My feet are sore and my fingers have a few blisters, but its well worth the pain for how much work around the house was accomplished this past weekend. It was the first days of really nice weather and aside from a baseball game and a birthday celebration, much of the weekend was spent cleaning out the garage, sprucing up the exterior, and starting the powder room remodel.
I shared details of my plans for the powder room a few weeks ago and was thrilled to finally get started. To begin the process the old had to come out before the new goes in, so the Mister and I got our tools out and got to work on removing the existing toilet and pedestal sink. I actually didnt know the process of how to remove either plumbing fixture, but thankfully the Mister has done this before and helped me out of course with a few bumps along the way cant be a DIY project without
Do you know where and how to start the process of removing a toilet and sink? If not, this post is for you! Keep on reading, but Ill worn you, this tutorial is ultra detailed, but the pictures arent pretty.
Removing an existing toilet.
1. Turn off the water supply. The oval valve at the side or back of the toilet is the water supply. Using a vice grip or adjustable wrench, turn the valve so you turn off the water. Then flush the toilet a few times to empty the tank. Using old rags, put them in the tank and/or bowl to soak up any left over wa ter. Its best to use gloves during the process as the toilet bowl isnt a pretty place.
2. Remove the tank bolts. Remove the (2) plastic caps on each side of the toilet base. Once exposed, you will see the tank bolts, also sometimes referred to as Johnny Bolts. Remove the nut, which is easiest to do using a vice grip or adjustable wrench, and the bolt will be exposed.
Then carefully loosen the toilet, rocking it from side to sid e to loosen the wax seal, and lift it up. Residual water may spill, but thats fine.
I warned you this post wasnt pretty, BUT it sure will be helpful when you want to upgrade that sad looking toilet. There surely isnt a need to hire a plumber because you CAN do it yourself.
3. Remove the old wax. Once the toilet is lifted, the existing wax will need to be removed. Using a putty knife, scrape away the wax from the pipe flange. Its definitely important to use gloves too (of course we didnt, but I suggest you do).
We also removed the tank bolts and plan on replacing them when we install the new toilet.
Here is the hole, free and clear of wax.
Pretty sight, right?
NOT! But at least you now know its not that difficu lt of a process.
If there is a time lapse between removing and installing a new toilet, it is very important to plug the drain opening with a rag to prevent sewer gases leaking into your home.
Removing an existing pedestal sink.
Toilets are toilets, and are fairly similar, but there are a range of sink configurations, so Im sharing the details of my situation, but yours may be different.
The process of removing our pedestal sink was tricky because we could not get our hand in the back to turn off the water supply. After years of wear, the valve had rusted making it very difficult to turn off. So what did we do? We broke the sink. Not what we anticipated doing, but it had to be done.
After that we
1. Turn off the water supply. Just like the toilet, turn the oval valve at the back of the sink so the water is shut off. Remove the nut from the water supply. Then put a bucket under the drain trap to collect any residual water, and loosen the nut to remove the trap.
Disconnect any additional plumbing connections and remove the sink. For us, we had to unscrew the sink bowl section of the pedestal from the wall and then remove the tile backsplash I added a few years ago. New sheetrock will need to be installed before anything else.
And this is the re sult
The entire room will look pretty in no time
Plan of Action for powderroomremodel:
Thats quite a list for a little space
Please tell me youve found this post helpful. The Mister thought I was kinda insane for taking pictures of a toilet, one of the ickiest parts of the home. I know its not the prettiest post ever, but who knows when itll come in handy.
Before you read this post did you know the details on how to remove a toilet or sink? Not to difficult, right?!
Via: Powder Room Remodel Phase 1: Removing the Existing Toilet and Pedestal Sink
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