Place toilet flange bolts at nine and three o’clock so the toilet seats down squarely and secures tightly.

Position the closet bolts so they sit straight up perpendicular to the flange with their heads seated in the flange slots and threads pointing skyward; this prevents the bolts from tilting when you lower the toilet and makes it far easier to align the horn of the bowl over the bolts. Use retention washers or nylon bolt caps under the bolt heads if the flange does not have built in pockets so the bolts remain vertical while you maneuver the bowl. When lowering the bowl, hold it directly over the bolts and lower straight down without rocking to avoid displacing the wax ring and to keep the bolts from bending. Once the bowl is fully seated and hand tightening the nuts begins, tighten nuts alternately and gradually to compress the wax ring evenly and avoid cracking the porcelain. After nuts are snug, trim bolt lengths so they do not protrude past the nut by more than one quarter inch and install decorative bolt caps to prevent snagging and to improve appearance. If you are installing to a raised or damaged flange, use an appropriate flange extender kit and longer bolts that still allow the threads to clear the nut by a short margin once trimmed.

The most common issue is placing bolts at twelve and six o’clock which makes the bowl rock and the seat misalign; correct that by rotating both bolts to nine and three o’clock before setting the toilet. People often let bolts lean during placement which causes cross threading or broken porcelain when tightening; remedy that by using retention washers or temporary tape to hold each bolt perfectly upright until the bowl is lowered. Another frequent mistake is leaving excessive bolt length after tightening which catches clothing and looks sloppy; fix it by cutting the bolts so threads extend only a short amount past the nut and then snap on caps to finish the job.

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