first project: installing a toilet!
Go big or go home, right? When we moved into our condo, we had a list of what we would like to change and fix but decided we would wait a month to see what would become priority. The real reason is that Chris said I couldn’t do any projects until I finished unpacking all of my boxes…..fun sucker. Well, thankfully he realized that because we would have had boxes everywhere for months if I hadn’t had any sort of motivation...still a fun sucker. So after the month(s) of unpacking, we started to finalize what we wanted to do first. The idea was to start small and then go to larger project such as our kitchen but when our toilet in the main bath started to run constantly, we decided this needed to take precedence. I was very excited because while it was lower on OUR list of priorities, it was much higher on my personal one. So the hunt began for a toilet that would fit my tastes and Chris’s idea of what a toilet should cost.
(our old toilet)
We landed on the Toto promenade. I had used it in a few of the projects I had done for work and always thought it was a nice design. The tank was higher than most and had a pedestal at the top which resembles crown molding. The base of the bowl also has a little bit of detail that helps it to look not so boring. Our previous toilet was very simple and plain which I didn’t like one bit. I showed the Promenade to Chris and he agreed! Boom I hit that purchase button!
We had read a THOUSAND tutorials online and watched videos online of how to easiest install, so naturally, we thought we were pros. When the toilet arrived, we pulled up the “This old house” tutorial and got started. We had put together a list of items we would need to complete the project and went to home depot. What we should have done instead was just open the box to see what actually came with the toilet. How were we supposed to know that it would come with the wax ring? Hmmmmm?
When you are going to do this project it really does help to have another set of hands. These suckers are really heavy and I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone. It also helps with lining things up such as the bottom of the bowl and the top of the stack. Ya know, something minor like that!
SOMETHING IMPORTANT (and a huge time saver) we made sure we turned OFF the water supply before we did anything else. Then we flushed the toilet one last time to empty the tank and the bowl of as much water as possible until there is almost no water left. Chris got the remaining water out of the tank with a small cup.
(handy sidekick removing water from tank)
We removed the nuts and bolts that attach the tank to the bowl and removed the tank completely from the bowl after we removed the water inlet from the tank. There was some water that we weren’t able to get out with the cup so just make sure you have a towel nearby to clean up any of the spill.
(DO YOU SEE THE NASTY UNDER WHERE THE TANK WAS??? GROSS)
After we removed the nuts that attach the bowl to the floor, Chris pulled at the bowl until the wax separated and it became loose. He is just a muscle Jackson!
We made sure to we put the old toilet on a piece of cardboard because the nasty wax was still around the bottom. Gross. We cleaned the old wax off the stack with a flat head screw driver because we didn’t have a putty knife. Just make sure you are using a tool that you won’t mind getting gunky!
And from there, I tried to convince Chris that we didn’t need the directions. Really, I mean what the heck do we need all those words for? Well, thank goodness I listened to him because who knows where this would have ended up, especially because I would have been wrong on a couple of very key components. At least I will admit when I am wrong….
Rather than repeating the directions, I will just recommend to read the ones of whichever toilet you select. Most of the time, you can even find them online if you have questions later on.
A helpful hint that wasn’t in the directions:
Once you have your toilet aligned with the stack BEFORE you screw the bolts into the ground, I HIGHLY recommend having both of you stand on the bowl (at the same time if you can balance) to make sure you have REALLY squished the wax and created a nice firm seal. It will help you when you are securing it to the floor and it will also help to prevent the toilet from moving around after you have installed it fully.
(Wax ring on our upside down bowl)
(Bowl fully installed)
And here she is, all shiny and new!
A special note:
After about 4 months of having the toilet installed and NO problems, I awoke at 3 a.m. to the sound of GUSHING water. I was half awake and decided to go to the bathroom only to scream for Chris to come and proceed to shut off the water control. Chris grabbed all of our towels and bed sheets from our nearby linen closet and we began to clean up the big mess. What happened was, since we didn’t replace the water intake line when we installed the toilet, the gasket that attaches the water to the tank broke its seal. Our toilet became Ol’ Faithful.
So what should you take away from my tricks and mistakes? Open the box before you take a trip to home depot, turn off the water intake, and buy the $5 new water intake line.
Happy installing!
L
p.s. I am not claiming the way we did it was perfect nor is it the only way, this is just worked (& didn't work) for us.
