How to Fix a Broken Toilet With Tie Down Bolts
- 1). Turn the toilet’s water supply off with the shutoff handle positioned behind the toilet by twisting the handle to its extreme clockwise position.
- 2). Press and hold down the toilet’s flush handle to drain the tank.
- 3). Remove the water supply line from the bottom of the toilet’s tank. Turn the nut that attaches the tip of the line to the tank by rotating the nut in a counterclockwise direction with an adjustable wrench.
- 4). Remove the two nuts that secure the base of the toilet bowl to the floor. One nut is located on each side of the bowl. Both nuts are concealed beneath decorative plastic caps. Pry the caps away with a standard screwdriver to reveal the nuts, then remove the nuts with the adjustable wrench to reveal one or two washers. Slide the washers off the threaded tip of the tie down bolts.
- 5). Hold both sides of the toilet bowl securely and lift the toilet off the floor. Lift the toilet straight up rather than to the side until the bottom of the toilet clears the tie down bolts.
- 6). Stuff a rag into the drain opening within the floor to avoid noxious gases from entering the home.
- 7). Remove the old tie down bolts. Note that each bolt fits within a slot on the toilet’s mounting flange. The mounting flange is the circular component that surrounds the drain opening within the floor. Slide each bolt to the opposite end of its slot, then lift the bolts out of the mounting flange.
- 8). Remove the toilet’s wax ring. The wax ring is a large circular ring that seals the gap between the bottom of the toilet and the drain opening to prevent fumes from entering the home from the drain line. The ring may have remained on the underside of the toilet or may still be around the drain opening. Regardless of which surface the ring adhered to, scrape it away by positioning the blade of a putty knife between the wax ring and the floor or toilet and pushing the putty knife toward the center of the ring.
- 9). Position a new wax ring onto the toilet’s mounting flange surrounding the floor.
- 10
Insert the new tie down bolts into their slots within the mounting flange, then slide the bolts to the opposite end of their respective slots. Apply a small amount of plumber’s putty against the threaded shaft of the bolts to hold the them upright. - 11
Lower the toilet onto the wax ring, ensuring that the tie down bolts align with the bolt holes within the base of the toilet bowl. - 12
Lower the washer(s) onto the tie down bolts, then tighten the toilet’s securing nuts onto the tie down bolts until the nuts are snug. Alternate between the two nuts when tightening them, and tighten each nut in small increments at a time. The purpose here is to draw the toilet onto the wax ring evenly. Press the decorative plastic caps over the tightened nuts to conceal them. - 13
Position the nut at the tip of the water supply line onto the fitting on the underside of the tank, then turn the nut in a clockwise direction with the adjustable wrench until the nut is tight. - 14
Turn the water supply handle to its extreme counterclockwise position to open the water valve.
