How to close the sewer pipe after dismantling the toilet. Do-it-yourself toilet dismantling with different mounting methods

Reading time ≈ 3 minutes

Modern plumbing equipment has a high level of quality, durability and long service life. But, from time to time there are situations when the old sink, toilet or bathroom becomes unusable. In this case, they must be dismantled and replaced with new ones.

Every month, hundreds of toilets are dismantled and installed by skilled professionals. For them, such work is considered banal and uncomplicated. If you know certain secrets, as well as some technological features, then you can dismantle the toilet bowl yourself, spending very little time on it.

There are a number of reasons why you should dismantle the toilet with your own hands. Here you can note the cosmetic repairs of the bathroom or restroom, as well as the breakdown of plumbing equipment. But, regardless of the reason, the residents need to carry out a certain sequence of actions. In order to understand how to dismantle (install) the toilet correctly and quickly, you should view a special photo and video in the article. As a rule, a video that shows the dismantling of the toilet greatly helps the workers in resolving this issue.

Subtleties and nuances of work

As a rule, the dismantling of the old toilet is carried out immediately before installing a new one. Although, as with any rule, there are exceptions. For example, if a new toilet is installed in a different location. In this case, the dismantling of the old one should be dealt with only after all installation work has been completed.

So, the following tools may be needed for work: crowbar, chisel, hammer. Armed with everything you need, you can safely proceed to solve the problem.

First you need to free up the space in the immediate vicinity of the work area. Everything needs to be removed, including carpets. Sewerage must also be completely blocked. In some houses, it is necessary to warn the neighbors upstairs in advance so that they refrain from visiting the restroom for a while.

Before dismantling the old toilet, do not forget to drain the water!

After all the preparatory work has been completed, you need to block the access of water to the barrel. To do this, a special water supply hose is removed. Due to the fact that it will be much harder to dismantle the toilet with a flush tank than without it, the tank should be removed. Therefore, you need to drain the water, disconnect the hose and open the lid. Inside the tank there are fasteners that can be found without much effort. In the event that the tank hangs on the wall, then it can be dismantled without opening. There are models that have a relatively small tank. Owners of such toilets can skip the step described above if they wish.

Next, you need to release the base. In other words, if there is a tile at the base of the toilet bowl, then it should be knocked out. Similar actions should be taken in the case of a cement pad. There is another option when the toilet mounts are attached to a wooden board. In this case, the toilet must be broken and only after that proceed with its dismantling.
After the dismantling of the old toilet bowl with your own hands is done, the sewer hole will need to be closed with a rag. This approach prevents the spread of an unpleasant odor throughout the apartment. During work and after dismantling, care must be taken to ensure that fragments do not fall into the sewer pipe.
If you adhere to the rules described above, then the dismantling of the toilet bowl will be performed with minimal financial and time costs.

Modern plumbing equipment has a high level of quality, durability and long service life. But, from time to time there are situations when the old sink, toilet or bathroom becomes unusable. In this case, they must be dismantled and replaced with new ones.

Every month, hundreds of toilets are dismantled and installed by skilled professionals. For them, such work is considered banal and uncomplicated. If you know certain secrets, as well as some technological features, then you can dismantle the toilet bowl yourself, spending very little time on it.

Subtleties and nuances of work

As a rule, the dismantling of the old toilet is carried out immediately before installing a new one. Although, as with any rule, there are exceptions. For example, if a new toilet is installed in a different location. In this case, the dismantling of the old one should be dealt with only after all installation work has been completed.

So, the following tools may be needed for work: crowbar, chisel, hammer. Armed with everything you need, you can safely proceed to solve the problem.

First you need to free up the space in the immediate vicinity of the work area. Everything needs to be removed, including carpets. Sewerage must also be completely blocked. In some houses, it is necessary to warn the neighbors upstairs in advance so that they refrain from visiting the restroom for a while.

Before dismantling the old toilet, do not forget to drain the water!

After all the preparatory work has been completed, you need to block the access of water to the barrel. To do this, a special water supply hose is removed. Due to the fact that it will be much harder to dismantle the toilet with a flush tank than without it, the tank should be removed. Therefore, you need to drain the water, disconnect the hose and open the lid. Inside the tank there are fasteners that can be found without much effort. In the event that the tank hangs on the wall, then it can be dismantled without opening. There are models that have a relatively small tank. Owners of such toilets can skip the step described above if they wish.

Next, you need to release the base. In other words, if there is a tile at the base of the toilet bowl, then it should be knocked out. Similar actions should be taken in the case of a cement pad. There is another option when the toilet mounts are attached to a wooden board. In this case, the toilet must be broken and only after that proceed with its dismantling.

