Quck answer
To remove a toilet seat with stuck nuts, follow these steps:
1. Gather the necessary tools: adjustable wrench, pliers, and lubricant (such as WD-40).
2. Locate the nuts that secure the toilet seat to the bowl. These are usually found under the rim at the back of the seat.
3. Spray lubricant on the nuts to loosen them. Let it sit for a few minutes to penetrate the stuck nuts.
4. Use an adjustable wrench or pliers to grip the nuts and turn them counterclockwise. Apply steady pressure until they start to loosen.
5. If the nuts are still stuck, try tapping them gently with a hammer to loosen any corrosion or debris.
6. Once the nuts are loose, continue turning them until they can be removed completely.
7. Lift the toilet seat off the bowl and clean the area before installing a new seat if necessary.
If you tightened the bolts with a wrench or pliers while installing your toilet seat, you may encounter difficulty removing it after a few years. The bolts are likely corroded due to the humidity and lack of ventilation behind the toilet. Removing the seat will require using spray lubricant, locking pliers, deep socket wrenches, hot putty knives, or drills.
You Got Lucky
If you installed your toilet seat with plastic nuts and bolts, removing it won’t be much of a problem. However, it won’t be as easy as when you installed it. To avoid damaging the threads, spray the bolts with a soapy solution before unscrewing the nuts.
Some nuts have wings that can be gripped with your fingers. While turning these, use a screwdriver to stabilize the bolt from above. If the nuts don’t have wings, use a pair of locking pliers to grip each one. When you unscrew the bolt, the pliers will hit against the toilet bowl, preventing the nut from turning, and it will loosen.
A Day of Corrosion
When dealing with a stuck nut on a corroded bolt, especially in the tight space under a toilet, you can’t afford to daydream. The locking pliers strategy usually works in this situation as well as it does with plastic bolts. Instead of using soapy water, Arco Plumbing suggests lubricating the bolts with spray lubricant.
Wait for five minutes after spraying, then lock the pliers onto one of the bolts. Find the longest screwdriver that fits the slots in the bolt head. Since you don’t have to hold the pliers, put all your effort into turning the bolt counterclockwise with the screwdriver to loosen the nut.
The Hot Blade Technique
Even with locking pliers, you may not always be able to loosen a nut. In such cases, you can use a socket wrench with a socket that fits the nut and is deep enough to clear the end of the bolt. If that doesn’t work and the nut is made of nylon, you can melt it off using a hot putty knife.
Wear protective gloves and heat the blade of a metal putty knife with a propane torch until it turns red hot. Push the blade up into the nut from underneath, at the side nearest the bolt. Once it has melted through one side of the nut, change the blade’s orientation and create another groove on the other side of the nut to make it fall away freely. Repeat this process with the second nylon nut and lift the seat off.
The Heavy Artillery
If all else fails, the most powerful tool for removing a toilet seat is a drill with a 1/4-inch drill bit. Put on goggles for eye protection and insert the bit into the bottom of the stuck metal nut, where it meets the bolt. Drill a hole straight up through the inside edge of the nut.
To remove the bit, create a new hole at an angle of 60 to 90 degrees from the previous one. Then, use a chisel to tap the area between the holes, which should cause the nut to separate. If the nut does not come off, drill additional holes between the two previous ones. Once the section of the nut has been tapped off, you can either pry it off using a chisel or unscrew it with locking pliers.
