toilet install

Kohler one piece...looking for tips to install the wax seal without disaster:

Remove old wax from around the flange. Place new wax ring over the flange.
Install the hold-down bolts. I use extra nuts to tighten the bolts to the flange
before setting the toilet. I've also switched to the extra thick wax rings.

Once the toilet is set, sit down or push down on the bowl to get a good seal. Then put your washers and nuts on the bolts and tighten down until you don't feel the wax squishing anymore--not too tight or you'll crack the porcelain. Cut off the remaining bolts above the nuts. I use my rotozip with cutoff wheel for this.

When you are setting the toilet, you want to go straight down onto the wax ring. The flange bolts installed as Eric suggests will help you do this, but you want to avoid having to shift the toilet to line it up with the flange. Personally, I like the waxless rings, but to each his own.

setting tolet

Thanks for the replys.......my major concern is making sure it sets properly on the first try to avoid a waxy mess.....maybe a templet to make sure we hot the center of drain.

setting tolet

Thanks for the replys.......my major concern is making sure it sets properly on the first try to avoid a waxy mess.....maybe a templet to make sure we get the center of drain.

The toilet bolts are spaced so that once they go through the holes in the base of the toilet, the toilet is automatically centered over the drain.

If you have a problem, it will be because your flange is either too high or too low, or you didn't follow one of the steps outlined above.

I use the 5/16" stool bolts and use an extra washer and nut on each side to secure the bolt straight up to the flange before I set the stool. Otherwise, the bolts can tilt and be hard to lower the stool directly down. The Kohler one piece toilets are round bottomed and difficult to see the holes on the side to 'target' the bolts as it is being lowered. One other thing not mentioned. I always set the stool dry to find out if I need to shim the bottom and where. I will get it where it sits solid, leave the shims in place, set the stool aside, place the wax ring over the flange, then lower straight down, feel for the squoosh, and settle it down solid. Then cut off the excess shim protruding out from the base of the stool.