A toilet seat is an essential part of the toilet because it is the one with which you have the most contact while using the toilet. As a result, it should be easy to use and free of unpleasant experiences.
A toilet lid should be able to remain upright and not fall while in use. A lid that keeps falling causes discomfort because you will have to hold it up while using the toilet.
If you have a wobbly toilet seat and a lid that keeps falling, you do not automatically have to buy a brand-new model, as there are some simple tips that you can follow to fix these issues.
First, you will have to look for the appropriate ways and alternatives to fixing the toilet lid based on the cause of its falling. Most of these fixes are easy and don’t take much time, and you will have solved the problem in no time.
In this post, we have discussed over in detail how to easily fix your toilet lid from falling. We also look at some of the most effective practices for making your toilet seat last longer and serve you better.
We are going to cover:
- How to fix a toilet lid that keeps on falling.
- What causes the toilet lid from not staying upright?
- How to tighten toilet seat and lid hinges.
- Should Your Toilet Seats be up or down?
- How Often Should One Change the Toilet Seat?
Table of Contents
How to fix a toilet seat that keeps falling
A toilet lid that falls every time you open it for a short or long call can be an annoyance, and a quick fix may be the only solution. But first, let’s look at some possible causes of your toilet lid not staying up.
What causes toilet seats to fall?
One of the most common reasons your toilet lid keeps falling could be that it was put far back in the tank’s direction. Setting the seat too far back means that the toilet lid will not stay up.
If you want the toilet lid to rest on the toilet’s tank, the seat’s angle to the bowl should be over 90 degrees whenever you install a new or existing seat.
If the upright seat’s middle angle and the toilet bowl are 90 degrees or even less, the seat will keep falling.
The second reason a toilet lid may keep falling is if the toilet lid is too thick. That means the seat and cover don’t match in weight, which makes the lid prone to falling and slamming onto the seat.
Thirdly, loose or broken hinges that hold the toilet bowl and the lid can be a constant problem. This is because they can prevent the lid from staying up or even falling off. Fastening or replacing the lid can be one way to avoid future damage to the seat and the lid.
The fourth reason is when the toilet seat has been in use for an extended period of time and has depreciated over the years. As a result, the seat has been used for years without being updated, indicating that it is old.
The fifth is heavy-handedness, which occurs when a user opens or closes the seat forcefully. Generally, children, teens, and adults always rush to get somewhere, so they slam the toilet seat quickly as they open it.
That action will wear down the seat and age it together with its hinges over time, which will, in effect, cause it to keep falling. Repeated slamming will stress the seat and its hinges and eventually damage them.
Finally, there are loose parts of the seat, such as bolts and nuts. A bolt can be fixed using the nut of a toilet seat, rubber bushing, or the screw head. When such parts are repaired, the toilet seat will stay up and not fall.
A toilet seat that keeps falling has many downsides, including toilet-related injuries because the unstable seat can injure a person’s genitals or hands.
A significant number of boys are treated for penile injuries caused by toilet seats annually. When a seat falls over, it can create crevices and cracks that gradually accumulate bacteria from excess cleaning products and waste.
Read: Can a Plastic Toilet Seat Be Painted
How to tighten toilet seat and lid hinges
Fixing a toilet seat put far back will require you to unscrew the seat and then bring it to the front by pulling it as far forward as possible.
First, you will have to slack the toilet seat lid. The toilet seat and its cover are usually attached by two screws.
Try to loosen the screws enough for you to move the toilet seat. You might need a wrench or screwdriver to loosen the screws or pliers to hold the bolt’s top to keep the bolt from spinning.
Some toilet models have their screws located under a small plastic cover for aesthetics. In such a case, carefully lift the cover to access the screws.
The second step is pulling the seat to the front as far as is practicable after loosening the screws. The action will provide the seat with the extra angle it requires to keep it from falling.
The third step is re-securing the lid by tightening the screws back and checking to see if the seat stays upright.
Where the toilet seat is not level with the ground and keeps on falling, you will have to fix the problem by putting a level on the lid of the toilet when it is closed to see what the level says.
If you cannot access a level, you can use the measuring app or level on your smartphone. If the level indicates that the toilet is slanting forward, you will need toilet shims or wedges. These will slide under the toilet’s base and push as far as you can, making it level.
The shims and wedges are affordable, and their installation is easy. Since the problem is with the seat of the toilet, shims or wedges should be positioned around the toilet’s front. This will create the additional angle required to keep the seat up.
The shims or wedges should not be pushed too hard or fast because the action will destroy the wax ring under the toilet that prevents water leakage.
After the shim or wedge has been installed, you will have to use the level to check the toilet again to see if it stays up. If the seat keeps falling after this procedure, you will have to be creative and combine more of these solutions to do it the right way.
Where the lid of the toilet is too thick, the solution could be removing the cover of the toilet seat. If the seat does not fall anymore after the cover has been removed, then you have solved the problem.
If the seat of your toilet does not have a cover, you will solve the problem by either getting a new seat or a thinner replacement lid.
The benefits of having a stabilized toilet seat are that you will not have to touch germs while putting the seat back up, especially if yours is that which opens and closes by itself.
You will not have to worry about your children getting hurt by the seat when it slams on their fingers. There will be increased safety because of the seat’s stability, and it saves you the cost of having to buy a new seat every now and then.
How Often Should One Change the Toilet Seat?
Generally, toilet seats have a lifespan of at least five to seven years. However, how long each specific one lasts is determined by various factors, including its material, usage, and hardware quality.
