Finding liquid around the base of your toilet is never pleasant, especially if you have small children in the home. It may be a relief discovering the puddle is only water, but determining the water source and how to repair it could be challenging. A rocking toilet and rusted closet bolts can result in water puddles on the floor. This can signal damage to one or more of your closet bolts. Replace both closet bolts, even if only one shows signs of damage. Replace all bolts, gaskets and washers when reassembling the toilet to avoid additional water leaks.
Spread old towels or a blanket on the floor. Remove the tank lid and place it on the towels or blanket to avoid damaging it.
Reach behind and beneath the toilet to turn off the valve supplying water to the tank. Turn the valve handle clockwise until it stops.
Flush the toilet to drain the tank. Use old towels to soak up the water left in the tank.
Trace the supply line from the valve to the bottom of the toilet tank. Loosen the bolt connecting the supply to the tank, using an adjustable wrench or pliers.
Look inside the empty tank to find the two tank bolts. These bolts hold the tank to the toilet bowl. Fit an adjustable wrench to the nuts beneath the tank. Use a heavy-duty slotted screwdriver to loosen and remove the bolts. Lift the tank off the bowl and carefully set it onto the towels or blankets.
Pop the toilet bolt caps off each side of the bowl base near the floor. Toilet bolt caps cover the ends of the bolts and nuts that stick up from the flange.
Remove the nuts from the toilet bolts. Lift the tank from the floor and move it to the old towels or blanket. Spread old newspapers over the towels to avoid an additional mess as the remains of the wax ring may stick to the bottom of the bowl.
Scrape the old wax ring from the floor flange with a putty knife to access the closet bolts. Some wax rings come with a polyethylene flange that installs into the floor's waste opening. Remove this flange form the floor opening, if applicable.
Remove the nuts and washers holding the original closet bolts in the flange. Slide the bolts along the slots in the flange to the keyhole opening. Lift the bolts from the flange. Alternatively, if your flange does not have keyhole openings in the slots, loosen the bolts holding the flange to the floor until you can tilt the closet bolt heads from the slots in the flange.
Insert new closet bolts into the flange. Slide the bolts to the location of the original closet bolts. Secure the bolts with new noncorrosive washers and nuts.
Install a new wax ring onto the flange around the floor opening. Lift the toilet bowl and set it into place over the ring and closet bolts. Clean any wax ring remains from the bottom of the bowl before resetting the bowl onto the bolts and flange.
Thread new noncorrosive washers and bolts onto the new closet bolts. Tighten the nuts with the adjustable wrench. Cover the ends of the bolts with the bolt caps.
Install a new rubber tank-to-bowl gasket in the toilet bowl’s water inlet. Lift the tank and place it back onto the toilet bowl.
Thread new rubber gaskets onto new tank bolts. Insert the bolts into the tank bolt openings and through the bolt openings in the bowl. Install new noncorrosive washers and nuts onto the tank bolts. Tighten the nuts to secure the tank to the bowl.
Reattach the supply line to the bottom of the tank. Turn on the water supply to the tank. Replace the tank lid.
Things You Will Need
- Old towels or blankets
- Adjustable wrench or pliers
- Slotted screwdriver
- Old newspapers
- Putty knife
- Noncorrosive washers and nuts
- Wax ring
- Rubber tank-to-bowl gasket
- Toilet tank bolt set
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