How to Replace Your Toilet

One thing is for sure, the level of difficulty in replacing your home's toilet does not correspond with its importance! Removing your current commode and installing a new one is a rather simple task that shouldn't take more than a few hours. Many people don't think about their toilet when they are redesigning a bathroom, au contraire! The toilet, as the centerpiece of any bathroom, should be where your design starts. Pick out one that will do its duty as the star player in your new bathroom, and follow these simple steps for its installation.

1. Most toilets have a separate tank that mounts on top of the bowl, so these instructions are really geared towards that kind of toilet's installation. Whatever toilet you choose, you should follow the manufacturer's instructions first and foremost.

2. Before you buy, be sure to measure the distance between the back bolts that hold down your toilet and the wall behind it. Most toilets should have about a 12, distance.

3. Turn off your old toilet's water supply, flushing afterward to let all the water out of its tank. Hold the trip-lever down as you flush to be sure that you get all the water out. Use a sponge to completely dry the tank and bowl.

4. Using a large, adjustable open-end wrench, loosen the nut between the toilet tank and the base. Watch the fill valve, you might need to hold it still with some pliers so it doesn't turn.

5. Loosen the bolts that hold the tank to the ground and to the toilet, the nuts for these are located at the rear of the toilet bowl. With these bolts out,they are long, you can lift the tank off the bowl.

6. If you have a tank that mounts to the wall and feeds the tank with a curved pipe, remove the pipe first with a trap wrench or water pump pliers. You can even saw it with a hacksaw to remove it. Then, carefully remove the tank from the wall after unscrewing the bolts that hold in place. Have someone support it as you unscrew so it doesn't fall.

7. To remove the toilet bowl, you will need to unscrew it from the floor. Typically, toilets are fastened to the floor with two hold-down bolts and nuts, hidden beneath trim caps. Pry off the trim caps to expose the bolts and nuts and unscrew them. If unscrewing the nuts is difficult, you can saw them off with a mini-hacksaw,just be sure to protect the bowl's finish with masking tape.

8. Now you can rock the bowl back and forth to break its seal with the floor. Once it is free of the seal, you can lift it and take it out of the house. Don't forget to hold it level so you don't spill any water left in trap-seal.

9. Fill the hole left in your bathroom with rags or paper towels in plastic bags so you can keep sewer gas out of the house and protect the soil pipe.

10. Now, you need to clean everything up before you install your new toilet. Remove any old putty or wax that created the toilet seal. Clean the floor completely just in case the new toilet doesn't sit in the same place. Remove the old hold-down bolts and throw them away. If you want to paint the wall behind the toilet or replace the tile in the bathroom, now is the time!

11. Install any new water supply plumbing you want. It is a good idea to install a new fixture supply valve and a flexible riser tube, as they are helpful when shutting off your toilet's water supply. The valve will attach to the water supply pipe.

12. Check out the toilet flange, ensuring that it sticks up about 1/2" from the floor.

13. Set the new toilet in position on the flange to check for levelness. Check it on all sides, putting in some shims if necessary with non-rusting metal washers.

14. Install some new toilet hold-down bolts. If there are already holes for them, insert there. If you are using a cast iron piping system, the hold-downs will screw into the floor. Be sure to use the correct bolts, ask your retailer for them.

15. Now it is time to install your new toilet, handle it with care so you don't crack or chip it! Invert it onto a thick padding of newspapers on the floor.

16. Next, seal the toilet to its soil pipe by placing a wax toilet ring gasket over the bowl's outlet hole. Make sure the gasket is at room temperature before you install it. The flat face should go against the bowl and its sleeve (if it has one) should face away from it. Be sure to use a new gasket for this!

17. You'll need to seal the bowl-to-floor joint at the edge of the bowl's base. Lay a bead of plumber's putty where the toilet will be set or use two pounds of plaster. You can also caulk the joint with bathtub caulk.

18. Before setting the bowl, remove the rags from the opening. Hold the bowl upright a few inches over the floor. Lower it slowly, ensuring that the hold-down bolts pass through their openings in the base and the wax gasket meets with the toilet flange.

19. Rock the bowl carefully from front to back and side to side while pushing down hard, this will seal the bowl onto the floor and on its gasket. Make sure it is level and square with the rear wall, but do not raise the bowl from the floor! You will have to start the setting process over.