Eventually, you will have to replace the seat due to various reasons and situations at some point.
Therefore, you should change your seat when you move to a new house even though the previous occupants cleaned the toilet before they moved.
The reason is that a person spends one hour and forty-five minutes each week on average on the toilet seat.
For instance, if the family had four members, they all spend an average of 354 hours annually on the seat for every year that they live there.
That means that the seat is used a lot, and even though cleaning is done regularly, it is safer to purchase a new one.
When you notice that your toilet seat is moving or shifts and the problems cannot be fixed, change it. When the seat has broken, cracked, or its slow-close mechanism has failed, it is time for a change because the cracks can breed bacteria and cause injuries.
If the slow close feature no longer works, the falling seat will cause pinched fingers. You can also change the toilet seat when you start potty training your child to replace the one that you have with a seat for potty training.
You might also want to change the seat when it is stained, and the stain cannot come off, its finish or paint has worn off, the hinges or hardware is broken, and when the seat is uncomfortable.
Conclusion
The grossness of having to lift a toilet seat after it falls every other time is frustrating and annoying. Keeping the toilet seat up while using the washroom or cleaning it will be an uphill task. This is because you will have to hold it with one of your hands to keep it in place.
The stability of a lid that stays up provides a sense of comfort and security from injuries.
However, this does not mean that you have to purchase a new seat to replace the one that keeps falling. It merely requires you to fix the issue using the few simple steps and methods provided above.
It is crucial to find out why your seat keeps falling so that you can apply the appropriate methods of fixing it. By getting to the root cause of the problem will prevent it from re-occurring in the future.
Check our Comprehensive Review on the Heavy duty Toilet Seat with metal hinges in 2022
Should Your Toilet Seats be Up or Down?
All households have to deal with where the toilet seat should be positioned after using the washroom. The best natural position of the toilet seat and its lid is down especially when it is not being used.
Putting the toilet seat down or up depends on the context in which it is required to be up or down.
The toilet seat needs to be up when it is being used, and while women are keen on putting the toilet seat down once they done, most men do not remember to put it back down. On the other hand, the toilet seat needs to be put down for safety and health reasons.
If you want to eliminate accidents in your loo, make sure that you always leave your toilet seat down. The measure prevents any falls in the toilet, especially during night visits where a person may not look at the seat’s position while seating.
The seat and the lid should be down when flushing because flushing with the lid up causes the spread of the germs from the toilet to the air.
A study conducted in 2012 by a British teaching hospital determined that bacteria that cause diarrhea and feces-borne can be sprayed from the toilet when flushed.
The bacterial settles on surfaces and other things like towels and toothbrushes that are nearby, creating a breeding ground for infections to people.
If you are standing there when flushing with the lid open, gaseous bacterial could blow to your face. When the seat is closed, the infections will be prevented.
How do I Remove Correctly Toilet Seat Lock?
A toilet seat lock is put on top of the toilet seat lid to keep it shut. The lock is used to baby-proof the toilet and keep the fingers of kids out of the washroom.
The three types of locks include the safety first toilet lock, which sits on the lid to shut it until the locking mechanism is unhitched.
The safety lock swings into position to prevent the lid from being opened. The lock swings out of the way when unlocked with one hand and automatically re-locks when the lead is lowered.
The second is the mommy helper lid lock, which is fixed to the side of the bowl and on the seat.
It is unlocked by folding it backwards. The third is a strap lock, which keeps the lid of the toilet closed with its simple mechanism. The lock is attached between the bowl of the toilet and the lid of the toilet seat.
The locks rely on your child’s lack of coordination. This is because removing them requires you to simultaneously press two buttons and move a lever so that the lid can lift.
The good news is that your child’s tiny fingers and hands cannot manage such coordination.
Removing the locks is easy since the adhesives used in the locks are removed by heating them with a hair dryer and then easing the lock off the toilet.
Alternatively, you can remove the lock by rubbing products of Goo Gone or alcohol to wash the remaining adhesive away.
How do you tighten a loose toilet?
Your toilet becoming loose is a problem that develops over time. While a loose toilet is not considered dangerous, it is a warning to take action and prevent your toilet from leaking from the base. Such leaks can cause serious damage to the floor of your washroom.
Things that can cause the toilet seat to loosen include loose closet bolts. If the bolts are loose, tighten the nuts of the bolts clockwise by hand. Then, use a small wrench to tighten them further while holding the bolts’ ends with pliers.
If the nuts do not turn apply penetrating oil and leave it there for a few hours, and then tighten them. Tighten the nuts until you feel some resistance because over-tightening may crack the toilet.
The second cause is poor original installation. The flange floor of the toilet is mounted on the floor during installation.
However, if your house has additional subflooring, the toilet will be higher and far away from the flange. The ring wax used may not be enough to seal the toilet properly, making it loose after a while.
The problem can be fixed by stacking two wax rings instead of one to seal it tightly in position or using a think ring designed for this situation.
The third cause is floor flange breakage or corrosion. The wax rings used to install the toilet don’t wear out, but movements caused by a loosened toilet will break the seal.
Among the causes of corrosion and breakage is leaking from the tank to the bowl that has not been detected.
Dripping at the inlet valve, drips that come from the tank and flow to the floor flange, and excessive water that accumulates on the floor of the bowl when the floor is washed.
By placing a super or spanner plate underneath the damaged flange, new holes will be provided for the mounting bolts to hang from. If the flange is beyond repair, you will have to purchase a new one.
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