After the dismantling of the old toilet bowl with your own hands is done, the sewer hole will need to be closed with a rag. This approach prevents the spread of an unpleasant odor throughout the apartment. During work and after dismantling, care must be taken to ensure that fragments do not fall into the sewer pipe.

If you adhere to the rules described above, then the dismantling of the toilet bowl will be performed with minimal financial and time costs.

Dismantling the toilet: photo, video instruction


How to dismantle the toilet bowl with your own hands? See photos and videos that will help you dismantle the old toilet.

Do-it-yourself toilet dismantling with different mounting methods

In the article, we will figure out how you can dismantle the toilet bowl with your own hands, if possible without causing any damage to it.

We will analyze two main scenarios: for a toilet bowl, which is installed on standard fasteners, with screws to the floor; and for the toilet, which is simply planted on adhesive mastic. It is this method of fastening that is often used by installation organizations when commissioning a new house.

To make repairs - first you have to destroy something

The toilet is fixed with screws

How to dismantle the toilet in this case?

  1. Inspect the connection between the toilet outlet and the sewer pipe. The worst case for us is if the outlet is smeared with cement mortar in a cast-iron pipe.

Then you have to arm yourself with a narrow chisel and hammer and spend from 15 minutes to half an hour to carefully break the putty and remove it from the socket.

If there is a rubber cuff - the toilet can be easily removed from the outlet. If the connection is smeared with silicone sealant, pre-cut it with a sharp knife.

  • Remove the decorative caps and unscrew the fixing screws. You will need an adjustable wrench, pliers or a Phillips screwdriver.
  • If the toilet is still standing rigid and motionless, putty on the edges of the base may be holding it. A light blow with the palm of your hand in front, directed back and from the bottom up - and now the toilet is moving. It can be removed.

Attention: if the outlet was smeared with cement - be careful.

In order not to break the outlet, you will have to shake the toilet from side to side, getting rid of the rest of the putty, and pull it out strictly in the direction of the sewer socket.

  1. When you install a new set of toilet bowl and cistern, the dismantling and installation of the toilet bowl must be accompanied by cleaning the outlet from putty residues and other debris.

The site, of course, should also be cleaned of mortar residues and other irregularities.

Here we see the simplest case - fastening with screws and a rubber cuff in a plastic pipe

A special case

In houses whose construction dates back to the middle of the last century, you can see an unusual way of attaching a toilet bowl. A thick board is laid on the floor, to which the toilet is screwed with screws.

The board, as a rule, appears to your eyes completely rotten, the toilet staggers. The whole idea of ​​putting the toilet on a base, a tile that was easy to remove, was sound; however, according to SNiPs of the middle of the last century, it was supposed to use an oak board. Oak does not rot.

But birch, pine and larch, which can most often be seen as such a board, do not like dampness. For half a century they turn into dust.

Installation and dismantling of the toilet in this case include one more operation: the board is removed from the floor, the recess is thoroughly cleaned of debris and poured with concrete. After it hardens, a new toilet is installed.

Tip: as an option - it is placed directly on a fresh mortar, without screws, sticking to it with a base.

In this case, you do not need to suffer without a toilet for a week while the solution hardens.

We remove the board and fill the cavity in the floor with a solution

The toilet is attached with glue or cement

Dismantling the old toilet in this case is faster, easier, but leaves less chance of removing it whole. Almost always, the toilet not only stands on adhesive mastic or cement, but is also cemented with a release in the sewer socket.

Method 1. For the timid

  1. Again, we take a narrow chisel or a strong screwdriver and, bending behind the toilet, carefully try to extract the maximum amount of putty from the sewer socket.

If it is desirable to remove the toilet bowl whole - do not rush and do not make great efforts.

  • Then, with a wide chisel or chisel, we carefully try to pry the toilet in turn from all sides. Looking for weakness.

With light blows, we drive a chisel under the base of the toilet, wedging its base with the floor. Sooner or later he will give up. However, there are non-zero chances to break off a piece of the base.

Method 2. For experienced

If possible, we free the outlet from putty or sealant. This is key: it is the release that will be the weak point during dismantling.

The main thing is to remove the putty if possible.

Then we simply kick the toilet in front a couple of times, aiming the kick of the leg slightly from the bottom up. At the same time, it is better to hold it from above: if you are too determined, the release will break off.

What is curious: such a dismantling of the old toilet bowl leaves him more likely to remain intact. The base never cracks; release - no more often than in the first case.

Method 3. For the lucky ones

If the toilet is connected to a plastic pipe in any way, you are in luck. If a corrugation is installed between the toilet and any pipe, you hit the jackpot.

The entire operation to dismantle the old toilet will take a matter of seconds.

