All things considered, toilets are not very complicated fixtures. There might be a lot of parts that make one up, but all those parts are designed to work together for one purpose: to bring in water and to use that water to wash out whatever it is you put into it. That’s a relatively simple mission to be sure, but when you consider how many parts work together to make a toilet function, it’s quite a feat of engineering. As a result, there’s a lot of room for things to go wrong. Further, toilet parts, just as is the case with the parts of nearly everything else, wear out, making the need for repairs an almost constant possibility. Fortunately, toilets are usually well designed, and problems are normally minimal. The good news is if a homeowner starts the process by purchasing a quality toilet, and that toilet is installed correctly, there will usually be many years of nearly flawless service.

The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the parts that make up a basic toilet. This will provide the background necessary to understand what a plumber is talking about when performing a Toilet Installation or repair.

Toilet Troubles

Whether a homeowner wants to replace an existing toilet or they want to install a new one, there are several things that are very important to make sure that the next fixture not only works correctly but perhaps most importantly, doesn’t leak.

However, a plumber starts a job, count on them taking at least a few hours to complete a toilet replacement. If there are unforeseen problems, it will probably take longer than that. Replacing toilet ranks in difficulty about the same as a Water Heater Installation, but more than a Drain Cleaning.

Getting the Job Started

If there is already a toilet in a space, a plumber will probably spend at least some time removing it. This is largely a matter of turning off the water, disconnecting the water feeds, and removing the toilet.

The first thing a plumber will usually do is to plug the soil pipe in the floor with a cloth or some other material to keep sewer gas from backing up into the house.

Replacing the Toilet

Replacing a toilet is not a difficult job. The reason the job can get pricey is that it is heavy and cumbersome work to do. First, a toilet comes in two pieces, the bowl, and the tank. Before replacing the tank, the plumber will make sure the footing or what is called the closet flange is even with the floor.

After the flange is even with the floor, a wax seal is placed on top of the collar. The toilet is then placed on top of the seal and screwed down to the flange. This will help to ensure a watertight connection.

Adding the Tank

Now that everybody has a place to sit, it’s time to make it into a real toilet by giving it a place to put water, which is what the tank is for. The tank is put onto the back of the bowl, with a seal sitting inside of the opening behind the seat.

After the tank is set, add the screws, which will make it secure. Next, you will need to connect the flapper with the handle. This is done by using a chain inside the tank to connect the two. It’s important at this point to make sure everyone understands to not change the type of flapper from what the toilet was designed for to whatever they prefer. This only invites trouble.

Connect the Supply Line & the Seat Assembly

If a toilet is being replaced, it should be obvious that there was a method to run water to run from the house to the toilet. This happens with a supply line, which often needs to be replaced with a new line. This line usually runs from the wall to the bottom of the tank. Once this supply line is replaced, turn on the water to refill the tank. It might be a good idea to use a small bit of plumber’s tape or putty to make sure the seal is watertight.

Now for the final step: to add the seat. This could be as easy as attaching the seat that came with the toilet, but if you have purchased a new and different seat, it will necessitate making sure the seat fits. This is often easy enough since the measurements of the screws on the seat are usually standard, which leads to very little variance, as well as problems. Some seats come with plastic screws that secure the fixture, making it doubly easy to set the seat. The screws are simply attached to the bowl, then the seat is set in place, and snapped in position. In most cases, the only measurement that gets many people into trouble is with the length of the seat. Seats is normally either round or long. Save yourself some trouble by picking the right seat for your toilet.

Take a Seat

Your toilet is very much ready to use now. All that needs to be done is to turn the water supply line on, open the stop valve, and fill the tank. Now flush the toilet about five to six times to make sure it flushes correctly & there there are no leaks.