Here’s a pic of our upstairs guest bathroom when we moved in.  Jealous much?  Yeah, I know you’re coveting the fake blue marble vanity with shell shaped sinks…

and let’s take a closer look at the loo.  Check out that matching blue *padded* toilet seat.  Nice.

We recently noticed that this little gem had sprung a leak. There was a crack on the bottom of the tank, which was causing a slow leak of water (the blue color comes from the cleaning block we have in the tank). So, it was high time we replaced this sucker.

Once the tank was removed, it was evident that this thing hadn’t been replaced since it was installed when the house was built back in 1993.  Check out the grime behind the tank. It’s more dirty than Christina Aguilera in her bondage leather chaps days.

Rick had quite a time removing the bowl as it was caulked to the tile floor (current DIY thinking says you shouldn’t caulk around the toilet bowl because if you have a leak in the future, the moisture could be trapped under the base of the toilet and your plywood subflooring could very well rot out.  Better to see the leak and deal with it, rather than the alternative). So, to remove the toilet bowl, Rick had to break it into pieces with a hammer…

Another problem that was causing the bowl to stick was the rusted screws that hold the toilet to the flange.  I guess the rust is courtesy of the leak that has been going on for many years.

A bit of elbow grease and the loo was gone. You can really see how much the water has been leaking under the toilet bowl.

I mentioned previously about the lovely dark sludge that we found in the toilet tank (which led us to test our well water).  You can also see that we live in a clay soil area, as evidenced by the clay particles found in our tank.

We bought a water-efficient complete toilet kit from our local DIY store.  In addition to a new tank and bowl, it comes complete with new flange, bolt, bolt caps and wax seal – everything you need to install a new loo. The steps for installing a toilet are really very simple – check out this short tutorial from Home Depot (note: they do caulk around the bowl base.  hmmm).

So nice to have a spanking new toilet tank that’s free of sludge and clay…

Here’s our brand new loo.  Ain’t she a beauty?

And just in case you haven’t seen enough photos of toilets, here is a gratuitous before and after shot.

A quick fix that makes a world of difference to the guest bathroom.  I can’t say how happy I am to get rid of that horrible padded blue toilet seat.  I am sure our house guests will be thankful for the updated facilities.  Next up is changing the blue faux-marble sea-shell monstrosity of a vanity. What decor faux-pas did you inherit with your house?

Tags: guest room, toilet