Replacing a toilet seat with no access beneath the bowl

[Buddy Bradley]

My Google and YouTube search skills have turned up nothing, so I'm turning to the collective wisdom of Urban:

How do you replace a toilet seat when there is no access to the underside where the connecting bolts are? There's nothing on the top-side of the fitting that can be removed or pinched or pressed to release it, and definitely no access around the back (there is a gap, but nowhere near big enough to be able to reach around). All of the tutorials I can find talk about quick-release buttons, but it's definitely not that kind of model, so I'm stuck.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[platinumsage]

Can you take the seat off the bolts and then unscrew the bolts?

 

[maomao]

You can get seats with expansion plugs for toilets where you can't get round the back. You could use a hacksaw on the current bolts but only if you're sure they're going to drop out oif the way once sawn.

 

[bemused]

I've had this issue, had to pay a local plumber to come to sort it out. Turns out modern toilet seats have little pegs you attach the seat to and a button on the seat to take it off. Older seats are bolted on and you need a mythical toilet seat spanner.

 

[maomao]

Photo would be good. Why is there no access? is there some kind of panelling round it that could be opened and replaced?

 

[Pickman's model]

My Google and YouTube search skills have turned up nothing, so I'm turning to the collective wisdom of Urban:

How do you replace a toilet seat when there is no access to the underside where the connecting bolts are? There's nothing on the top-side of the fitting that can be removed or pinched or pressed to release it, and definitely no access around the back (there is a gap, but nowhere near big enough to be able to reach around). All of the tutorials I can find talk about quick-release buttons, but it's definitely not that kind of model, so I'm stuck.

Anyone have any ideas?

Get a new toilet

 

[platinumsage]

Photo would be good. Why is there no access? is there some kind of panelling round it that could be opened and replaced?

Lots of toilets are like this nowadays, so people are protected from having to view the nasty pipes, which means they can leak without you realising until the floor gives way:

 

[maomao]

Lots of toilets are like this nowadays, so people are protected from having to view the nasty pipes, which means they can leak without you realising until the floor gives way:

View attachment 271085

Presumably if it was one of them it would be a seat that can be removed without access though. Or how would they have got it on at the factory?

 

[JuanTwoThree]

This is not your first bog seat rodeo

Toilet seats

However forcibly I screw a toilet seat together, they always seem to slide sideways after a few weeks. :mad: Am I doing something wrong somehow? I don't see how I can be getting the instructions in anyway confused - they're always the basic "screw the long bolt into the round bit, insert...

www.urban75.net

 

[bimble]

how can there be no access? I don't believe it.
I'm a proud veteran of changing loo seats, just this very last week. I now have the modern ones that clip off on top, and no antique wee from the previous occupants of the house.
But yeah, whats happening is your loo built into some hermetically sealed box?

 

[Buddy Bradley]

This is not your first bog seat rodeo

Toilet seats

However forcibly I screw a toilet seat together, they always seem to slide sideways after a few weeks. :mad: Am I doing something wrong somehow? I don't see how I can be getting the instructions in anyway confused - they're always the basic "screw the long bolt into the round bit, insert...

www.urban75.net

Yeah, I did contemplate just bumping my previous toilet-related thread but it didn't really fit the new theme.

 

[A380]

Picture would help. But if no obvious solution I’d go for the saw ( to cut off most of the seat) and either mole grips or bolt cutters (depending on what you find) to get rid of the fixings. But that’s a less elegant solution from a less civilised age.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Can you take the seat off the bolts and then unscrew the bolts?

I can probably wrench it off (the bolts are pretty corroded), but I'm not sure I'd be able to fit a new seat if it's one of these ones people are talking about.

 

[WouldBe]

Can you unscrew the seat from the hinges and then screw the new seat to the old hinges?

 

[Buddy Bradley]

how can there be no access? I don't believe it.
I'm a proud veteran of changing loo seats, just this very last week. I now have the modern ones that clip off on top, and no antique wee from the previous occupants of the house.
But yeah, whats happening is your loo built into some hermetically sealed box?

No, it has a regular porcelain base, but the gap between the base and the wall is only about 4 inches wide - enough for your hand to fit, but not enough to get your forearm in and twisted far enough to reach the underside of the seat fittings. Usually you can reach them from the side, I agree - this is the first time I've not been able to do it.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Can you unscrew the seat from the hinges and then screw the new seat to the old hinges?

Nope, no screws involved. The seat and the lid are held in place by a plastic bolt which has no thread of any sort.

 

[WouldBe]

Nope, no screws involved. The seat and the lid are held in place by a plastic bolt which has no thread of any sort.

Get a new toilet that gives access to change the seat in future.

 

[Pickman's model]

Nope, no screws involved. The seat and the lid are held in place by a plastic bolt which has no thread of any sort.

Could you post a picture for the less imaginative urbs on this thread?