  1. Make sure the toilet is not holding anything. There are no screws between the base and the floor, the tank is removed, the toilet does not rest against the wall. It is held only by glue or mortar.
  2. After asking your partner to hold the toilet so that it does not fly off and crash against the wall, kick him in the same way as in the scenario described above. One or two kicks - and the toilet bowl is separated from the floor and stands completely intact in front of you.

Here, the dismantling of the toilet bowl was extremely fast.

Conclusion

As you can see, dismantling the toilet bowl with your own hands will not cause any difficulties even for a person who does not have experience with plumbing. Good luck with the repair!

Do-it-yourself toilet dismantling: how to dismantle the old one and install the new one - video instruction, photo


Do-it-yourself toilet dismantling: how to dismantle the old one and install the new one - video instruction, photo.

How to dismantle an old toilet

Since all plumbing in an apartment or house should always remain in working condition, it has to be changed periodically. Therefore, in any case, you will have to face such a problem as dismantling the toilet bowl before installing a new one. It is possible to do this with your own hands. Removing the toilet is not a pleasant job, but it is done quite quickly and simply. The dismantling of the toilet bowl includes the following stages: the preparatory stage, the release of the base of the toilet bowl from the floor, the dismantling of the toilet bowl from the sewage system and the installation of a temporary plumbing fixture.

The dismantling of the old toilet must be done with special care, without damaging the sewer, as well as the existing repairs.

Preparatory work before removing the toilet

Dismantling the toilet and attaching a temporary plumbing fixture is not as difficult a task as it might seem. In order to dismantle the toilet bowl before its subsequent replacement, it is necessary to stock up on the following materials and tools:

  • crowbar;
  • wrenches of different sizes;
  • pliers;
  • rags needed to get rid of residual water;
  • latex gloves;
  • disinfectant.

Dismantling the toilet should be sure to wear rubber gloves, this will help you avoid microtrauma and infections. Before starting work, the plumbing fixture must be thoroughly washed and treated with a disinfectant, for example, a chlorine solution. It can be rinsed with water with an antiseptic dissolved in it - the usual chlorine-containing bleach.

After that, the working space must be freed from all foreign objects, everything should be cleaned, even rugs.

Removal of plumbing should begin with shutting off cold water in the supply pipe. The remaining water in the tank must be drained and the sewage system made inactive. Water should not be used by oneself, and it is also necessary to warn the neighbors from above so that they refrain from water procedures for a while. After making sure that the supply valve is closed, you can start work.

Releasing the base of the toilet

Diagram of a compact toilet bowl with dimensions.

Work begins by disconnecting the flexible hose supplying water. Then you will need to dismantle the drain tank, because it will be quite problematic to remove the toilet along with the tank. To do this, drain the remaining water, unscrew the fastening nuts located on the back of the structure, and open the lid. The tank hanging on hinges on the wall can be removed without opening.

Next, you need to release the base. If your bathroom is beautifully tiled, it will have to be knocked out. The toilet bowl is attached to the floor in two or four places in its lower part. The connection can be nut, when the device is mounted in the floor using studs, or using dowels with hexagonal caps. However, in both cases, the fastener will be unscrewed with a wrench of the correct size.

When connecting with studs, slightly raise the base and loosen the seal in the outlet sewer pipe with light swaying movements. If the socket has been sealed with cement mortar, it must be chipped off with a chisel before removal. It is best to use a thin chisel, breaking off the cement very carefully, with light strokes - the point of the chisel should be directed across the plaster, otherwise the toilet outlet or the pipe socket may be damaged. As soon as the coating cracks on one side, the same operation will need to be done on the other side of the release. The fragments are picked out and they try to get the toilet bowl out of the pipe. If this does not work, you need to continue chipping the cement.

If you got such a complex mounting option as fixing the toilet bowl on a wooden board, in this case, dismantling the plumbing can damage it. The bottom will simply have to be beaten off. Fixings will remain in the floor along with the base, which, after completion of work, will be removed in parts.

Old plumbing fixtures are usually thrown away, you should not feel sorry for them.

In order not to get injured during work, carefully follow all safety measures - use gloves and goggles.

Freeing the toilet from the sewer pipe

Scheme of the device of drain tanks.

The toilet is now connected only to the cast iron sewer pipe, and there are several ways to disconnect it. These methods have different degrees of damage. Before removing the device, it is recommended to make a plug that looks like a rag gag, with a size of about 10 cm in diameter. She will need to plug the hole in the sewer pipe, thereby preventing sewer gases from entering the apartment.

The first way is destruction. According to this method, you will need to beat off the outlet, take out the toilet and simply clean the pipe from the remnants of ceramics and mortar. The outlet can be broken off if the device is no longer attached to the floor, while it is necessary to clean the joint of the outlet and the pipe from cement mortar as much as possible. The toilet is lifted and pulled up. It remains to clean the sewer pipe from residues, trying not to damage it. The sewer pipe must be protected from clogging with fragments, it is better to clog the hole with something.

