How To Remove a Stripped Toilet Seat Expansion Bolt Mounting Hardware [HD] 

I thought replacing my old toilet seat was going to be a 5 minute job. Here I am on youtube looking for help lol thx for the vid

This video was a lifesaver. Amazing how many people ran into the same issue for a "5 minute job". Thanks!

Thank you. Followed your instructions and worked under a minute. Used a piece of wood to protect the toilet and spread the force and took less than a minute.

You're a lifesaver. When the bolt broke, I was sure my DIY project would end in a huge plummers bill, just to change a toilet seat. I Know you made this video 5 years ago, but it's still making a difference. Thank you

I grunted and groaned to fix this and even had a neighbour help to no avail. Home Depot had me buy a spiral screw extractor set but after I bought it, it didn't make sense to me. I watched your video. The one piece I was missing was FULLY removing the plastic. piece under the bolt. Solved the problem in under a minute. Thanks so much!

7 years ago and still relevant ! Thanks

Thank you so much! You saved my husband from ripping the entire toilet out of the floor & throwing it out of the house! Whew! Thank you!!

Thank you so much for this video! I applied your method to my own toilet when I was at the point of thinking I was going to have to replace the whole toilet because of a stuck seat bolt. I didn’t have wood and used cardboard instead-which made me nervous but it worked. The pressure ended up busting a few plastic parts and the bolt just fell out. Joy!!

Extremely helpful I was just crying over the toilet bowl sober 🤣🤣🤣 this worked and was very satisfying tearing it to shreds❤❤❤

After some scary pulls I worried would crack the toilet, I quit. But noticed the bolt had more clearance so went back at it some more. It Worked!!! Thank you very much.

Please add me to your list of fervent admirers! I was at my wits' end-then I found your video. All is well with the world again!

You are a genius!! THANK YOU!! I have been going absolutely crazy trying to remove my stuck bolts. Was too afraid to use a hacksaw. Using the hammer I got both off in less than a minute! Cannot thank you enough

Thank you! After months of not using my ensuite bathroom for this exact reason I used your technique. Was worried about busting the porcelain but the wood brace worked perfectly.

Thank you so much for this, I had been trying all afternoon to remove the bolts. One viewing of your video and I got the hammer and bit of wood and it took a couple of minutes to fix. You are a prince amongst men.

I had that exact problem, followed your directions and low and behold it worked--thanks sooo much. No to get an expansion anchor or something to put the new bold into. Thanks again.

Thank you so much for this video! I’d got so far with it but couldn’t figure out how to get the remaining bolt out. And never even thought to push the rubber seal through the hole, not pull it!

Thank you for this video! I was getting desperate after destroyed the toilet seat but still couldn’t get the bolt out. Followed this video and it worked!! Saved my day! I used a piece of plastic board instead wood board. I was also concerned that the toilet might break, leaving a much bigger issue. But luckily the rusty bolts were more fragile than the toilet. It took more force than I thought, but I think less than to break the ceramic. Just be careful that the last pull might come earlier than you thought!

Omg I have to thank you so much. I have been trying to remove a stripped bolt from my toilet seat for months. I tried the reverse screw things. Unsuccessful. I tried cutting the head off of the screw. No luck. I tried your method and it came out in moments You're a rock star and I can use my toilet again.

Thank you so much for this video. I had no hope in replacing my toilet seat until I came across this video. You saved me a large plumbing bill.

I’m only 85lbs and it worked :) thank you I loosened the fitting by lifting the bolt from the plastic housing and that made it so much easier to pry up; did not crack the toilet because obviously I’m not strong enough to over apply force.

Slightly different situation (stripped plastic nut, rusted bolt, inconvenient location) but the hammer trick worked for me too - thanks for the handy idea!

Thanks for this video, I was a little concerned about putting that much stress on the ceramic but as I had nothing to lose I gave it a go and it worked a treat! The first bolt was hard to remove, you really have to give it a good strong pull. The second one was not coming out so with what had been exposed of the bolt I heated it up (carefully) with my blow torch and then used the claw of the hammer to pull it out of the softened threads of the plastic expansion plug. Thanks again for the tip!

great job with lots of perseverance. i have a same problem so this is an encouraging video. I will follow your steps, but i will increase the thickeness of the wood to lift the leverage of the hammer to yank out the bolt, the board will protect the ceramic toilet. i will never buy a skirted toilet ever again.

