The prospect of any kind of plumbing work can be intimidating, but there's no need to hire a professional to install your bidet toilet seat. Installing a bidet toilet seat on your existing toilet is easy and straight forward if you have a standard 2-piece toilet and most 1-piece toilets. This general set of instructions applies to most bidet toilet seats on the market today with slight variations depending on the brand and model. All of the bidet toilet seats we sell include all of the parts needed for a standard installation. It takes most people about 15 minutes to complete the installation.
Tools You Should Have on Hand to Install a Bidet Toilet Seat
- A screwdriver: Some mounting bolts may require a standard flathead or Philips screwdriver.
- An adjustable wrench: You probably won’t need it but may come in handy for the plastic or metal fittings. Most fittings can be hand-tightened.
- Towel and a bucket: A small amount of clean water may drain out when you disconnect your toilet's supply hose, so a small bucket is fine for this. A rag or a few paper towels is all you'll need for cleanup.
Here's how to install a bidet toilet seat:
- Remove the old toilet seat.
- The seat will be attached to the rim with a pair of large mounting bolts. There may be small plastic covers over the top of these bolts, so you'll have to pop them open with a flathead screwdriver.
- Once you can access the top of the bolts, use your screwdriver to remove them. You may need to reach underneath the toilet to untwist the nuts holding them in place. The mounting bolts of some toilet seats are actually part of the seat itself and have no "top" to unscrew. These seats should still have a pair of nuts under the rim though, so you should be able to untwist them and free the seat.
- Once the nuts and bolts are removed, lift the seat and it should come right off. Clean the rim to prepare it for your new bidet seat.
- PRO HINT: Don’t throw away the old seat in case you need to remove the bidet seat down the road.
- Turn off the water supply to your toilet.
- To locate the toilet shut-off valve, look behind your toilet, close to the floor. A supply hose should be running from the bottom of your toilet tank to a water supply pipe on the wall, connected by an oval-shaped valve. This is your toilet shut-off valve.
- Turn the toilet shut-off valve clockwise until it stops.
- Flush the toilet to drain the remaining water in the tank.
- Install the T-Valve to your toilet's existing supply line.
- Unscrew the supply hose from the bottom of the toilet tank. A small amount of water left in the tank might leak out, so have your bucket and towel handy.
- Attach the included T-valve to the bottom of the toilet tank where the supply hose was attached.
- Re-attach the supply hose to the bottom of the T-valve. Don’t worry about connecting the bidet’s supply hose just yet.
- PRO HINT: We recommend Hand-Tightening to make things nice and snug. Use your wrench to gently tighten fittings you're having trouble with but don’t over tighten.
- Mount the bidet toilet seat to the toilet.
- Included with your bidet seat is a flat plastic mounting plate. Position this mounting plate on the back of the rim, aligning it with the existing bolt holes.
- Insert the included mounting bolts through the bolt holes and secure them in place with their nuts underneath the rim. Depending on your bidet seat, these nuts and bolts may be metal instead of plastic. If so, use your wrench and/or screwdriver.
- Slide the bidet seat onto the mounting plate, towards the back of the toilet, until it clicks into place. Check the fit and, if needed, remove the bidet seat and adjust for a better alignment with your toilet.
- Connect the bidet seat to the water supply and electrical outlet.
- Your bidet seat will have its own water supply hose. If you have a water filter (filter purchased separately), attach it to one end of the hose and then attach the hose to the remaining opening of the T-Valve.
- Attach the other end of the bidet hose to the connection on the side of the bidet seat. PRO HINT: You may want to use Plumber’s (Teflon) Tape to make it easier to disconnect if needed.
- Double-check that all the hose connections are nice and tight. Now you're ready to open the shut-off valve you turned off earlier.
- Open the toilet shut-off valve by twisting it counter-clockwise. This will fill up your toilet tank and supply your bidet seat with the water it needs to function. Check for any leaks and tighten any hose connections if necessary.
- If you have an electronic bidet seat, plug it into a grounded GFCI outlet (these are designed to prevent accidental electrical shock, and are usually found in home bathrooms and kitchens). Your bidet seat comes with a cord that’s about 4 feet. If there isn't an outlet within reach, you can use a heavy-duty extension cord.
- PRO HINT: Most electric bidet seats have a max pull of around 13 amps at top pull. If using a 15-amp circuit, it's recommended that the seat be on a dedicated line, but if you run it without anything else running at the same time, you can often get by without a dedicated circuit. If in doubt, contact your local electrician.
Now you're ready to use water instead of paper. You'll feel clean, healthy & refreshed. We know after you ride the wave, you'll never want to go back to wiping again. As always, please contact us with any questions or issues.