the toilet will prevent hemorrhoids. People did not evolve while sitting on toilets. They squatted.
j
No you rock!! And that is the best looking toilet I have ever seen!!
Deb
Ummm had no idea you could mix and match the tank and the toilet -thanks for the tip! I am now going to copycat you and order 2 exactly that since we are in the midst of a Reno but u didn't want the push button either. Thanks for your awesomeness!!
Barbie
YOU are such a stud! I love it! B
Kathy Hartzell
I love toilet posts!!! Years ago I traveled to Sweden and fell in love with an Ifo, and found a distributor, way up in the mountains (huh, what's with that?) for this amazingly cute toilet....the tank is oval with the handle being a pull up at the top of the egg....so on Mother's Day I installed it. Every visitor had to see my new toilet. If Instagram had existed, I would have gone crazy. So I installed a second one upstairs. I was in toilet fashion heaven! Then, the innards started to fail, and another trip to the mountains got me new innards.....and they failed. And there was a change in reps for the brand and they enlisted me to test new innards. And they all failed. So, reluctantly, I had to switch to another brand.....as our water restrictions here are so intense that toilets can put you into the high use tiers if they even have a seep that is persistent. And I hated the new one, but not nearly as much as the day I decided to replace the seat and discovered the bolts were positioned in a way that requires the hand of a toddler to fit inside a rim to remove. Only toddlers are terrible at removing nuts and bolts. So I used a Dremel and did it from the top and vowed that the next seat will get me a new toilet. Now, I know what kind to get!! Oh, I use two wax rings....something my contractor taught me. And I replace the supply lines with braided line. And the old Ifo egg tank was a "fixture" in the garden for years, until I was teased about being pwt and urged to recycle it. I saved the top, tho!!!
Mary W
I knew a bathroom reno would follow when I saw the "install your own toilet" post. It is inevitable. I know your head is spinning like Linda Blair/Reagan with great new ideas for us to emulate. or copy. or just love. you never scare us - except with reusable "lady-cups".
Cred
Absolutely correct, there isn't enough toilet talk. I haaaaate cleaning toilets with exposed traps. Love your new toilet with the concealed trap style. I'm hoping to replace ours soon. Also, love the easy disconnect seat for cleaning. I'm a germaphobe when it comes to toilets and I want to able to clean as thoroughly and easily as possible, so I don't have to be reaching and stooping with my head so close to the crapper for so long.
Thanks for the info on MaP rating, that will be helpful when I'm buying ours.
Ken
Wow what a great toilet, great install. If you decide to do the rest of your bathroom come back and see us.
Karen
LOL! It's the plumbing guy who helped me pick out the toilet! Thanks for the recommendation Ken. It worked out great as you can see. :) ~ karen!
Grammy
Wow! Super praise from the pro. This is nice, indeed! Karen deserves it.
BaconBleuCheez
Get a taller toilet, (at least 19" from the seat to the floor) and if your feet dangle, put a little step stool in your bathroom. That way, if you or a loved one ever needs knee or hip surgery, you won't have to install that ugly riser.
Debbie from Illinois
Excellent!
Kelly
I needed this video today! Woke up with toilet running and not sure why, and you're note on making sure the float was correct height may be the solution. Going to check it when I get home. Thanks so much!
Cred
Also check that the flapper is closing completely. This seals the hole after flushing the bowl. If it remains open, the water will continue to run into the bowl and the float won't reach max level to activate the switch to turn off water. Lately, for some reason our chain is getting caught up, preventing the flapper from closing completely. It's not often but it's odd. Worth checking out in your case, too.
Sylvia
You managed to do all that wearing socks and your fancy pants watch!
Well done !!
Robin Fishback
Perfect timing on this. I have wanted to replace my 25 year old, too low toilet for a while. Now I am spurred on with a great tutorial. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Karen
You're welcome! You're welcome! You're welcome! ~ karen!
Monique
Applause.
Excellent video..nice toilet:)
You're one of a kind Karen.
