A YouTube viewer reached out to me after watching my video on installing a toilet tank onto a toilet bowl. He found out as most do that when removing an existing toilet tank to replace the bolts and a flush valve gasket, that they’re rusted in place and won’t budge. He sprayed them with WD-40 and every other lubricant he could think of but had no luck at all. He asked what the next step would be to cut out a toilet tank bolt? I replied “you have two choices, a. get a good old hacksaw blade and proceed to cut away by hand or b. if you’re experienced with power tools, a reciprocating saw will get the job done much quicker.
Most new close coupled tank to bowl kit combinations come supplied with all brass bolts, washers, nuts and or wing nuts which are easily removable should the need arise. Generally, at some point in the life of a toilet the flush valve gasket and or the gaskets under the bolts holding the tank to the bowl start to leak. Pretty simple fix to go out and get a new tank bolt and flush valve gasket kit, but most over the counter generic kits are often supplied with a brass bolt and all the remaining components are galvanized steel. If you’re not aware of it by now, the two dissimilar metals are not compatible. Soon after being installed the galvanized iron will start to rust in place a bond to the brass bolt making it difficult or impossible to remove.
I will get a call for service stating that their’s water and or a rust stain on either side of the floor directly in line where the tank bolts pass thru the toilet bowl. At that point, I’ll make a judgment call as to whether or not to attempt to unscrew the nut and bolt or to proceed and just cut them off. My first choice if I have the room and in an effort to save time will be my trusted Milwaukee SawZall. I have the skill and experience in using this method, but the fact is you don’t always have enough room to use this method. When that occurs, a good old hacksaw blade mounted in a blade handle (available in most home centers) always gets the job done. It may take a little longer, but with much less risk of damaging or cracking a tank with the power tool!
The key thing to remember is that if you’re faced with replacing the flush valve gasket and bolt kit, try to find all brass components so you won’t have to deal with the tedious process of cutting out the bolts in the future. If you don’t have the experience with power tools, I highly recommend using the hacksaw blade method. You can cause some serious damage using the power tool method. When I’m faced with an aftermarket replacement kit, I’ll just replace all the galvanized components with brass parts and I’m good to go. Take a look at the video below where I go over some options on how to cut out a toilet tank bolt, and if you have questions feel free to reach out to me. I’m always available by e-mail info@bobsplumbingvideos.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards & Happy Plumbing,
Bob