Your home looks good, but how does the bathroom look? The floor looks wonderful but then you look at the toilet. It takes away from the hard efforts of cleaning the room. If your toilet looks rough, whether from wear and tear or just from showing its age; it may be time for a new toilet installation. It is usually a fairly easy process, although it may feel scary to think about pulling it out. Here are some helpful guidelines to get your bathroom looking great with a new toilet.

Step 1: Shut Off the Water Supply and Remove Line

The first that needs done before doing any kind of work involves shutting the water off that goes to the toilet. Most of the time, there is a shutoff valve located under the back of the toilet. It comes up from the floor through a supply line. Simply shut that off and flush the toilet to drain it.

Once you have shut off the water supply, you can remove the supply line going to the toilet. It is helpful to have a bucket underneath to catch any remaining water in the supply line or the tank.

Step 2: Remove the Tank and the Toilet

Now that you have all water removed and shut off, you can begin removing the tank from the toilet. There are usually 2 bolts under the tank just below the toilet. Loosen and remove the bolts then remove the tank.

Now that the tank is gone, you can begin detaching the toilet from the floor. There are usually 2 bolts with 1 on each side of the toilet. Remove the toilet caps if they exist and then loosen and remove the bolts. Once the bolts are removed, you can lift the toilet up and place it down elsewhere. Just place something disposable on the floor so the toilet does not ruin the flooring. There is wax from the wax ring on the bottom of the toilet that attaches to the drain pipe for sealing the toilet drain.

Step 3: Clean the Area

It is a good idea while you have the toilet gone to clean the floor in that area. Some degreaser and paper towels will often work well. You can also try mopping or grabbing a sponge and some soap.

Step 4: Install New Toilet

A wax ring seals the toilet opening to the sewer drain that is coming up from the floor. Inspect the sewer drain for damage and check where the floor sits in relation to it. Make sure the new wax ring will be thick enough to crush-seal. They make wax extender rings to assist with difficult situations. Apply the wax ring to the bottom of the toilet and place it over the sewer drain. Before placing the tank on the toilet, pour a huge bucket of water down the toilet to verify that the seal is working properly. Some colorant in the water may help with visibility. If all looks good, install the tank onto the toilet.

Step 5: Reattach Water Supply

Install a new supply line and/or shutoff valve. If the old valve looks good, you can reuse it. Attach the line and the shutoff together, and then attach the line to the toilet. Turn the water back on and check for leaks. If all is good. Test the toilet.