Replacing a Toilet Seat

Don't put up with a bum toilet seat. If your seat is cracked or corroded, or if it wobbles from side to side, replace it with a new one. It's an easy do-it-yourself job that should only take a couple of minutes.

Toilet bowl dimensions have standardized over the years, so buying a new seat should be straightforward. Most bowls have a slightly elongated (rather than round) rim, with seat mounting holes about 5 1/2 inches apart. If your toilet bowl is shaped differently, measure the dimensions (particularly the length from back to front and the distance between holes) before searching for a replacement seat.

Step by Step
1. Remove the old toilet seat. If the mounting bolts are covered with decorative caps, take them off. Use a screwdriver to hold one of the bolts in place while you use pliers to unscrew the nut from below the toilet rim. If the nut doesn't come loose, apply a lubricating oil (such as WD-40), and let it soak in for a couple of minutes. If it still won't budge, put duct tape on the surface around the hole to protect the porcelain from damage and use a hacksaw to cut through the bolt. Remove the second bolt, and lift the seat off of the toilet.

2. Clean around the mounting holes. Use a toilet cleanser to clean residue from around the holes, both above and below the toilet rim.

3. Install the new toilet seat. Position the new seat above the toilet bowl, and feed the bolts through the mounting heads and into the holes in the toilet. From below, tighten the nuts by hand. (Use a screwdriver to keep the bolts steady.) Use your pliers to give each nut a final quarter-turn. Don't overtighten, or you'll risk cracking the porcelain.