How to Set a Toilet

During a bathroom remodel, you may wish to replace the toilet or flooring. These activities will require the removal and resetting of the toilet. Also, some toilet clogs may require the removal of the toilet, and some leaks also will require you to reset the toilet. This article will assume the toilet has already been removed.

Things You'll Need

• Screwdriver or putty knife (for scraping old wax and putty)
• New toilet hold down bolts (if you want to replace the old ones)
• New wax ring gasket for toilets (do not attempt to reuse the old)
• Caulk designed for bathtubs
• Old towels or newspapers

Instructions

1. Turn the toilet upside down onto a thick protective padding of old towels or newspapers.

2. Use the screwdriver or putty knife to completely scrape away any old wax or putty from both around the flange in the floor and from the underside of the toilet bowl.

3. Ensure the toilet wax ring gasket is at room temperature.

4. Place the wax ring gasket into the space for it found at the place the toilet will touch the floor. The flat face of the gasket faces the toilet bowl. If the gasket has a sleeve, it faces away from the toilet bowl.

5. Hold the toilet a few inches above the floor in order to set the toilet. Hold the bottom of the toilet over the floor pipe, with the bolt holes on the toilet directly over the floor bolts.

6. Lower the toilet gently into place.

7. Rock the toilet gently side to side and front to back while pushing down hard to seat the wax ring properly. Make sure the toilet is level and square with the back wall.
   Do not pick the bowl up while making adjustments, since this will cause the wax ring to fail and you will need to start over with a new wax ring.

8. Bolt down the toilet.

9. Caulk the toilet at the place where it meets the floor.

References

• Complete information regarding the replacing of a toilet.