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| Replacing a Toilet |
Replacing your existing toilets with newer, water saving toilets is a smart move. Besides the actual water savings you might also bank some money from a government rebate program or a rebate program of your local water utility. Before replacing a toilet and hoping for a rebate you need to check what rebates are available at all and which toilets are covered to receive a rebate. You can usually retrieve this information through the different websites.
I just started replacing the toilets in my own home. I bought 2 toilets before December 31, 2009 due take advantage of a $75.00 rebate from my local water provider. My old toilets were using more than 3.5 gal. per flush - an immense amount of water if you ask me. The new toilets use only 1.28 gal. of water and they are a little higher compared to the old ones which makes for a more comfortable seat. Today I ripped out the first toilet and it was an interesting experience. The house I live in is from 1992 and so I was not sure if everything back then was done following current standards. It turned out everything was good. The most work I had was to remove the caulking from the tiles. Whoever put in those toilets when the house was built use a lot of caulking and after 18 years this stuff still stuck like glue to the tiles. It was so strong, it even ripped out a piece of China from the old toilet. I am glad the old toiled lost that piece and that all my tiles stayed intact.
I had never removed a toilet before and so I spend some time on YouTube.com to watch some videos about how to remove a toilet. I think I watched about 6 or 7 videos and that gave me a good impression of what to expect. Every handyman or plumber did a few things different and so it was helpful to see the different approaches. It definitely helped me to make the right steps when replacing the first toilet.
After having the first toilet out and the bathroom prepped for the new toilet, I ripped out the second toilet next. I am glad I did because the experience was different. Whoever had installed that toilet had broken the wax ring back then and part of drainage pipe was clocked. So, I spent some time cleaning up the mess and I was glad I had protective gloves for sure. It's a very yucky job and I spare you the details. I also had to use a hex saw to remove one of the screws that was holding the bowl as when the screw was sawed off back then, they really messed up and it was impossible to remove the nut.
I then installed the first toilet. First I had the wax ring on the toilet itself, but then I found it easier to actually place the wax ring on the flange and to lower the toilet down onto it. Everything worked out OK and after a while the toilet was ready for usage. If you plan on replacing a toilet, give yourself enough time. You never know how it looks underneath the old toilet and you might lose more time than expect. I also had to replace the water valves for the water supply as they were not closing properly anymore and water was still running through. Preparation is everything and in the end I have to say it was not as difficult as expected.
By Christoph Puetz
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3550721
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