Jen
Here's a tip for those who live in the Southwestern US (and maybe this is applicable to all hot climates). Call the city water dept first and make sure they have treated the lines for sewer roaches FIRST. It is a phone call that I will never forget. Of course, when you are feeling like a bad-ass and replacing your first toilet all by yourself, only to run screaming from your house jumping and slapping your arms and hands like a person on a bad drug trip, well, the memory sticks. (And if by some chance you do forget, the neighbors are really happy to remind you...they're helpful like that.)
Make the call.
Debbie from Illinois
Yikes!!!!
Karen
omg. And people in the south say they couldn't handle snow, lol. I'd take snow over sewer roaches ANY day!!! ~ karen!
Pat
I have had that toilet for a year and love it because of how easy it is to clean with the lid popping off. The flush and the slow close are both so quiet. When I show people our last renovations the toilet is my favourite feature!! Ya, that's what it comes down to, a toilet that brings us joy!
billy sharpstick
I've installed or reinstalled probably a dozen toilets. I never have anyone to help. The toilet location is usually a very narrow space with no room on either side. (If I was designing my own house with unlimited budget, I would design the bathroom so there is three feet on each side of the toilet, just so I can work on them more easily. Come to think of it, if I could afford to do that, I could afford a plumber.) Here are a few observations on that process:
I will never ever use a wax ring again! Hoisting and then slowly lowering a sixty(?) pound toilet down over the bolts and wax ring singlehandedly has never worked well for me.
My typical installation:
Carefully lower the toilet down over the bolts, which are completely invisible when you're standing bowlegged over the toilet holding it. The bolts tend to shift and rotate and sometimes pull loose completely in the process. Then lift the toilet back off, scrape off the ruined wax ring, put one of the spare wax rings on, and try again.
Recently I discovered foam rubber rings that are reusable. They cost more than a wax ring, but less than THREE wax rings and the aggravation that they cause. Wax rings tend to loosen up if there is ever any play in your toilet that isn't fixed. About one out of five toilets do have some movement when you sit on them. Eventually the wax ring in them will loosen up. A plastic one won't.
I've used cleaner bits of the old wax ring, or caulking to sort of glue the bolts in place so they don't shift.
For some reason, I'm usually too lazy to remove the tank first, but even the bowl part is pretty heavy and awkward without any help.
Putting some 2x4 scraps on the floor to rest the weight of the toilet on before seating it is helpful. Position it on the blocks. Carefully locate properly, then remove one block at a time and rock the toilet into place.
Someday, the poor shmuck who has to remove this toilet will be grateful that there isn't a filthy disgusting black wax ring that he has to scrape off. (That poor shmuck might be me in five years! I always think of future shmuck when doing any house repairs. That's why I NEVER use nails. Screws are removable. Nails never do without serious destruction.)
As long as you have the toilet out of the way, this is a good opportunity to replace that crusty old stiff oval handle supply valve that is twenty years old. I replace them with quarter turn ball valves that last longer and are easier to operate.
I've seen a recommendation to replace the supply line every time you remove it because the rubber seals tend to wear. If they don't look too bad, I reuse them. They are cheap compared to repairing water leak damage some day. I always use steel braided lines.
I also recommend flood alarms in all areas that someday WILL have water leaking. Under sinks, water heater, dishwasher, behind toilets. They are nothing more than a small box with a battery powered shrieking alarm with electrical contacts that sit on the floor and are sensitive to moisture. Under ten bucks.
Lynne
Wooooohhoooo! Perfect timing. We are about to install a new toilet! THANK YOU, thank you, thank YOU.
PS. I made a recipe for a homemade version poopourri/toilet spray and I have a stinking ? feeling you may LOVE it. It works, and saves a zillion trillion million dollars. Your new toilet and bathroom will be stinky free too. ha!
DIY recipe for toilet spray
Lynne ? haha
LINDSAY CUDINI
Could you please send me the recipe for the home-made poopourie? I couldn't open the link.
Thank you,
Lindsay
Lynne
Hi Lindsay,
My bad. I did a bum link in there. *inserting more coffee now* haha.
Here's the recipe for the homemade toilet spray. It's so so so so good, and truly works!
http://www.lynneknowlton.com/toilet-spray/
Lynne xx