You can choose a less destructive method if you are trying to keep the plumbing intact. The junction of the sewer pipe and the toilet bowl must be cleaned of mortar, sealant and other inclusions, removing even the smallest residues. Lift the product, determine how freely it moves in the pipe. Slowly loosening and scrolling the outlet, it is necessary to pull it out of the socket, while cleaning it from the solution. The pipe needs to be cleaned for the upcoming installation.

Removing an old toilet

It also happens that you buy an apartment and, going into the bathroom, you see an old toilet bowl there, which was qualitatively installed thirty years ago during the construction of the house. Then removing the old device and installing a new one will bring you a lot of problems. However, if you do it yourself, you will definitely be able to understand its design and repair in the future will not cause you trouble.

Dismantling the Soviet toilet can be considered the most difficult option. This design is quite unique, this device was fixed in such a way that it is almost impossible to remove it. Therefore, you will not be able to keep it whole. Inspect the floor near it and evaluate the type of attachment.

The next problem that often occurs when dismantling Soviet toilets (especially if you are going to reuse the toilet, for example, by installing it in the country), is disconnecting the outlet from the sewer. When building houses and laying communications in Soviet times, everything was done as tightly as possible. The joints were smeared with cement so deeply that it is currently impossible to knock it down carefully without damaging the sewer pipe or outlet.

Installing a temporary toilet

During repairs in the toilet, you can mount a temporary toilet. In this case, it is not necessary to resort to the help of professionals, you can do it yourself. You will need the most minimal set of tools and materials:

A temporary toilet is usually installed without a cistern. It will also be superfluous to connect it to the water supply. Flushing into the sewer in this case will be carried out by pouring the water collected into the bucket. For greater stability of the plumbing fixture, a shield or a piece of chipboard measuring 50 by 50 cm is placed under it, fixing it through the holes in the base of the toilet bowl with self-tapping screws with washers. You need to purchase self-tapping screws of the required length with hexagonal caps. If necessary, long self-tapping screws are cut with a grinder.

A temporary toilet is connected using a corrugation. This design makes it possible to quickly rearrange the plumbing to another place, in almost a minute, and also quickly put it in place. To make the toilet less dirty during repairs, it must be wrapped with polyethylene and the film fixed with adhesive tape, which must be glued only on polyethylene, since it will be quite difficult to remove the glue from the body. From above, the structure must be covered with a piece of plywood or chipboard.

Dismantling the toilet: stages


Dismantling the toilet begins with preparatory work. If the socket has been sealed with cement mortar, it must be chipped off with a chisel before removal.

How to remove the toilet yourself

When making repairs in an apartment, especially a major one, each owner wants to install all new appliances and devices or transfer existing ones to another place. This rule applies to both the bathroom and the toilet. New plumbing is a completely new type of such premises. But you need to change the plumbing units carefully. If you make a mistake, then the entire repair will go down the drain, and all work will need to be started anew. This article will tell you how to remove the toilet yourself. Replacing this plumbing unit does not happen so often, so over time, skills can be lost, because many have to do this for the first time.

Preparatory stage

Preparing to remove the old toilet will not take you much time. The most important thing that every owner can like is that there is no need to block the common water riser. In most cases, water is supplied to the drain tank through a separate hose equipped with a tap. It is enough to block the shut-off valves and you can begin to carry out work. Even if there is no such tap, then there is a shut-off valve at the water supply inlet to an apartment or house.

Note! If the shutoff valve does not work in the apartment, then first you need to prepare everything to replace it. Having blocked the common riser, replace the faucet in the apartment as soon as possible, and only then you can proceed to dismantle the toilet bowl.

First, you should take care of preparing all the necessary tools and materials. For work related to the removal of the old toilet, you may need:

  • set of wrenches;
  • hammer and chisel;
  • hacksaw for metal;
  • pliers;
  • rubber or woven gloves and goggles;
  • a basin (or other suitable container) and rags (old rags).

The first step is to prepare the workplace. Very often, the toilet is installed in rooms with a small area. In order not to break all the shelves and other fixtures hung on the walls, it is better to remove them in advance.

Free up as much free space as possible. This is especially true if the toilet has not changed since the construction of the house. If the building is old, then the plumbing units were mounted firmly, using cement mortar. In this case, even a small shelf can significantly complicate the work.

Now you need to block the flow of water into the drain tank. This is done, as mentioned above, with the help of a tap installed on the branch that goes from the water supply to the toilet, or by shutting off the water supply to the entire apartment. After shutting off the water supply, drain the entire contents of the tank. Only after that you can start the main work.

