Toilet Seats: Your Guide to Repair and Replacement

Overview: Replacing a toilet seat is one of the simplest DIYs you can take on. If you have an old worn-out or broken toilet seat, you’ll want to repair or replace it as soon as possible. Read on to learn more about how to start your toilet seat project!

It may not be the best seat in the house, but it’s certainly an essential one. It sounds funny to say it, but it’s true — we’re talking about toilet seats. Because they’re so important, learning how to repair or replace a toilet seat is a skill that could come in handy one day for many homeowners. After all, like virtually every other item in your house, toilet seats also have a life span.

Before we can get into it, we’ll remind you that you can always call a professional plumber like the ones at Pipe-It-Right or a handyperson to do the job for you, but this particular DIY plumbing job is pretty simple if you know what you’re doing. Tackling the task of toilet seat repair or replacement yourself, or with a repair-savvy friend could save you a few hundred dollars — and when you’re done, your bathroom will look beautiful with its shiny, clean new and/or improved toilet seat.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to do the job effectively.

Preparing to Replace a Toilet Seat:

Replacing a toilet seat is quick and easy, and if you know how to replace a toilet seat, you’ll be able to make a cosmetic improvement in your bathroom in just a few minutes. Seats are likely to get cracked or damaged over time, and when they do, replacing them is necessary to keep your bathroom functional and comfortable.

To install a new toilet seat, you’ll want the following items standing by:

New toilet seat
Adjustable wrench
Screwdriver

New toilet seats come with instructions and installation manuals specific to them — but the basic steps are pretty universal. Here’s what you need to do.

Step #1: Discard the old seat and prep the new seat:

This one should goes without saying. Remove the bolts from the old seat, remove the seat from the toilet, and set it aside. If you haven’t already, unpack the new seat and make sure all the necessary parts and pieces are present and accounted for.

Step #2: Alight the bolts with the bowl:

New toilet seats usually come with a set of toilet seat bolts. If yours didn’t, you can find toilet seat bolts at any hardware store — just make sure they’re the right size, and make sure they’re accompanied by nuts.

Place the new seat on the toilet bowl, ensuring that the hinges and bolts are lined up in the same place where the hinges and bolts of the old ones were.

Pro tip time!!! When dropping the bolts through the hinges, ensure that the bolt head is facing upward. The head prevents the bolts from falling through the holes.

Step #3: Secure the bolts:

Once the bolts are in place, it’s time to secure the toilet seat to the bowl. Pick up the nuts one by one and turn them clockwise. You may be able to use your hand to tighten the nuts onto the bolts, or you may find it helpful to use a wrench. Some toilet seat bolts are designed for use with a screwdriver — in which case, you can hold the nuts in place while you use a screwdriver to tighten the bolts.

Once you’ve finished tightening one of the nuts onto a bolt, repeat the process with the other one. If the bolts have plastic caps, snap them in place by firmly pushing them onto the bolt heads.

Check the new toilet seat to see if it’s securely fastened to the toilet bowl. If you attempt to wiggle the seat, does it move? If so, you’ll probably need to further tighten one of the bolts.

Congratulations! You’ve installed your replacement toilet seat! Your throne is now ready for you to take your seat of honor once more.

>> Related Reading: How bad is it not to use toilet seat covers?

But what if your toilet seat still has some life left in it? Is it possible to repair it instead of buying a replacement? The answer is… maybe!

Repairing a Toilet Seat:

In some cases, damage to a toilet seat might not require you to toss out the whole thing and replace it. Sometimes you can repair the toilet seat and continue using it.

If there’s a small crack in the toilet seat, you may be able to fix it using super glue or epoxy. Just apply the glue to the crack and hold the seat together until the glue dries. As always when working with super glue, be careful — and of course, don’t forget to let the glue dry completely before using the seat!

If the toilet seat is loose or wobbly, the hinges, bolts, or nuts may be the problem. If you determine that one of them is broken or worn out, you can replace the part in question. This is generally a simple process. After purchasing the correct replacement part at a hardware store, simply remove the defective part, swap in the new one, and tighten the hinges, bolts, and nuts as needed.

If the toilet seat is still loose after trying these steps, it’s time for you to replace the toilet seat. See above for the info on how to do that!

In Summary:

Installing a new toilet seat or repairing an existing toilet seat isn’t as intimidating as you think. Carefully following the proper techniques will get you through the process, and your bathroom will be back in shipshape in no time.

We hope this blog has given you some insight into how simple replacing or repairing a toilet seat can be. All you need is a few tools, a new toilet seat, and our guide!

If your plumbing problems are more serious or involved than a broken toilet seat, or if you’d rather avoid doing this work yourself, you’re going to want to call in