Pro Handyman Blog

Removing a Toilet from The Floor

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Removing a toilet from the floor for the first time can be intimidating. After all, its big and heavy and you certainly don’t want to touch the business end of it. Here’s a couple of tips.

It’s a good idea to wear rubber gloves. Don’t wear nice dishwashing gloves, just buy the cheapies at the home center. Turn off the water to the toilet and flush the tank, holding down the lever until the water drains out. You can disconnect the water supply line where it connects to the fill valve at the tank.

The last thing to do is to remove the nuts that hold the bowl to the floor, but before you do that, try to get rid of as much water in the bowl as possible. You can do this by plunging the bowl.

With the nuts removed from the floor bolts, you can lift the toilet. Use a large garbage bag (like a leaf bag) and open it up on the floor. This is where you will place the toilet. Rock the toilet from side-to-side to break the seal and then lift it from the floor. Be careful here…toilets are heavy and awkward, so you have to straddle the seat and just lift it enough to clear the floor. You can also remove the tank to make it lighter, but then the toilet becomes unbalanced. Any water that you didn’t get out of the bowl will be sloshing around with each step, so have the bag close. Set the toilet gently in the bag so that you don’t cut the bag and spill the water left in the bowl.