Removing old plumbing fixtures

The dismantling of the old toilet bowl itself is carried out in several stages.

  1. First, the seat cover is removed.
  2. Then the cover is removed. This is done in different ways, depending on the model of the tank. Most often, it is enough to unscrew the plastic nut that holds the release button (or lever).
  3. After that, the drain tank is removed. The process of removing it also depends on the model. If the toilet bowl is more or less modern, then the tank is simply attached to a special ledge on the plumbing unit, and the nuts are under it. In older models, the tank can be attached to the wall with bolts and nuts or screws. If so, then we dismantle this mount.

Note! Quite often you can see completely rusty bolts. In this case, it will be almost impossible to unscrew the nut. A grinder or a hacksaw will help you here. It is enough just to cut the bolt. This must be done carefully so that the tank does not fall to the floor and damage the floor covering.

Next, carefully read how the old toilet is attached to the floor. In the case of a change to more modern plumbing, such fastening is made with screwdrivers, screws (or bolts) and sealant. If so, then further work will look like this:

  • Using a suitable tool (wrench or fasteners), we unscrew the bolts.
  • We take a knife. With it, we cut the sealant layer around the entire accessible perimeter of the toilet bowl.
  • After carrying out these works, we slip the blade under the plumbing and raise it a little. You should not strain too hard, so as not to break the knife.
  • We take the toilet with both hands and gently try to loosen it. You need to do this until you see the plumbing shift relative to the sewer pipe.

After the toilet has moved, the connection to the sewer is dismantled. To do this, it is worth a little to shake the plumbing. As a rule, such a disconnection occurs quite easily. It is especially convenient to remove it if corrugation was used during installation.

Note! After disconnecting the toilet from the sewer, you should not immediately transfer it. The fact is that inside the plumbing unit, in the siphon, water remained. To remove the container, lift the front edge of the toilet bowl, before placing a basin or other suitable one under its outlet.

After draining the rest of the liquid from the toilet, pour it into the sewer pipe. After that, the entrance to the sewer system must be plugged with rags so that an unpleasant odor does not penetrate into the room. If you don’t have a suitable rag at hand, you can use an ordinary one and a half liter plastic bottle.

On this, the dismantling of the old toilet bowl can be considered complete. It is enough to take the plumbing to a landfill (or to the garage, as a spare) and you can start installing a new one. But this dismantling option is considered the easiest. As a rule, such a case only happens in houses where plumbing was installed not so long ago. If the toilet has stood in its place for 20 years or more, then various difficulties may arise.

Possible problems during dismantling

It is not always easy to remove the old toilet with your own hands. If the device was installed more than 20 years ago, then all fasteners may rust. In addition, back in Soviet times, toilets were often embedded in a cement screed. In such cases, you will have to spend more time and effort to remove it.

  1. If it is impossible to easily unscrew the fasteners or the toilet is installed on a cement screed, then you will have to break the base of the plumbing unit. To do this, you will need a hammer, chisel and crowbar.
  2. Before starting work, it is advisable to remove all water from the toilet siphon. This is necessary so that after the “destruction” of the plumbing, you do not have to clean up liquid dirt. Removing water from the siphon is done with a rag. Rags just soak all the liquid.
  3. It is necessary to start work in gloves and goggles. Faience can break into small pieces that can easily injure unprotected areas of the body. Apply a few hard blows with a hammer to the base of the toilet. After that, you will immediately see the cracks that have appeared, and you need to apply subsequent blows to them. For this work, you can use a crowbar and a chisel. Not a single plumbing unit can withstand such pressure.
  4. After the base of the toilet is broken, you can start cleaning it. Next, the base is cleaned from the rest of the earthenware and cement screed. If rusted bolts remain, then they are cut off with a grinder or a hacksaw.

When dismantling an old toilet bowl, you can take advantage of some tips from experts. Namely:

  1. During dismantling work, it is necessary to carefully monitor that fragments of the toilet bowl and cement screed do not fall into the sewer socket. If this happens, then you can not avoid a serious blockage. That is why experts recommend that immediately after disconnecting the toilet bowl from the pipe, plug the latter with a rag.
  2. If the plans are to replace the entire sewerage system, then you can not stand on ceremony with the pipe. If the old pipes are made of cast iron, then they can be easily broken with a hammer. At the same time, make sure that the fragments do not fall into the sewer riser.
  3. The toilet bowl, like any faience product, has a fairly large mass. Therefore, it is better to take help, and not to dismantle it alone.
  4. If the removal of plumbing went carefully, the base and drain were not damaged, then you should not throw out the toilet. It may well come in handy for equipping a toilet in the country.

