Replacing a toilet flapper

1. Look at the ceramic toilet lid, paying attention to its size and shape, and then find a suitable place to place it where it will not get damaged. Remove the lid and place it there. Toilet lids are designed to fit specific brands and are very expensive and hard to find, so be careful not to damage it, and being careful that you place it in a location where someone else in the house does not accidentally damage it.

2. Turn off the shut off located approximately 6 to 9" above the floor, and generally on the left side of the toilet on the rear wall.

3. Flush the toilet, while continuing to hold the handle until most of the water has drained from the toilet tank.

4. Look inside the toilet tank while pushing the flush handle up and down, you will see the flapper jumping up and down. Reach down inside and gently remove both sides of the flapper from the prongs it is attached to. It generally pops right off. Raise the flapper so that it is easier to see, and remove the chain clipped onto it.

5. Bring the flapper to your local supplier who can assist you in finding a suitable replacement.

6. Reinstall the flapper placing the protruding concave side down over the hole, by reattaching the connecting edges to the prongs you previously removed the old flapper from.

7. Reconnect the chain to the new flapper making sure that the flapper is not held open, that it seals the opening tightly, and that the chain has a little slack, not too much slack though. You don't want the slack in the chain to interfere with the flapper sealing the hole. If the new flappers come with a new chain, after performing the above; simply unhook the old chain from the flapper while keeping the other side attached to the flush valve. Connect the new chain to the flush valve beside the old chain, and stretch both chains straight comparing the lengths, adjust the location of the hook on the new chain so that the farthest part of the hook is identical length to the old chain, and then reconnect the new chain to the flapper after cutting off the excess chain with a pair of snips, leaving a couple extra links in the chain. Remove the old chain and discard.

8. Turn the shut off valve back on and open the toilet seat so you can see inside. Once the water has filled the rear tank and the filling sound has stopped you shouldn't see any water movement inside the toilet bowl around the edges of the water.

9. Sometimes when you 1st refill the tank it may take a few seconds for the water in the bowl to stop moving. This length of time in water movement after the bowl has stopped filling generally reduces with each subsequent flush.

10. Once the toilet is filled you shouldn't hear any leaking sounds, and you have successfully installed your 1st new flapper to a toilet.

Congratulations