Hudson
Member
After reading these forums, earlier in the year, I installed a Toto Drake 1.6 GPF, elongated, ada, toilet. It was everything that you said…no clogs and a quality toilet in every way. ( I had a plumber install that one.)
I purchased a Toto Eco Drake (elon+ada) to replace my 3.5 GPF toilet. I figured that it would take 7 years to payback saving 2.22 gallons and 1.38 cents for every flush. I figured that the new toilet will cost .79 cents a flush counting water and sewer. (C744WL#01 DRAKE BOWL + ST743E#01 ECODRAKE TANK)
I purchased the self closing seat for each…very nice. I don’t care that much about the self closing feature, I just wanted a quality seat.
I drained and pulled the old toilet. I remembered that I had a dolly, so I quickly transferred the old toilet to the dolly…a great back saving move. I rolled it out the back door onto the deck. I’ll call Habitat Restore to see if they want it.
At this time, I noticed that I had an offset flange that was put in by a contractor 20 years ago during a remodel. How was I going to get a wax seal for that huge opening? You can see a pic in this thread https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=651 . Has anyone ever seen a flange so wide...no way to seal it???
I added a wax seal and installed the Toto on the flange…. kind of a challenge for me lifting and setting the heavy toilet…but got it OK…. hard to hit the closet bolts. I installed the tank…after reading the very nice directions on this web page…THANK YOU! I filled the tank and flushed…. of course it leaked around the base. I pulled the bowl+tank off of the flange…again a big challenge. I worry about screwing up my back. I came up with a plan to solve the offset flange problem…. I added lots of wax…especially to stabilize the closet bolts. I dreaded resetting the bowl+tank and trying to hit the closet bolts again, so I took a break. I got 8 short 2x6 blocks and placed them around the flange and put the toilet up on the blocks…above the bolts. I lined up the Toto over the bolts and took another break. I set out a flashlight shining on the bolts to help visibility. I had my wife move the blocks while I set the toilet. I will always use blocks and flashlights in the future! (I’m not one of the guys who can throw a Toto up on my shoulder and carry it up the stairs.)
I had to use a shim to keep the toilet from moving. Again the forums helped; several threads said shim from the back to pin down the front. I would have NEVER figured that out on my own. That worked! In the local Low*s, they’d never heard of the synthetic wedges, so I got the traditional soft clear plastic style in the plumbing section.
When I need help on a hard to find area, I open Terry’s forum and do a Google site search…very useful.
Has anyone invented a device that will hold a toilet up 3 inches over the closet bolts and lower it precisely?
Does everyone else struggle with a hack saw trying to remove old closet bolts and shorten the new ones...or is there a better tool?
DIY always an adventure! Now I'm ready to put one in for my mom!
The image is of the old 3.5 gpf toilet on a dolly.
I purchased a Toto Eco Drake (elon+ada) to replace my 3.5 GPF toilet. I figured that it would take 7 years to payback saving 2.22 gallons and 1.38 cents for every flush. I figured that the new toilet will cost .79 cents a flush counting water and sewer. (C744WL#01 DRAKE BOWL + ST743E#01 ECODRAKE TANK)
I purchased the self closing seat for each…very nice. I don’t care that much about the self closing feature, I just wanted a quality seat.
I drained and pulled the old toilet. I remembered that I had a dolly, so I quickly transferred the old toilet to the dolly…a great back saving move. I rolled it out the back door onto the deck. I’ll call Habitat Restore to see if they want it.
At this time, I noticed that I had an offset flange that was put in by a contractor 20 years ago during a remodel. How was I going to get a wax seal for that huge opening? You can see a pic in this thread https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=651 . Has anyone ever seen a flange so wide...no way to seal it???
I added a wax seal and installed the Toto on the flange…. kind of a challenge for me lifting and setting the heavy toilet…but got it OK…. hard to hit the closet bolts. I installed the tank…after reading the very nice directions on this web page…THANK YOU! I filled the tank and flushed…. of course it leaked around the base. I pulled the bowl+tank off of the flange…again a big challenge. I worry about screwing up my back. I came up with a plan to solve the offset flange problem…. I added lots of wax…especially to stabilize the closet bolts. I dreaded resetting the bowl+tank and trying to hit the closet bolts again, so I took a break. I got 8 short 2x6 blocks and placed them around the flange and put the toilet up on the blocks…above the bolts. I lined up the Toto over the bolts and took another break. I set out a flashlight shining on the bolts to help visibility. I had my wife move the blocks while I set the toilet. I will always use blocks and flashlights in the future! (I’m not one of the guys who can throw a Toto up on my shoulder and carry it up the stairs.)
I had to use a shim to keep the toilet from moving. Again the forums helped; several threads said shim from the back to pin down the front. I would have NEVER figured that out on my own. That worked! In the local Low*s, they’d never heard of the synthetic wedges, so I got the traditional soft clear plastic style in the plumbing section.
When I need help on a hard to find area, I open Terry’s forum and do a Google site search…very useful.
Has anyone invented a device that will hold a toilet up 3 inches over the closet bolts and lower it precisely?
Does everyone else struggle with a hack saw trying to remove old closet bolts and shorten the new ones...or is there a better tool?
DIY always an adventure! Now I'm ready to put one in for my mom!
The image is of the old 3.5 gpf toilet on a dolly.
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