After dismantling, carefully remove the base under the toilet. If no further repair work is carried out, then the new plumbing will stand on the existing floor. If cleaning is done poorly, the toilet will not stand firmly, which can lead to breakage. This means that all the work will have to be done again.

How to remove the toilet yourself - dismantling the toilet


Learn how to remove the toilet yourself. The article describes the process of uninstalling the toilet with a description of the features and nuances of this process.

When making repairs in an apartment, especially a major one, each owner wants to install all new appliances and devices or transfer existing ones to another place. This rule applies to both the bathroom and the toilet. New plumbing is a completely new type of such premises. But you need to change the plumbing units carefully. If you make a mistake, then the entire repair will go down the drain, and all work will need to be started anew. This article will tell you how to remove the toilet yourself. Replacing this plumbing unit does not happen so often, so over time, skills can be lost, because many have to do this for the first time.

Preparatory stage

Preparing to remove the old toilet will not take you much time. The most important thing that every owner can like is that there is no need to block the common water riser. In most cases, water is supplied to the drain tank through a separate hose equipped with a tap. It is enough to block the shut-off valves and you can begin to carry out work. Even if there is no such tap, then there is a shut-off valve at the water supply inlet to an apartment or house.

Note! If the shutoff valve does not work in the apartment, then first you need to prepare everything to replace it. Having blocked the common riser, replace the faucet in the apartment as soon as possible, and only then you can proceed to dismantle the toilet bowl.

First, you should take care of preparing all the necessary tools and materials. For work related to the removal of the old toilet, you may need:

  • set of wrenches;
  • hammer and chisel;
  • hacksaw for metal;
  • pliers;
  • rubber or woven gloves and goggles;
  • a basin (or other suitable container) and rags (old rags).

The first step is to prepare the workplace. Very often, the toilet is installed in rooms with a small area. In order not to break all the shelves and other fixtures hung on the walls, it is better to remove them in advance.

Free up as much free space as possible. This is especially true if the toilet has not changed since the construction of the house. If the building is old, then the plumbing units were mounted firmly, using cement mortar. In this case, even a small shelf can significantly complicate the work.

Now you need to block the flow of water into the drain tank. This is done, as mentioned above, with the help of a tap installed on the branch that goes from the water supply to the toilet, or by shutting off the water supply to the entire apartment. After shutting off the water supply, drain the entire contents of the tank. Only after that you can start the main work.

The dismantling of the old toilet bowl itself is carried out in several stages.

  1. First, the seat cover is removed.
  2. Then the cover is removed. This is done in different ways, depending on the model of the tank. Most often, it is enough to unscrew the plastic nut that holds the release button (or lever).
  3. After that, the drain tank is removed. The process of removing it also depends on the model. If the toilet bowl is more or less modern, then the tank is simply attached to a special ledge on the plumbing unit, and the nuts are under it. In older models, the tank can be attached to the wall with bolts and nuts or screws. If so, then we dismantle this mount.

Note! Quite often you can see completely rusty bolts. In this case, it will be almost impossible to unscrew the nut. A grinder or a hacksaw will help you here. It is enough just to cut the bolt. This must be done carefully so that the tank does not fall to the floor and damage the floor covering.

Next, carefully read how the old toilet is attached to the floor. In the case of a change to more modern plumbing, such fastening is made with screwdrivers, screws (or bolts) and sealant. If so, then further work will look like this:

  • Using a suitable tool (wrench or fasteners), we unscrew the bolts.
  • We take a knife. With it, we cut the sealant layer around the entire accessible perimeter of the toilet bowl.
  • After carrying out these works, we slip the blade under the plumbing and raise it a little. You should not strain too hard, so as not to break the knife.
  • We take the toilet with both hands and gently try to loosen it. You need to do this until you see the plumbing shift relative to the sewer pipe.

After the toilet has moved, the connection to the sewer is dismantled. To do this, it is worth a little to shake the plumbing. As a rule, such a disconnection occurs quite easily. It is especially convenient to remove it if corrugation was used during installation.

Note! After disconnecting the toilet from the sewer, you should not immediately transfer it. The fact is that inside the plumbing unit, in the siphon, water remained. To remove the container, lift the front edge of the toilet bowl, before placing a basin or other suitable one under its outlet.

After draining the rest of the liquid from the toilet, pour it into the sewer pipe. After that, the entrance to the sewer system must be plugged with rags so that an unpleasant odor does not penetrate into the room. If you don’t have a suitable rag at hand, you can use an ordinary one and a half liter plastic bottle.

On this, the dismantling of the old toilet bowl can be considered complete. It is enough to take the plumbing to a landfill (or to the garage, as a spare) and you can start installing a new one. But this dismantling option is considered the easiest. As a rule, such a case only happens in houses where plumbing was installed not so long ago. If the toilet has stood in its place for 20 years or more, then various difficulties may arise.

