Removing a toilet tank in 10 easy steps: a beginner’s guide
In the course of tiling and grouting in the bathroom, it has become necessary for me to remove the tank of the toilet. Our only toilet. Hubby was willing to do this for me, but he assured me it was easy and since it didn’t involve looking at or touching a wax ring (the single most disgusting thing in the world, worse than urinals and possum poop combined), I was game.
Today he took 4 of the older children to work with him, so I took my chance as naptime was beginning. Remember, this is the only toilet in the house.
Just in case you’ve never yet had to remove a toilet tank, here’s how it’s done:
- Use the toilet. Invite everyone else in the house to do so as well.
- Turn off the water supply to the toilet. Usually, you’ll find a little handle on a little hose running from the floor to the bottom of the tank. Turn it clockwise.
- Flush the toilet to empty the tank. Hold down the handle until the tank is entirely empty.
- Remove the lid and set it somewhere safe. Peer down inside and quiver with repulsion at the mineral deposits. Just think: this is the clean end of the toilet.
- Unscrew the water supply line from the bottom of the tank. Have a towel handy to catch the bit of water that will come from the hose. Relax. This is not toilet water. The floor behind your toilet is now actually cleaner than when you started.
- Put your hair in a ponytail. Lean down with your face under the back of the toilet and locate a small bolt on each side of the tank, which fastens the tank to the toilet base. Did your hair touch the floor behind the toilet?
- Carefully remove the nut from the bolt on the first side. You may need a pair of pliers, though these shouldn’t be very tight. You will definitely need that towel again because even though the tank looked empty, it wasn’t. You’ll have to work a little harder to keep your cool about this water: technically, it is toilet water, but relax. It’s not coming from the business end of the toilet. This is clean toilet water running down your arm as you unscrew the nut. Are you buying this?
- Carefully remove the nut from the bolt on the other side. This might be a good time to reach for a second towel, because defying all logic, you will probably find that the tank is still not empty. Clean toilet water…clean toilet water…
- Now, take a deep breath. Gently lift the toilet tank and try to ignore the sloshing water inside (how is there still water in there???). Set it carefully in the tub, making sure the little bolts protruding from the bottom slide up into the tank so you don’t end up with 2 new holes in the bottom of your tub.
- Wash your hands. Twice. In bleach.
There. Wasn’t that easy? Now hurry up, do whatever you needed to do back there, and get the thing back on!
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Filed under: Everyday life
I might advise a different prelude to step 1–cut off all drinks for one hour before you start.
I am cringing at the thought of this since we are planning to re-do the bathroom very soon. Yuck.
step #11 Move the toilet to the front yard and scrub it down and then spray off with hose. It will be as clean as when you bought it! We did this exact thing when someone flushed a small magnifying class down the toilet thus stopping things from flushing away! Fun times I tell ya!
This sounds like a great idea, but I didn’t have to pull the whole toilet. I did take the chance to rinse the sediment out of the tank.
While I was surveying the whole mess, I was struck with the thought that it would be eminently sensible to consider toilets to be disposable. Just pull them out and replace with a clean, shiny new one every 2 or 3 years. They start at $50. But then of course, somebody would have to scrape away the dreaded wax ring and stick a new one down there. Gross.
At least you are in a house of girls and not boys. Otherwise there would have been a cleaning step before you started.
I have done the wax ring thing. Ewww. We tiled the floors of two bathrooms in our last home and both toilets had to come out for that. I am thankful we had several toilets and that Mr. Muscles was willing to do the wax ring.
I second Michelle’s comment. There was one time when we moved that the realtor was showing us houses and one had every room carpeted, including both bathrooms, round the toilets and all. We surmised that no man had ever been in that house before.
I don’t have an issue with the wax rings, but then I have considered both rubber gloves and towels to become disposable during bathroom reno.
Kim you mean toilets aren’t disposable? I mean we’ve replaced a toilet 3 or 4 times in 4 years most do to something stuck inside that we couldn’t get unstuck.
Oh. Oh. I like the disposable toilet idea. I just KNOW hubby would do the wax ring for me. What a great idea.
Kim, you are a braver woman than me. I wanna be like you when I grow up.
Oooh! Yeah! I have to tell you, you inspired me…our clogged toilet (with a weeble-wobble and a baby doll cup) is now UNCLOGGED! YEAH! I wrote about it here: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/deovolente/497204 and gave you due credit.
We thank you!
Our toilet was wobbly, (but not leaking mind you), and my husband decided to fix it- on Christmas Eve, an hour before church, when we had eight people staying in our house, and Home Depot was closing in half an hour for the next two days- AND it’s our only toilet. He managed it, we were only a little bit late to church, and my mother in law has pictures of the toilet in our front porch with a stocking hanging from the flush and the Christmas tree in the background. What’s a few grey hairs when you can tell stories like that?
As a part time “Mr. Fix It” I am going to paint the bathroom. I knew that the toilet tank would have to come off, to do a good paint job. I followed your instructions to the T and it worked great. I had a bit of problem with pont # 6 , to put my hair in a pony tail - it’s not long enough. Otherwise - it worked just as you said. My Thanks, Ray.
I couldn’t stop laughing! You are awesome and so right!
I was looking for easy to follow instructions to offer to my customers. I will direct them to your site. Thanks!
Perfect! I have to remove our toilet tank to strip the floral wallpaper. Thanks for the helpful tips!