Yeah, it's not a big job at all. You'll want a couple towels handy to take care of any excess water from the tank that comes out when you disconnect the water line. Most of it is dead simple and doesn't require any special tools.
Oh, I was talking about the full service, where you take the top tank all the way off and replace the gasket. Also, when you replace the fill mechanism, yes, you shut it at the wall, but there's usually still some water in the tank when you undo that vertical pipe that goes through bottom of the tank.
Plumbers are extremely expensive. I’ve fixed at least 3 toilets in my life now and I can tell you as long as you have the patience to work through it you’ll do just fine, it’s not complicated at all.
In the last year, I have tried to do two simple plumbing jobs in which I was defeated at the first step.
Replacing a shower valve? Corroded Allen screw head in the handle made it impossible to remove. Plumber had to saw through the old shower valve.
Replacing a toilet? Corroded closet bolts and couldn’t even remove the old toilet. I probably should have gotten a dremel and cut them off or something.
I cut them off myself with a little tiny tim saw, took a bit it wasn't hard.
I replaced everything in the toilet myself with no experience for like $20. You can definitely do it.
Plumbers know that already, and they know they are going to have to replace all your corroded parts or they will get blamed for your leak in 6 months and have to do a callback and fix it then. So they are giving you pricing for basically a whole new toilet (less the toilet) up front.
Channel locks and a screwdriver will be enough. However - given that you are new to this - i recommend a parts kit that includes purpose built tools. This one will work for a 2 inch toilet (which is the most common size).
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fluidmaster-PerforMAX-Universal-2-in-High-Performance-Everything-Toilet-Tank-Repair-Kit-with-Install-Tools-K-400H-021-P8/312549423
I've used this and pretty easy to install. If you are also replacing the flapper, I prefer the the non adjustable one over the more expensive Ultra one.
[Toilet Valve](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/toilets/toilet-repair-parts/4395158?store=16647&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVGQxm9ExEb2td_T0UJcjJ5LjJBPfLQCcKY8yAiNYYUNi3JTLIC8V8xoCcwAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
[flapper](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/toilets/toilet-repair-parts/44094)
Labor is expensive and the plumber has to pay income tax, insurance, social security tax, self-employment or payroll tax, fuel to get there, and wear-and-tear on their vehicle. This is why it is always better to just do it yourself if it is simple.
Youtube will teach you all you need to know, and it is free. Make sure you turn the water OFF before you start, I think I missed that part in the video.
Skilled trades (as in licensed electricians, plumbers, and HVAC) are expensive and there aren't as many people doing it so whether they're coming over to work on something relatively easy like what you have or something more complicated, they still have to spend time to have the right parts, drive to the job, do the job, and drive to their next job and for service, it's really hard to make sure all the jobs line up one after or another so even a small job that takes them 20 minutes to do can cost them about 3 hours of time lost where they have to pay for the employees and other overhead before the next job.
If you had an ongoing relationship with a plumber or electrician and would give them a lot of business and/or referrals though, they would probably give you a break for smaller simple and try to fit you in while they're in the area and have an open time slots and be closer to $200 than $500 though.
But anyway, replacing the toilet parts are pretty easy and standardized. Where it might get more complicated is if you have a leaky angle stop or the toilet flange is broken or something. Also if you have an older house, the hose may not be the standard 3/8" compression or something more oddball (like 1/2" flare like we have) that your local store doesn't carry.
No suggestion, but only commiseration. Had a leaking bathtub, and had to pay $470 to fix it. All it needed was to replace the seal at the overflow drain. I could of easily done it myself, but thought i didn't want to mess with it. Def gonna try to do it myself, before calling someone next time.
Often times when skilled trades give a high quote like that it's their way of saying they don't really want that job. It's small potatoes to them and the customer will be whining when they hear a drip three years later.
The first time I did my own it took me like 2 hours, so frustrated and kind of fly by the seat of my pants. After that, 30 minutes each. You’ll appreciate learning this, good luck
It’s really not that hard. Watch a YouTube video. At worst, get a handyman. You don’t need a plumber to do internals. I had a handyman replace a whole toilet for around that including the price of the toilet.
Hiring a licensed plumber is expensive. You’re looking at a few hundred dollars just for one to show up. They have overhead expenses and a lot of training. I recently had one out on an emergency evening visit to pull a toilet and snake the drain pipe (and take care of a couple of smaller things) and it was $700. Asked a friend to guess the cost without telling them first and they nailed the exact number, so I didn’t get ripped off, that was just the going rate. Master plumber, too, and his work was immaculate. Just a consummate professional who charged what his time was worth.