 

[platinumsage]

Glue the existing seat to the toilet and fit a new seat by screwing it into the existing plastic bolts.

Make a hole in your roof and ceiling, smash the toilet with a rock, and then claim a new one off your insurance due to meteorite damage.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Buy one of these - you wouldn't need to worry about replacing the seat then.

 

[Pickman's model]

Buy one of these - you wouldn't need to worry about replacing the seat then.

Where have you found daffs at this time of year?

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Could you post a picture for the less imaginative urbs on this thread?

Pics: (sorry they're not very good, it's a small space)

First one shows the gap at the back - not enough space to get your hand around to where (presumably) the underneath fittings are. Second one shows the seat connections - a plastic bolt through the lid/seat hooks holding it all together.

 

[existentialist]

Pics: (sorry they're not very good, it's a small space)

First one shows the gap at the back - not enough space to get your hand around to where (presumably) the underneath fittings are. Second one shows the seat connections - a plastic bolt through the lid/seat hooks holding it all together.

Almost certainly, what you've got there is the grommet style fixing - the screws that are (not quite) visible on the hinge plates will go into a plastic/rubber tube, which expands sideways when the screw is done up. You should be able to loosen the screws, tap them home again (to allow the grommet to relax), and each side should then just lift out, perhaps with a bit of wiggling and swearing.

 

[platinumsage]

Where have you found daffs at this time of year?

Certainly not in that picture.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Unhelpful "no advice but venting my own frustrations" post.

I can get access beneath the bowl, but the bolts are plastic and are so stiff to the point where I've actually already snapped one of the... I dunno, the 'handles' or 'wings' that allow you to do the twisting.

My current theory is to just attack them with a piece of metal, mebbe a knife, heated up by my heat gun.

So far haven't been confident/foolish enough to actually try it, though

 

[existentialist]

Unhelpful "no advice but venting my own frustrations" post.

I can get access beneath the bowl, but the bolts are plastic and are so stiff to the point where I've actually already snapped one of the... I dunno, the 'handles' or 'wings' that allow you to do the twisting.

My current theory is to just attack them with a piece of metal, mebbe a knife, heated up by my heat gun.

So far haven't been confident/foolish enough to actually try it, though

I wouldn't. Possibly your best bet would be to get a hacksaw on the nut and bolt...though I think I'd probably be trying to give it a bit of mole grip love, first. And if you haven't got some mole grips, run, don't walk to your favourite DIY store and get some. They will be worth their weight in gold.

 

[bimble]

You can’t access the screws on top at all? It must be possible to get at them. Then all you need is a small child holding the plastic bits whilst you unscrew from top?

 

[Lord Camomile]

I wouldn't. Possibly your best bet would be to get a hacksaw on the nut and bolt...though I think I'd probably be trying to give it a bit of mole grip love, first. And if you haven't got some mole grips, run, don't walk to your favourite DIY store and get some. They will be worth their weight in gold.

Having googled ( ), I have a mole grip, but nuttin' doin' From memory (it's been a while since I tried), they couldn't quite get purchase.

Don't think there's the room for a hacksaw, sadly; the 'toilet room' is little bigger than your average cupboard, so while I can get to the nuts, I don't have a lot of lateral movement around them.

You can’t access the screws on top at all? It must be possible to get at them. Then all you need is a small child holding the plastic bits whilst you unscrew from top?

So, I can access the screws from the top, but again, plastic and generally poor nature of them means the screwdriver fails to gain purchase and if it does anything it just churns through them, exacerbating the issue

Also, I have better access to the screws/bolts than I do a small child

 

[existentialist]

You can’t access the screws on top at all? It must be possible to get at them. Then all you need is a small child holding the plastic bits whilst you unscrew from top?

I don't think there are any bits for small children to hold - the seat fixings (almost certainly) go into pockets in the WC pan.

Having googled ( ), I have a mole grip, but nuttin' doin' From memory (it's been a while since I tried), they couldn't quite get purchase.

Don't think there's the room for a hacksaw, sadly; the 'toilet room' is little bigger than your average cupboard, so while I can get to the nuts, I don't have a lot of lateral movement around them.



So, I can access the screws from the top, but again, plastic and generally poor nature of them means the screwdriver fails to gain purchase and if it does anything it just churns through them, exacerbating the issue

Also, I have better access to the screws/bolts than I do a small child

Another possibility is to get a reasonably sharp screwdriver (so it will dig into the plastic), and use a hammer to gently tap it in a way that will loosen the nut. Find the widest bit of the nut (remnants of any of the "wings") to bear on.

 

[Lord Camomile]

I don't think there are any bits for small children to hold - the seat fixings (almost certainly) go into pockets in the WC pan.

Another possibility is to get a reasonably sharp screwdriver (so it will dig into the plastic), and use a hammer to gently tap it in a way that will loosen the nut. Find the widest bit of the nut (remnants of any of the "wings") to bear on.

Hm, will give it a go (probably in 2023, or something ).