Toilet installation in Los Angeles, set level and sealed right

Start by measuring the rough-in: the distance from the finished wall to the center of the floor bolts. Most homes are at twelve inches, but older LA bathrooms sometimes have ten or fourteen, and buying the wrong one leaves a gap behind the tank or a bowl that won't fit at all.

Next is height and shape. Comfort-height bowls sit a couple of inches taller, which many adults prefer and which helps anyone with knee trouble. Elongated bowls are more comfortable but stick out further, which matters in a tight hall bath. California requires high-efficiency toilets, so any new model sold here uses far less water per flush than older ones.

One-piece toilets are easier to clean and have no tank-to-bowl gasket to fail. Two-piece models cost less and are easier to carry up stairs in a hillside house or a second-floor apartment.

Pulling a toilet shows what's been happening under it. A cast iron flange in an older house may be rusted through at the bolt slots, and a plastic one may be cracked or set too low below new tile. We repair or replace the flange so the new bowl has something solid to bolt to.

On raised-floor homes we look at the subfloor from the crawlspace if there are signs of a past leak. Soft wood around the drain has to be cut out and replaced before the new toilet goes down. On slab homes, the concern is a flange that sits too low after new flooring, which we bring up with a spacer or extension ring.

• Flange condition and height relative to the finished floor
• Subfloor soundness around the drain
• Shutoff valve that actually closes
• Supply line age and material
• Drain opening clear of old wax and debris

We set the bowl on a new wax ring or a wax-free foam seal, depending on flange height, and press it straight down so the seal isn't smeared. Closet bolts get tightened evenly a little at a time; overtightening can crack the porcelain. If the floor isn't flat, we shim it before the final tightening so the bowl can't rock.

A new braided supply line goes on, and if the old angle stop is crusted or won't close, we replace it while the water is off. Our valve replacement work often starts exactly this way. We fill, flush several times and check the base and connections for drips before caulking around the bottom.

Sometimes the real problem isn't the toilet. If the old one clogged constantly, the cause may be roots or a sag in the line further down, and a new toilet won't fix that. When we see signs of a deeper issue, we may suggest a camera look at the drain before you blame the new fixture.

For a single repair, like a running fill valve or a worn flapper, our toilet repair service is usually the cheaper route. During a full bathroom remodel, we can move the drain, change the rough-in or set up a wall-hung toilet with an in-wall carrier and tank.