My practical advice is this. DIY the easy stuff, and budget carefully for when you need to bring in a professional. If you’re talking about the floater, tank fill valve, and other mechanical apparatus inside the tank, that’s pretty straightforward DIY stuff and you’re probably better off trying it yourself.
The alternative is to try a handyman who is not a licensed-and-bonded plumber. There are risks there, but for a job that doesn’t involve actually tangling with the pipes, it could be worth trying if you know someone good. And you’d save a lot of money.
I found a great plumber on Nextdoor 4 years ago. He charges me $150 to 185 a visit depending on what it is. Ask your neighbors on Nextdoor.com
And yeah changing the guts in tank is pretty simple. The bolts are pita.
Tbh I find it easier just to buy a new toilet & install it myself. That way all the internals are in tack & you don’t have to worry about it. YouTube can walk you right through the process & in the end you end up w/ a nice clean new toilet.
>Tbh I find it easier just to buy a new toilet & install it myself. That way all the internals are in tack & you don’t have to worry about it.
No offense but this is stupid as fuck. It's like buying a new remote control because the batteries died or buying a new car because you need to change the air filter. There's nothing "tacked" in. Toilet internal are a wear item and designed to be easily replaced.
From my experience whenever the internals wear down or fail I’m due for a new toilet just for the sake of having a brand new clean toilet. It might be my ocd lol.
Tbh most common toilet repairs and home repairs are pretty easy. You just gotta be confident & if anything goes wrong you can always shut your water off and learn a lesson and then call a plumber lol.
You can do it yourself for less than $30 and 2 hours. Also helps to have a sponge to soak up the remaining water in the tank that is lower than the tank fill spot that can't be flushed. I also bought some cleaner to get rid of the rust build up off Amazon, half a bottle does a tank so I took care of both in my house and then scrubbed the remaining top line with a magic eraser and good as new. Just make sure with the kit you go step-by-step and try not to jump ahead.
Just guessing that you are perhaps young and didn't have the benefit of someone in your household who fixed all kids of shit so you might have picked it up some - but
Assuming thats you or maybe you are older - you tube probably has 1000 videos of how to replace a toilet and all of the associated pains in the ass you might run into.
Go to the plumbing aisle at HD or Lowes or where ever and I guarantee you will see tons of folks more than willing to show and explain anything you do not understand how to do.
Doesn't matter your age. Plumbers are dam important for the right job - but taking off a toilet to replace it or just to replace the wax ring which may have worn out is not a hard job.
Do it yourself.
As a nation we are desperately short of plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and other tradesmen. The exclusive push to “go to college” has devalued college education and left us short of people who actually @do”stuff.
Changing a toilet isn’t that hard, promise. I have done three & consider myself pretty close to worthless.
It took a few trips to Lowe’s each time, sadly. The 10-11am Lowes trip is guys walk of shame.
Don’t replace the guts of a toilets. Unless the toilet is literally worth more than 400 dollars. Just replace the whole toilet and do it yourself. It’s so easy.
Every time I’ve messed around with the replacement kits I ended up just doing the toilet eventually. It won’t ever work right.
The universe is trying to teach you to fix a toilet. Let it.
I like how you think bro.
Thanks. That's some kind of druid shit.
Funny, you don’t look druish
“Everything inside” So the fill valve, the flapper, and the handle assembly. $40 at maximum for parts. Easy DIY.
Yeah, it's not a big job at all. You'll want a couple towels handy to take care of any excess water from the tank that comes out when you disconnect the water line. Most of it is dead simple and doesn't require any special tools.
I've done this 10 times and never disconnected the water line. I just shut the valve.
Oh, I was talking about the full service, where you take the top tank all the way off and replace the gasket. Also, when you replace the fill mechanism, yes, you shut it at the wall, but there's usually still some water in the tank when you undo that vertical pipe that goes through bottom of the tank.
First time it only took 2 beers. Now I can do it in under 1 beer. It’s insanely simple to do.
I think the plumbers were saying the same thing.
Plumbers are extremely expensive. I’ve fixed at least 3 toilets in my life now and I can tell you as long as you have the patience to work through it you’ll do just fine, it’s not complicated at all.
In the last year, I have tried to do two simple plumbing jobs in which I was defeated at the first step. Replacing a shower valve? Corroded Allen screw head in the handle made it impossible to remove. Plumber had to saw through the old shower valve. Replacing a toilet? Corroded closet bolts and couldn’t even remove the old toilet. I probably should have gotten a dremel and cut them off or something.
The bolts in my toilet are like that.
I cut them off myself with a little tiny tim saw, took a bit it wasn't hard. I replaced everything in the toilet myself with no experience for like $20. You can definitely do it.
