(FOX 2) - This week, Jill Washburn, our Jill of All Trades, shows us an easy upgrade for "the throne".
Jill says that you don't have to wait until the seat on your toilet is completely worn out before you replace it. The seat at Jill's house, while still serviceable, was stained beyond repair and the metal hinges were very corroded. Jill decided it was time for an upgrade.
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Upgrading your ‘throne’ with a new seat
Jill Washburn shows us how to replace a toilet seat in this episode of Jill of All Trades.
She found a nice wood seat with brushed nickel hinges and a soft-close feature for about $35.00 at one of the big box stores.
To make the change, you (obviously) start with removing the old seat. You're probably going to need some sort of wrench to loosen the bolts on the underside of the bowl. Some of them are plastic. Jill used a socket wrench, which made removal pretty easy.
Once you get them loosened, you should be able to undo them the rest of the way by hand.
Once they are removed, you should be able to pull the seat off. It may be a little bit tough, due to gaskets under the hinges on the top side of the bowl.
Once you remove the old seat, you're probably going to want to do a quick clean-up around the holes before you attach the new seat. Now, you're ready to start.
Thread the screws into the bottom of the hinge. You should be able to just do it by hand. Once you get them all the way in, you're going to need to put the plastic gaskets onto the screws.
Make sure that the narrower side is facing down, so that they will going into the holes on the bowl. Ultimately, they will need to seat down into the porcelain holes, so that the seat sits firmly atop the bowl. Twist them all the way up the threads until they can't go any farther.
Now line the screws up with the holes through the back of the bowl, and feed them through. Gently apply enough pressure so that those plastic gaskets push down into the holes. Next, twist the nuts onto the screws from the underside. Tighten them by hand, until they are all the way up and the seat is firmly in place.
Once you've got it tightened all the way down by hand, take your wrench and turn the nut another half-turn, maybe 1 complete turn. You don't want to go too tight or you can crack the porcelain.
That's it! You're done! You won't believe how much better your "throne" looks!
PROJECT RATING: Easy
To watch Jill take you through the process, just click on the video player above.