Possible problems during dismantling

It is not always easy to remove the old toilet with your own hands. If the device was installed more than 20 years ago, then all fasteners may rust. In addition, back in Soviet times, toilets were often embedded in a cement screed. In such cases, you will have to spend more time and effort to remove it.

  1. If it is impossible to easily unscrew the fasteners or the toilet is installed on a cement screed, then you will have to break the base of the plumbing unit. To do this, you will need a hammer, chisel and crowbar.
  2. Before starting work, it is advisable to remove all water from the toilet siphon. This is necessary so that after the “destruction” of the plumbing, you do not have to clean up liquid dirt. Removing water from the siphon is done with a rag. Rags just soak all the liquid.
  3. It is necessary to start work in gloves and goggles. Faience can break into small pieces that can easily injure unprotected areas of the body. Apply a few hard blows with a hammer to the base of the toilet. After that, you will immediately see the cracks that have appeared, and you need to apply subsequent blows to them. For this work, you can use a crowbar and a chisel. Not a single plumbing unit can withstand such pressure.
  4. After the base of the toilet is broken, you can start cleaning it. Next, the base is cleaned from the rest of the earthenware and cement screed. If rusted bolts remain, then they are cut off with a grinder or a hacksaw.

When dismantling an old toilet bowl, you can take advantage of some tips from experts. Namely:

  1. During dismantling work, it is necessary to carefully monitor that fragments of the toilet bowl and cement screed do not fall into the sewer socket. If this happens, then you can not avoid a serious blockage. That is why experts recommend that immediately after disconnecting the toilet bowl from the pipe, plug the latter with a rag.
  2. If the plans are to replace the entire sewerage system, then you can not stand on ceremony with the pipe. If the old pipes are made of cast iron, then they can be easily broken with a hammer. At the same time, make sure that the fragments do not fall into the sewer riser.
  3. The toilet bowl, like any faience product, has a fairly large mass. Therefore, it is better to take help, and not to dismantle it alone.
  4. If the removal of plumbing went carefully, the base and drain were not damaged, then you should not throw out the toilet. It may well come in handy for equipping a toilet in the country.

After dismantling, carefully remove the base under the toilet. If no further repair work is carried out, then the new plumbing will stand on the existing floor. If cleaning is done poorly, the toilet will not stand firmly, which can lead to breakage. This means that all the work will have to be done again.

Video

Check out this video of plumbers having to reinstall a toilet:

Today we will talk about how to properly remove the old toilet before installing a new one.

How to remove a toilet

First of all, you need to determine how you have it installed. If the old toilet is installed on top of the tile, then there should be no problems with dismantling. Unscrew the fixing bolts, cut through the glue or sealant with a knife at the junction of the toilet bowl to the floor and undermine it.

It will be worse if the old toilet is installed on the board, and besides, it is also immured into the floor. This is how toilets were installed before, when there were no perforators.


Let's look at the old toilet mounting scheme.


  1. Mounting screws. From time and moisture rot completely.
  2. Board filled with concrete.
  3. Concrete screed on the floor.
  4. Nails hammered into the board for better adhesion to concrete.

With this method of installing the toilet, you can’t do without a hammer and a perforator.

Dismantling the toilet

Now let's decide how the toilet is connected to the sewer. If the connection is made using a corrugated pipe, then you are in luck. With this connection method, it is even possible to save the old toilet bowl.


Also, it is easy to remove the toilet connected to the plastic sewer pipes.
The most difficult thing is to dismantle the toilet when it is connected to a cast-iron sewer.


How to dismantle a toilet

So, you have decided that you will not take your toilet bowl with a swoop. It is deeply embedded in a screed, the outlet is smeared with cement in a cast-iron pipe. In this case, you will have to act hard.
Put on gloves and goggles on your eyes. GLASSES ARE REQUIRED! We take a hammer, 500 grams and go. No, stand. Don't go ahead. First, take a sponge and soak up all the water from the toilet. Be prepared for an unpleasant smell from the sewer.
Yes, by the way, it is understood that the drain tank is turned off and removed. How to remove the tanks, now I will not write. This should be the subject of a separate article. Too many varieties of tanks and methods of their attachment.
So, we take a hammer and start to beat the toilet. Our main task is not to damage the sewer. Therefore, first we break the release of the toilet bowl.


Well, then we beat the toilet bowl itself. We break, we clean, we take out the trash. The end result should be something like this.


How to remove the toilet with your own hands

The next step in dismantling the toilet is cleaning the sewer pipe. We take a hammer, chisel or an old chisel and carefully clean the pipe from the inside.