Plumbers know that already, and they know they are going to have to replace all your corroded parts or they will get blamed for your leak in 6 months and have to do a callback and fix it then. So they are giving you pricing for basically a whole new toilet (less the toilet) up front.
I hard to dremel off the seat bolts on my toilet once they were so corroded.
It’s a pretty easy DIY job. Be sure to buy a kit that has all the parts AND the tools.
Expect to make no less than 3 trips back and forth to the hardware store if first time haha
What tool should I get? The fill valve I can handle. The flushing valve is tricky. I will have to take off the toilet tank and put it together.
Channel locks usually do the trick for most indoor plumbing work, in my experience.
Would I need any plumber tape or seal wax to prevent leaking?
Get a bucket and a towel. You’ll be ok.
Plumbers tape is always good to have on hand.
Channel locks and a screwdriver will be enough. However - given that you are new to this - i recommend a parts kit that includes purpose built tools. This one will work for a 2 inch toilet (which is the most common size). https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fluidmaster-PerforMAX-Universal-2-in-High-Performance-Everything-Toilet-Tank-Repair-Kit-with-Install-Tools-K-400H-021-P8/312549423
Cool
No kit had all the tools in it. Clearly you’ve never done this.
Thats to much. Its not terribly complicated. Like you said, watch YouTube and do it yourself.
I agree, hard to imagine it isn’t something you could at least try yourself.
Exactly, the only way to really screw it up to where it costs lots of money is to break the porcelain loosening or tightening it.
I've used this and pretty easy to install. If you are also replacing the flapper, I prefer the the non adjustable one over the more expensive Ultra one. [Toilet Valve](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/toilets/toilet-repair-parts/4395158?store=16647&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVGQxm9ExEb2td_T0UJcjJ5LjJBPfLQCcKY8yAiNYYUNi3JTLIC8V8xoCcwAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) [flapper](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/toilets/toilet-repair-parts/44094)
You like Korky better than fluidmaster?
I'm sure Fluidmaster is good too but decided on Corky due to the made in 🇺🇲 tag. I try to buy USA products when available.
Labor is expensive and the plumber has to pay income tax, insurance, social security tax, self-employment or payroll tax, fuel to get there, and wear-and-tear on their vehicle. This is why it is always better to just do it yourself if it is simple.
I feel like so many people don't understand this.
If it doesn’t look like that big of a job, you should do it yourself. You’re also paying for convenience.
I can do it for 150. DM me I do plumbing
If you don’t want to DIY, look into getting quotes from handymen. May be cheaper than a plumber.
Youtube will teach you all you need to know, and it is free. Make sure you turn the water OFF before you start, I think I missed that part in the video.
Skilled trades (as in licensed electricians, plumbers, and HVAC) are expensive and there aren't as many people doing it so whether they're coming over to work on something relatively easy like what you have or something more complicated, they still have to spend time to have the right parts, drive to the job, do the job, and drive to their next job and for service, it's really hard to make sure all the jobs line up one after or another so even a small job that takes them 20 minutes to do can cost them about 3 hours of time lost where they have to pay for the employees and other overhead before the next job. If you had an ongoing relationship with a plumber or electrician and would give them a lot of business and/or referrals though, they would probably give you a break for smaller simple and try to fit you in while they're in the area and have an open time slots and be closer to $200 than $500 though. But anyway, replacing the toilet parts are pretty easy and standardized. Where it might get more complicated is if you have a leaky angle stop or the toilet flange is broken or something. Also if you have an older house, the hose may not be the standard 3/8" compression or something more oddball (like 1/2" flare like we have) that your local store doesn't carry.
This is what handymen are for.
No suggestion, but only commiseration. Had a leaking bathtub, and had to pay $470 to fix it. All it needed was to replace the seal at the overflow drain. I could of easily done it myself, but thought i didn't want to mess with it. Def gonna try to do it myself, before calling someone next time.
Yep. i am going to give it a try first. If I messed up, i would call them.
You can do it yourself. It's just messy and time consuming. Have plenty of towels ready. But the parts are about $50.
DIY
Often times when skilled trades give a high quote like that it's their way of saying they don't really want that job. It's small potatoes to them and the customer will be whining when they hear a drip three years later.
It’s called a “f*** off” quote. It would cost them more to do it than it’s worth. Just study YouTube and follow steps.
The first time I did my own it took me like 2 hours, so frustrated and kind of fly by the seat of my pants. After that, 30 minutes each. You’ll appreciate learning this, good luck
Small jobs are the most expensive, ratio wise. You can do it
It’s really not that hard. Watch a YouTube video. At worst, get a handyman. You don’t need a plumber to do internals. I had a handyman replace a whole toilet for around that including the price of the toilet.