20. Put washers over the hold-down bolts and thread on the brass nuts. Tighten the nuts with your hands, as using a wrench could break the bowl. If the bowl has some front-mounting holes, install toilet studs with washers and nuts into them.

21. Install the toilet tank hardware if it comes separately. Take the rubber spud washer and set it into the flush valve opening in the bottom of the tank. The washer will go beveled side out. If there is a rubber tank cushion, set it in place on the bowl. Pick up the tank and lower it into place on the back of the bowl.

22. Install the brass tank-mounting bolts from inside the tank, sliding them down through their holes. Place two rubber washers against the tank and bowl, drawing them up gently until they are snug.

23. Connect the tank's water supply to the inlet valve on the bottom of the tank. Use a coupling nut for this, as it will work perfectly with a flat-ended riser tube. Turn on the water and watch the tank as it fills, checking for leaks. See that the tank fills to about 1/2" below the top of the overflow tube.

24. Tighten the bowl hold-down bolts one turn beyond hand-tight. Cut the ends and install the trim caps, filling their recesses with plumber's putty and pressing them down over the bolts.

25. Smooth and clean up the excess sealant around the base of the toilet and test-flush it. Install the toilet seat and tank cover and you are done!

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New Toilet Installing - You Can Do It!

If you can install your own toilet then you can choose what toilet best suits your needs, as there is a very big variety in style, price, and quality of toilets. Installing your own toilet is not as big a question as you might think it is. Learn how you can install a toilet yourself. You can have your new model toilet in place in just a few hours. Probably even much less time than that.

The first thing you need to do is pick out the toilet that you prefer to have. If you are older or have health problems, consider a handicap height toilet. They are a couple of inches taller than a standard toilet and make it much easier to get up from. If you have a lot of usage than a pressure assisted toilet might also be a good fit for you. The extra water pressure will help to keep the toilet from clogging. Toilets usually come without a seat, so don't forget to buy a new one or you can save the one from your previous toilet if it will fit the bowl of the new one.

The floor does not have to be spotless before installing the new toilet, but it should be fairly clean. You will next need to install the tank onto the bowl. Set the bolts with the rubber washers on them in the holes on the tank and then set the tank on the back of the toilet bowl. Tighten the bolts gently, just expanding the washers a bit.

Next, turn the toilet bowl upside down and place an new wax ring and sleeve onto the toilet horn. The toilet bowl wax gasket works best if it is at room temperature. This will ensure the proper forming of seal. Now stand directly over the toilet and lift it turning it over and setting it down over the bolts in the flange. By doing this you will place the toilet on top of the wax ring. The bolts will come up through the holes on the side of the toilet.

Install the washers over the bolts and slowly tighten the nuts until snug, while slowly pressing down until the toilet is seated flush with the floor. Make certain that the bolts are tight enough to prevent the toilet from rocking, however do not over-tighten them. Tightening the bolts too much will cause the toilet which is porcelain, to crack. Now, reconnect the water line from the floor to the tank. To give it a nice finished look a bead of silicone caulk can be run around the base of the toilet. Remember that he caulk will be visible, so choose a color that looks good with your toilet for a professional look.

Installing your own toilet can be just that easy. In an afternoon your can pick out your new toilet, remove your old one, install your new one and have it up and flushing in no time at all! Then last of all, check for leaks!! Don't be embarrassed if you find a leak, retighten and check again. Even a pro will have a leak sometimes. Leaks happen! Good Luck!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._Floyd_Kolb

Easy Ways to Find Cheap Toilets

A comfortable and stylish bathroom is one of the features of an attractive and well-maintained home. It's usually easy to decide on wall designs, fixtures and sinks but choosing the perfect toilet for your bathroom is definitely hard. Most quality toilets with classy designs are really expensive. If you don't have enough savings it's really difficult to have the best toilet. However, though most are costly you can still find cheap toilets with good quality if you'll learn simple buying tips.

If you're looking for cheap toilets it's best to browse business sites. Most of the home improvement stores that handle their business online sell bathroom products and accessories at a lower price. Another reason why it's wise to buy online because it provides you a grand opportunity to select the toilet that suits your creativeness and style, for these online bathroom shops provide huge selections of new toilet such as wall hung, back to wall toilets, and corner toilets. At times, these stores offer fabulous discounts, free shipping fees, and other great deals to invite more online clients. Apart from such overwhelming offers, you can be assured that you can get the kind of toilet you choose and it will be brought straight to your home; plus you can also receive handy instructional materials that can help you set up your new bathroom without a plumbing contractor. Following these instructional tips can be fairly simple and more convenient when you have little experience on how to install a new toilet. Therefore, purchasing a new toilet online is more practical and economical than buying one in corners stores.

