How to Replace Toilet Gasket and Bolts

Background

In this tutorial, I replace the toilet gasket between the tank and bowl of the toilet.

Using the instructions provided in the toilet gasket replacement, I demonstrate how simple it is do complete such a task.

The toilet in the video being repaired would leak during each flush. This helped narrow down the number of places that the water was coming from as only certain parts of the toilet are utilized during a flush. It was unknown that the bolts were as rusted as they were, but it was good that it was caught at this point. Had the bolts rusted any further, it could have led to the toilet tank coming completely off of the bowl and flooding the bathroom.

Video

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Transcript (Unedited)

IF YOUR TOILET LEAPS LIKE THIS ON THE SIDE WHILE YOU'RE FLUSHING THE TOILET YOU PROBABLY NEED TO REPLACE THE GASKET I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW COMING UP HOW TO REPLACE THE TOILET TANK GASKET AND BOLTS I'M GOING TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION LISTED ON THE PACKAGING THAT COMES WITH THE TOILET TANK GASKET AND BOLT REPLACEMENT KIT NOW THE INSTRUCTIONS HERE HAVE LISTED IT IN ONLY FOUR STEPS HOWEVER I'M GOING TO BREAK IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT FURTHER INTO ADDITIONAL STEPS SINCE THIS IS A TUTORIAL VIDEO SO STEP ONE IS TO SHUT OFF THE WATER ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE TOILET THERE'S A SUPPLY LINE AND YOU JUST TURN A KNOB TO THE RIGHT REMEMBER RIGHTY-TIGHTY LEFTY-LOOSEY STEP TO DRAIN THE TANK YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE SURE ALL THE WATER IS OUT OF THE TANK I RECOMMEND TAKING THE LID OFF THE TANK AND MANUALLY HOLDING THE CHAIN UP SO THAT AS MUCH WATER AS POSSIBLE CAN DRAIN OUT IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME WATER LEFT IN THE TANK AFTERWARDS USE A TOWEL OR A RAG TO SOAK THE WATER UP STEP 3 DISCONNECT A SUPPLY LINE YOU WILL BE TAKING TWO TANK OFF THE BOWL BECAUSE TO REMOVE AND REPLACE THE OTHER PARTS SO YOU'LL NEED TO DISCONNECT THE LINE REMEMBER RIGHTY-TIGHTY LEFTY-LOOSEY AND WHEN YOU DISCONNECT THE LINE THERE MAY BE SOME WATER STILL IN THE LINE THAT MAY DRIP OUT SO BE SURE TO HAVE A SMALL BUCKET POT OR A BOWL THAT CAN CATCH THE WATER OTHERWISE YOU DON'T HAVE TO MOP IT UP AFTERWARDS STEP 4 REMOVE THE TANK AND A TANK BOLTS THE BOLTS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK THAT I HAVE ARE RUSTED AS YOU SEE THE TUBE GROUND CONNECTION SPOTS AT THE VERY BOTTOM HERE I ATTEMPTED TO REMOVE THE RUST OFF THE TOP IN ORDER TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE SCREW HEADS ONCE I REMOVED THE RUST OFF THE SCREW HEADS YOU SEE THERE WASN'T MUCH LEFT AS INDICATED BY THE PICTURE SHOWN HERE THIS IS THE BOLTS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AND THIS IS THE BOLT ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AS YOU SEE THE LEFT HAND BOTH IS BASICALLY GONE ONCE I DID GET THE BOLT REMOVED FROM THE LEFT-HAND SIDE THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE WAS PRETTY EASIER TO GET OUT SINCE THE HEAD WAS STILL ATTACHED TO IT WHEREAS THE LEFT HANDS I WAS COMPLETELY DISINTEGRATED SO ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS TANK THERE IS A WASHER AS WELL AS A NUT AND YOU JUST HAVE TO REMOVE THE WASHER AND ALL THE WAY OFF AND THEN THE BOLT WILL COME OUT STEP 5 REMOVE TANK GASKET THIS IS PRETTY SIMPLE STEP YOU JUST PULL THE RUBBER OFF THE BOTTOM HERE ARE THE BOLTS THAT I DID REMOVE THIS ONE IS THE LEFT ONE AS YOU SEE IT DOESN'T HAVE A SCREW HEAD ON TOP OF IT AND THIS ONE IS THE RIGHT ONE AND IT DOES STILL HAVE THIS RED ON TOP OF IT ALTHOUGH