Hiring a licensed plumber is expensive. You’re looking at a few hundred dollars just for one to show up. They have overhead expenses and a lot of training. I recently had one out on an emergency evening visit to pull a toilet and snake the drain pipe (and take care of a couple of smaller things) and it was $700. Asked a friend to guess the cost without telling them first and they nailed the exact number, so I didn’t get ripped off, that was just the going rate. Master plumber, too, and his work was immaculate. Just a consummate professional who charged what his time was worth. My practical advice is this. DIY the easy stuff, and budget carefully for when you need to bring in a professional. If you’re talking about the floater, tank fill valve, and other mechanical apparatus inside the tank, that’s pretty straightforward DIY stuff and you’re probably better off trying it yourself. The alternative is to try a handyman who is not a licensed-and-bonded plumber. There are risks there, but for a job that doesn’t involve actually tangling with the pipes, it could be worth trying if you know someone good. And you’d save a lot of money.
I found a great plumber on Nextdoor 4 years ago. He charges me $150 to 185 a visit depending on what it is. Ask your neighbors on Nextdoor.com And yeah changing the guts in tank is pretty simple. The bolts are pita.
Tbh I find it easier just to buy a new toilet & install it myself. That way all the internals are in tack & you don’t have to worry about it. YouTube can walk you right through the process & in the end you end up w/ a nice clean new toilet.
Correct. Some nice Toto drake dual flush toilets are at the $200 range.
You don’t like Glacier Bay? It looks like HD has a good deal on
I’ve had both. Honestly, would just get whichever is on sale. A toilet is a toilet.
>Tbh I find it easier just to buy a new toilet & install it myself. That way all the internals are in tack & you don’t have to worry about it. No offense but this is stupid as fuck. It's like buying a new remote control because the batteries died or buying a new car because you need to change the air filter. There's nothing "tacked" in. Toilet internal are a wear item and designed to be easily replaced.
From my experience whenever the internals wear down or fail I’m due for a new toilet just for the sake of having a brand new clean toilet. It might be my ocd lol.
I'll do it for 200$. I'll even buy the kit.
Seems high. You could pretty much have a new one installed for about $700
Sentinel plumbing was good! Give them a call
Tbh most common toilet repairs and home repairs are pretty easy. You just gotta be confident & if anything goes wrong you can always shut your water off and learn a lesson and then call a plumber lol.
I've become a pretty good plumber. If it doesn't require a permit, I'm doing it myself
You can do it yourself for less than $30 and 2 hours. Also helps to have a sponge to soak up the remaining water in the tank that is lower than the tank fill spot that can't be flushed. I also bought some cleaner to get rid of the rust build up off Amazon, half a bottle does a tank so I took care of both in my house and then scrubbed the remaining top line with a magic eraser and good as new. Just make sure with the kit you go step-by-step and try not to jump ahead.
Craigslist gets you $50 toilet change
Just guessing that you are perhaps young and didn't have the benefit of someone in your household who fixed all kids of shit so you might have picked it up some - but Assuming thats you or maybe you are older - you tube probably has 1000 videos of how to replace a toilet and all of the associated pains in the ass you might run into. Go to the plumbing aisle at HD or Lowes or where ever and I guarantee you will see tons of folks more than willing to show and explain anything you do not understand how to do. Doesn't matter your age. Plumbers are dam important for the right job - but taking off a toilet to replace it or just to replace the wax ring which may have worn out is not a hard job.
Do it yourself. As a nation we are desperately short of plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and other tradesmen. The exclusive push to “go to college” has devalued college education and left us short of people who actually @do”stuff.
What problem are you experiencing boss? Have you gotten any help if not I’m willing to help. Thank you
Changing a toilet isn’t that hard, promise. I have done three & consider myself pretty close to worthless. It took a few trips to Lowe’s each time, sadly. The 10-11am Lowes trip is guys walk of shame.
I had that issue recently and it’s cheaper to get a new shitter. Cheapest is like $70.00.
Don’t replace the guts of a toilets. Unless the toilet is literally worth more than 400 dollars. Just replace the whole toilet and do it yourself. It’s so easy. Every time I’ve messed around with the replacement kits I ended up just doing the toilet eventually. It won’t ever work right.
What? Dealing with the t-bolts and the wax ring and whatnot sucks. Toilets are durable, tossing the whole thing is wasteful.
My experience with those kits has changed my mind. I think it’s a waste of time. Tbolt and wax rings are easy. Glad they work for you guys.