Toilet Repair

With a few simple tools, anyone can repair a broken toilet!

Basic Toilet Construction

Toilets are simple devices and they are all work in a very similar manner. They are based on two items, a bowl and a tank although some manufacturers have models where they have molded these two items as one piece.

The bowl sits on the floor and has a rubber or wax gasket sealing the drainpipe to the base of the toilet. These gaskets should not be reused. They are very inexpensive and anytime the bowl is lifted from the floor, the gasket should be replaced. I prefer the wax gasket as I feel it molds better to any imperfections in the porcelain material on the base of the bowl and the drainpipe flange. The bowl is held down tight to the drainpipe with two bolts. The bolts, which should be brass, are designed with heads that fit through slots in the toilet drainpipe flange. These bolts stand straight up and fit into the holes in the base of the toilet. When tightened they compress the gasket between the base of the bowl and the flange and subsequently hold the toilet tight to the floor. In a few instances, there may be an additional two holes in the toilet bowl base. These holes allow for the placement of two additional fasteners through the base of toilet and into the floor.

Balance of this article on toilet repair.