IT IS DAMAGED AND HERE IS THE OLD GASKET ON THE LEFT AND THE NEW GASKET ON THE RIGHT AS YOU SEE THE OLD GASKET IS SLIGHTLY BIGGER AND THIS IS PROBABLY DUE TO IT BEING STRETCHED AND BEING IN USE FOR A WHILE THE NEW GAS THAT IS SMALLER BUT SHOULD FIT AS IT IS MADE OUT OF RUBBER STEP 6 INSTALL THE NEW GASKET THE NEW GASKET GOES OVER THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK AND YOU MAY HAVE TO STRETCH IT TO FIT AS I DID IN MY CASE BUT IT SHOULDN'T TAKE TOO MUCH EFFORT AND IF YOU DO HAVE TO STRETCH IT IT SHOULD BE RELATIVELY EASILY AS IT IS A RUBBER GASKET ONCE YOU GET IT ON MAKE SURE YOU FLUSH PUSH IT ALL THE WAY DOWN IN AN EFFORT SO THAT THERE ARE NO SPACE OR ROOM FOR LEAKAGE STEP 7 CLEAN THE MOUNTING POINTS AS YOU SEE THE MOUNTING POINTS ESPECIALLY ON THE BOLT ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THE TOILET IS VERY DIRTY AND EVEN WITH SOME BLACK CORROSION BE SURE TO CLEAN THESE OFF AS YOU'LL WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS CLEAN SO THAT IT MAKES A GREAT SEAL WHEN WHEN CONNECTED BACK TOGETHER IF YOU LEAVE ANY DIRT BEHIND IT MAY NOT CONNECT AS WELL AND YOU STILL MAY END UP HAVING A LEAK AFTER YOU GET DONE STEP 8 INSTALL THE NEW BOLTS SO BASICALLY YOU TAKE THE BOLT AND PUT IN THE RUBBER WASHER AND YOU PUSH IT ALL THE WAY TO THE BOLT HEAD AND THEN LAYING THE TANK DOWN YOU'LL SIT THE BOLT THROUGH THE BOLT HOLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL AND THERE'S TWO OF THESE SO YOU NEED TO DO THIS PROCESS TWICE ONE FOR THE LEFT ONE FOR THE RIGHT THEN IF YOU NEED TO YOU CAN ADD THE WASHER AND THE NUT ON THE BOTTOM ON THE PACKAGE INSTRUCTIONS THAT I HAVE IT STATED THAT THIS IS AN OPTIONAL STEP BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CONFIGURATION OF HOW THE TOILET IS BUILT SINCE MY TOILET PREVIOUSLY HAD A NUT AND WASHER IN THIS LOCATION I DECIDED TO INSTALL A NUT AND WASHER IN THIS LOCATION STEP 9 INSTALL THE TANK SO TAKE THE TANK MAKE SURE YOU LINE THE BOLT HOLES UP AND LAY IT ON THE OPENINGS AS WELL AS THE TOILET FLANGE YOU MAY WANT TO ROCK IT DOWN JUST A LITTLE BIT JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RUBBER GASKET ACTUALLY SEALS IN VERY WELL STEP 10 INSTALL WASHERS AND NUTS THERE ARE ADDITIONAL WASHERS AND NUTS THAT GO UNDER THE TANK ITSELF THAT CONNECT THE TANK TO THE ACTUAL PART OF THE BOWL IN THE REAR YOU'LL NEED TO INSTALL THESE IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER WITH A RUBBER WASHER ON TOP A METAL WASHER NEXT TO THAT AND THEN FINALLY THE NUT AT THE END BE SURE TONIGHT OVER-TIGHTEN BEAT THE NUT AT THE END BECAUSE IF YOU OVER TIGHTEN IT YOU CAN CORRECT A CERAMIC ON THE TOILET AND IF YOU PRACTICE CERAMIC OF THE TOILET YOU WILL HAVE TO GET ANOTHER TOILET IT IS PREFERRED THAT YOU DO A HAND TIGHTEN ONLY AS YOU CAN TELL HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS BEING APPLIED AND CAN STOP APPLYING PRESSURE BEFORE THE CERAMIC CRACKS STEP 11 RECONNECT THE SUPPLY LINE SO AS YOU DID THE DISCONNECT OF THE SUPPLY LINE YOU BASICALLY UNDO WHAT YOU PROVEN IS DONE SO REMEMBER RIGHTY-TIGHTY LEFTY-LOOSEY STEP 12 TURN ON THE WATER I RECOMMEND TURNING ON THE WATER MAYBE A HALF TO ONE TURN AND THEN ONCE YOU'RE CONFIDENT THAT THERE ARE NO LEAKS OR YOU DON'T SEE ANY LEAKS THEN YOU CAN CONTINUE TURNING FURTHER IF YOU TURN IT ALL THE WAY ON AND IT STARTS LEAKING THEN YOU HAVE TO TURN IT ALL THE WAY BACK OFF THEREFORE YOU CREASE THE CHANCES OF GETTING WATER ON YOUR FLOOR AND ANYWHERE ELSE THAT IS NOT WANTED STEP 13 FLUSH AND CHECK THE LEAKS ONCE YOU VERIFY THAT THERE IS NO MORE LEAKS THE PROJECT HAS BEEN COMPLETED DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL ALSO IF YOU LIKE INSTANT NOTIFICATIONS CLICK THE BILL