Attention! Make sure that the fragments do not fall into the sewer. You can plug the pipe with a rag. A MUST FOR EVERYONE! Tie it with wire or rope to prevent it from entering the sewer. And then there were incidents.
After working with a chisel, it is desirable to clean the inside of the cast-iron socket with coarse sandpaper.
We fight with an unpleasant smell from the sewerage. You can put a plastic bag on the pipe and wrap it around the pipe with electrical tape.

Removing an old toilet

Now we have to repair the floor before installing a new toilet. We use for this cement mortar or self-leveling mixture. I do not recommend using tile adhesive. First, it will take a long time to freeze. Secondly, glue, this is, first of all, glue. They stick to it. They are not concreted.


Now it remains to wait for the solution to harden. And you can install a new toilet.
As practice shows, the main problem when performing such work is the lack of a toilet bowl. The old one was broken, the new toilet was not installed. The solution freezes for a long time. How to use the toilet? In principle, you can use a new toilet. At the time of the solidification of the solution, we build a kind of podium from several boards. Raising the toilet in this way above the floor and connecting it with a corrugated pipe to the sewer, we get a temporary solution to the problem. Uncomfortable? Yes. But, no need to ask the neighbors.

1. Talk to the neighbors upstairs, ask them to drain less water. Remove rugs, mops, buckets, and other items.

2. Shut off the water supply to the tank and unscrew the water supply hose. This is usually not a very flexible plastic hose.

3a. If the toilet has a wall-mounted cistern, flush the water, remove the black rubber cuff from the neck of the bowl to disconnect the water supply pipe to the bowl. Remove the tank from the wall, to do this, try to lift it 2 cm up and pull it towards you. If the tank is fixed rigidly, then you will have to remove the cover to unscrew the fasteners. In plastic tanks, the lid is fixed with 2 latches located on the left and right of the tank near the water supply holes. If you don’t feel like messing around and you don’t need the old tank, grab the tank with both hands and pull hard on yourself. Usually at the same time, the plastic of the tank breaks at the place of attachments.

3b. If the toilet is compact, then tank you can not remove it, it will save time, but it will require more physical strength during dismantling.

4a. If the toilet bowl is lined with tiles, and the level of the tile is higher than the level of the sole of the toilet bowl, and the joints between the tile and the bowl are carefully sealed, then the tile will have to be knocked down, at least near the toilet bowl.

4b. If the sole of the bowl is laid with cement mortar, then the mortar must also be knocked down.

4c. If the toilet is on a tile and attached to the floor with fasteners (panel houses), then my advice to you is to break the sole of the toilet bowl with a hammer at the fasteners so that the fasteners do not interfere with removing the toilet bowl. Otherwise, be prepared to remove the toilet along with the insert boards.

One of the above methods solves the first problem, it remains only to disconnect the toilet. There are 3 ways to disconnect a toilet bowl from a cast-iron sewer:

1. Break the outlet of the bowl near the sewer pipe. Plug the hole with a rag so that the fragments of the outlet do not fall into the sewer pipe. Using a hammer and a chisel or an old chisel, carefully, so as not to damage the sewer pipe, knock out the remains of ceramics and, if possible, the mortar from the socket of the cast-iron pipe. This will greatly simplify the installation of a new toilet in the future.

2. If possible, clean the joint of the outlet and the sewer pipe from the mortar and sealant. Check the mobility of the toilet bowl by lifting the bottom of the bowl with a crowbar or crowbar. If the toilet moves a little and nothing binds it to the floor, then you need to grab the toilet bowl more tightly in front of the bowl and jerk the bowl up sharply, usually the bowl outlet breaks off at the junction with the sewer pipe. Plug the hole with a rag so that the fragments of the outlet do not fall into the sewer pipe. Using a hammer and a chisel or an old chisel, carefully, so as not to damage the sewer pipe, knock out the remains of ceramics and, if possible, the mortar from the socket of the cast-iron pipe. If the tap does not break off, use the first method.

3. Only if you need a toilet with a full outlet. As thoroughly as possible, clean the joint of the outlet and the sewer pipe from the mortar and sealant. Check the mobility of the toilet bowl by lifting the bottom of the bowl with a crowbar or crowbar. If the toilet moves a little and nothing binds it to the floor, then you need to grab the bowl more tightly in front and behind and gradually swing the toilet bowl, pull it towards you. If the toilet is with an oblique outlet, then the bowl needs to be slightly raised as the outlet exits the pipe. Plug the socket of the pipe with rags so that odors from the sewer do not enter the room. If nothing works, use method 1 or 2.

On this, the dismantling of the old toilet bowl can be considered complete and you can immediately proceed to installing a new toilet, but it is better to level the floor surface first tiles or porcelain stoneware.

Related Articles