Installing a toilet

[Sully]

We are going to go buy a new toilet, and I have 2 questions...


1) Any recommendations? We have about $300 to work with.

2) Is it a job I can do on my own? My FIL has me a little worried about doing it... something about a wax seal. So should I find someone to help with it, or is it a pretty simple deal?

[Fairplay]

As an added bonus, you can play a game out of this.

First person who christen the newly installed toilet (no. 2) gets a free dinner at their favorite mexican restaurant.

Only rule: Must proudly show proof to all to prove this before flushing.

Booby prize: If a guest does this first you will have bad luck, openly curse them and remove this person from house immediately.

[Baby Lee]

Rather than me enumerating all the possible complications, this gives you an idea of what to prepare for;

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2replacetoilet

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Phobia

If you only have $300 with which to work, you'll be best served doing it yourself. I don't normally recommend homeowners install their own for a few of the reasons Baby Lee mentioned. Any slight problem and the installation is way over the head of the average homeowner.

The last time I encouraged an average homeowner to install their own (because I knew they didn't have the money to hire me) they informed me it had become a 3 day/2-weekend problem that challenged their marriage. Heh.

But as long as you feel the wax ring hit the bottom of the toilet and you press to fully seal it you'll be in good shape.

You do want the American Standard Champion series and they're available at either Home Depot or Lowes. I prefer the elongated version because they sit a little higher but you'll get the same flushing power with the round version and they're roughly $25 cheaper.

Yikes, I've obviously underestimated the mechanical aptitude of the average caveman. Perhaps my earlier post should be stricken from the record.

[acesn8s]

Originally Posted by GoBo

It's not hard, just scrape off the old wax seal and put on a new one. A caveman could do it.

It's so easy a Geico customer can do it.

[milkman]

If you ever needed proof that the Planet has lost it's burst, this is it.

20 posts in and this thread hasn't been hijacked and turned into a poop thread.

[acesn8s]

Originally Posted by milkman

If you ever needed proof that the Planet has lost it's burst, this is it.

20 posts in and this thread hasn't been hijacked and turned into a poop thread.

Poop is important but a toilet is serious business.

[Fairplay]

I had a plumber friend of mine install it, and thank god to find out.

He said that there was a cracked iron plate it was on and he had some trouble getting it out, something like that. So in that instance i was glad i had a professional put it in.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by acesn8s

Poop is important but a toilet is serious business.

No shit.

[blueballs]

what postion were you in the middle of
when it all came crashing down

[Sully]

Thanks for all the advice.
I think I'll put it off till next weekend so I can read up more on what to expect (thanks for the link BL).
My only experience with this is that my dad did one years ago (I was probably 10 years old) and all I remember is him cussing a lot. Pretty much the same type of atmosphere as when he tried to install a new belt on his old car. He's not around anymore, so I don't have that resource to ask what mistakes to learn from.
One thing I've learned by reading this is that I had no idea what went into this. I just kinda figured... go buy a toilet, pull out the old one, seat and seal the new one and poop. I guess not, huh?

Again... thanks everyone.

[Donger]

I installed a toilet once. Once. Never again.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Sully

Thanks for all the advice.
I think I'll put it off till next weekend so I can read up more on what to expect (thanks for the link BL).
My only experience with this is that my dad did one years ago (I was probably 10 years old) and all I remember is him cussing a lot. Pretty much the same type of atmosphere as when he tried to install a new belt on his old car. He's not around anymore, so I don't have that resource to ask what mistakes to learn from.
One thing I've learned by reading this is that I had no idea what went into this. I just kinda figured... go buy a toilet, pull out the old one, seat and seal the new one and poop. I guess not, huh?

Again... thanks everyone.

So far was the physical installation goes, you have issues of making sure it's level and solid on the floor with a good seal on the wax, and having adequate bolt clearance to clamp it down to the floor. Nothing like getting everything assembled and finding out the unit rocks when you sit on it, or the wax seal is inaqeduate.

Then there's the issue of the water inlet connections, as well as the mechanisms inside the reservoir [flapper, shutoff, fresh water connection, etc.] But they've gotten the inside of the reservior practically down to 'idjet' level these days, just a matter of reading the instructions. You used to have a ton of stuff to fine tune, but it's nearly plug and play these days.

[Fairplay]

Do the contest i suggested. It adds fun for the whole family.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Sully

go buy a toilet, pull out the old one, seat and seal the new one and poop. I guess not, huh?

I thought the same thing. Here were my mistakes:

1) The toilet I replaced was in our master, which has a separate, little crapper room. Very little room.

2) I learned to hate the bolts that hold the toilet down, especially when trying to fit the new toilet over them. After laughing at me, the guys at Home Depot said to me, "You know that you're supposed to use some of the old wax ring to hold the bolts upright, so they don't flop around, right?"

3) Buy multiple wax rings. I think I went through four. And they are really fun to clean up.

4) It's virtually impossible to tell how far to tighten the nuts before you crack the crapper. Yes, it did that.

5) I was so worried that I had screwed something up, I couldn't force myself to flush that first time. Since you can't see the fucking wax ring once the toilet is installed... My wife finally came in flushed it. I had visions of seven gallons of water flowing out all over the floor. Thankfully, it didn't.

[ferrarispider95]

Maybe I got lucky, I have installed 2 with no problems at all.