New toilet

[Bearand Moon]

Our toilet started having issues a few weeks ago, a bad valve leaked for a few hours while we were gone, soaking the floor. Then the bowl seal went, after we replaced the valve.

Since we were laying new vinyl tile floors in the entire coach, including the bathroom, we decided that instead of rebuilding the old one, we'd buy a new one.

We drained the black tank the night before we started, and ran the tank flush for an hour. Then poured in a gallon of heavy duty bleach, filled the tank and let it sit over night. In the morning, I drained the tank, and ran the tank flush for an hour.

I don't think the tank has been that clean in over a decade. There was still the faintest sewer odour so we made up a plug for the pipe.

First problem to arise was the issue of the old floor height opposed to the new, lower floor. There was a gap between the toilet flange, and the new vinyl.

I took two scrap tile pieces out to the 10 x 10 shed where I have my shop set up here in the park. Using a compass, I scribed a 7 inch circle, then a 6 inch circle inside it. Then I bisected them. When I was done cutting everything out with a band saw, I had four seven inch arcs, one inch wide, that fit perfectly around the pipe, out to the edge of the flange. We then used black silicon rubber to seal the shims (We off set the cuts 90°) to both the floor and the flange, and replaced the eight bolts that hold the flange to the floor, wiping away excess silicone.

There's an adapter flange kit that is sold in case your toilets bolt holes don't line up (Ours were 45° off) I just cut new bolt holes in the old flange using my Dremel™ and a couple of different bits, a simple and cheaper fix, for me at least.

Tighten the flange bolts evenly, or the base may crack. I re-tightened ours after 24 hours, just in case the seal had compressed a bit. (It had).

The old plumbing was set up for left side flush. The new toilet has right side flush. After a few cuts, and repositioning the coupling so that it mounted to the unit, I heated up the Pex™ pipe with a small butane torch, and slid the pipe over the coupling nipple, and tightened the hose clamp around it (Sometimes the Pex™ is too rigid, and you don't get a good seal. Heating it takes care of that, just don't melt it).

Our toilet sits right over a utility bay, giving us a good view of the underside. After the install, I had my wife flush a few times while I checked for leaks. We must have done it all right....

Upon inspection, the old unit had a few other issues that made replacing it a good decision.

The instructions say the swap out only takes a few minutes.

Ours took 4 hours, however we did have a few issues that weren't covered in the manual....