You can also purchase cheap toilets even in home improvement stores in your area by taking a look at the style and features. The price of a toilet also depends on the color, so when you want to buy a new toilet for your bathroom, it's smarter to choose a sparkling white toilet. It's definitely cheaper than toilets in different colors and it also suits all bathroom designs and fixture tones. You should consider the shape of the toilet. Toilets with elongated beats are more expensive than round toilet seats. Though, elongated toilet seats are more comfortable and sanitary you can still choose a round toilet seat and just make sure that you keep it clean and maintain it well. And if you're saving bathroom spaces the round-shaped toilet is ideal. The flushing system also adds up to the price of toilets. If you don't want to spend much of your savings, you should prefer gravity-fed toilets. A gravity-fed toilet is usually cheaper than other toilets with pressurized assisted or dual flush system. If there are added features to a new toilet such as heater or bidet-like function, it will be more expensive. If you want to settle on a more affordable toilet in a corner store, try to compare the prices of the toilets available. You can buy a toilet with no extra features; the key is to maintain it properly. Before purchasing a new toilet, it's also more prudent to check the quality as well so you won't end up wasting time and money.

If you're looking for cheap toliets it's best to browse business sites. Most of the home improvement stores that handle their business online sell bathroom products and accessories at a lower price. Another reason why it's wise to buy toilets online is it provides you a grand opportunity to select the toilet that suits your creativeness and style

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amaan_Goyal

Camping Toilets - Choosing the Best Camping Toilet For Your Needs

Camping toilets can enhance our camping experience a lot. As in other areas in our lives the small things are those that count and the same can be said for camping toilets. Most camping toilet facilities that are available in camp sites, are usually poorly maintained and not very clean. Although, when camping, it is understandable that you're not going to be able to keep your personal hygiene levels like you can at home but a certain minimum is also required when camping.

This is where portable camping toilets come into play since they enable us to avoid the usage of dirty toilet seats thus reducing our exposure to potential pathogen bacteria that reside on uncleaned toilet seats. If you do not have access to your own camping toilet and you are "forced" to use a toilet facility, you do not need to panic since there's a small chance of you contracting a harmful virus or bacteria from a dirty toilet seat. These toilets also prove themselves to be their moneys worth, when we need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Unless you are really brave, most people find it difficult to get to the toilet facility in the middle of the night. You never know, what can happen in a lightless camping area. This is why having a camping toilet can be a very clever idea.

There are two main types of camping toilets, simple and complex. Simpler (in design) camping toilets are generally made of a light metal frame with a seat that has a hole in the middle - they are almost identical to a foldable chair except they have a hole in the middle of the seat. Usually these kind of types require you to also have some bags in which you can capture the feces. One of the main concerns with using these type of toilets is that the bags for containing the poop are made out of plastic which is not nature friendly. In recent times we have seen the arrival of biodegradable bags, which help reduce our impact on the nature. The main advantage for these type of camping toilets is their price. Because their design is not that complicated, they are easy to be produced and thus the price is lower.

On the other hand we have bulkier, more complex camping toilets, that are more robust and can be used for a number of times before emptying them since they have a large storing tank for the waste. Some of them also have a water storage tank which enables us to flush the poop in a manner a lot similar to our home toilets. These types of camping toilets are in most cases bulky in design which increases their size and weight thus rendering them a bit less portable. They are best suited for people that are not willing to change the waste bag every time they need to go to use the toilet and are not willing to carry a camping toilet with them on a hike. Since these types of camping toilets are more complicated in design they cost a bit more.

When using these types of camping toilets we need to use different liquid or powder agents that liquefy and neutralize the produced waste. More often than not these solving and odor neutralizing agents are harmful to the environment. Nonetheless it is possible to find these agents that are environment friendly, you just have to look for them. The main advantage of these type of camping toilets is their capacity and versatility. Complex camping toilets can hold a lot of waste, which means no need for frequent emptying and they can be used almost anywhere. You can place them in a caravan, they can serve you as a back up toilet in the house for emergencies, etc.

Either way you choose you can't go wrong. Both of the described types of camping toilets are far superior compared to the dirty camping toilet facilities. So if you want to have an even better camping experience, then be sure to get your hands on a camping toilet.

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