I have one of these toilets, the previous tenant broke the seat, so had to replace after some years and yes, I agree with the previous comments, this toilet may be ascetically pleasing but the designer never changed a toilet seat, I mean really over an hour dealing with installing a new seat, what a joke. After years of service, the bolts became stuck, and of course slot pan heads are such a great idea.....NOT.... especially when you need to remove them. I ended up cutting the seat off with a sawzall, then cut the bolt heads off, letting the expansion bolts drop in the void there. After the repair kit came from Kohler, the installation went pretty smoothly, (See Kohler video below) - it was the removal that was ridiculous. I would never recommend prying these bolts out, the guy here was lucky he didn't break the porcelain with the back of that hammer head, or pull the whole bowl out of the closet ring in the floor. You don't want to be yanking the entire toilet around, then you will have a much bigger issue.... Use a sawzall and just cut the bolts. Much safer and quicker, use for cutting the seat off first as well. Also, when your putting the bolts in and installing the new seat, use antiseize compound on the threads to make it much easier next time, the toilet itself has been a good dependable unit, with 1.6 gal, per flush, good for the water bills, (They could make it easier to remove by providing a small tube of antiseize compound with the new unit, and also using a hex head bolt, so one could use a socket when needing to remove, not a slot pan head!) Here is there video for putting the new bolts in the holes, good luck and don't get too frustrated out there! :O) - support.kohler.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001907454-Install-a-Toilet-Seat-Anchor-Kit

This helped me! Thanks! I was installing a new seat on a D-shaped toilet and couldn't remove the bolts; using the pry end of a hammer worked like a charm. There was a soft expanding nut which pulled right out once I got enough pull on it. Used cardboard to brace the hammer against the toilet for no damage. All done!

Thanks a million dude, I would never have thought of using a hammer. I put pbblaster and wd40, waited for a while and used the hammer to pull it out. Great video

Thanks so much. I would never have thought to use a hammer to remove a screw :) Your solution worked very nicely!

Thanks for this!!! I used a pry bar and some paint sticks; worked like a charm

Just wanted to say thanks, was tearing my hair out, bit of wood, claw hammer, brute force, all fixed, cheers.

Thanks a bunch. My only idea before this was to cut the head off and push the bolt through. Don’t know if that would have worked or not. One additional tip. If you have a framing hammer with a nail puller on the side you can get a lot more leverage. I worked with the claw for about 20 minutes until I had the head up high enough to get the nail puller on it. Got it out on the first try using the nail puller. BUT, NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS AT ALL IF YOU HADN’T POSTED THIS. THANKS!!!

Thank you. I had made it as to the hammer and couldn't figure out how I was going to pry that off. Thanks.

This video also helped me remove the bolts from my old Porcher Cygnet, thank you.

That video was great!! I used a wood chisel to cut open the plastic that held the seat to the bold, be careful not to cut to ceramic of the toilet

I faced this issue a few weeks ago. Used a saw to cut the nut instead. I think that is safer and won't risk breaking the toilet bowl.

Thank you. I've tried everything I can think of.fixin to try it your way.i hope I can get it.thank you so much sir

Thank you!! This helped me remove my grandparents stripped toilet seat, I appreciate you 🙏🙏☺️

Thanks, this method worked for me with my toto

Oh my gosh. You're a lifesaver. Thank you so much!

Thank God mine was plastic. I found this video very helpful.

Ridiculous how hard this is. Bad design for maintenance.

Thank you for saving my butt, literally. Thank you.

thanks bro, your video really helped me a lot🙏🙏🙏

Once the bolt is out how do u put it back in, in my case , Toto , I cannot get to the nut? Thanks

Is this not going to break the ceramic and make it impossible to tighten the new bolt? I already see some of my ceramic dust falling on the floor

Thanks man. I was ready to remove the toilet and throw it off a cliff

worked like a charm. Thanks 👍

FWIW, I was removing seat of my Toto Aquia and found tht the bolt wasn’t stripped but that whn you turned the screw, the rubber gasket wouldn’t grip porcelain such you could loosen the screw. Instead of destroying a perfectly good seat, i used 3 wood shims against the rubber gasket to hold it in place and then used a drill screwdriver on reverse to pop the screw loose. Then i was able to keep pressure on rubber gasket w shims while I unscrewed the screw w a hand screwdriver. And next time it happens, i will try and get a pair of needle nose plyers on the rubber by accessing it through hole on back side of toilet skirt and then loosen the screw. Probably need 2 people for tht.

The hammer technic worked for me, I used a thick cardboard to protect the toilet, and then used the hammer to pull out the toilet seat bolt with a rubber fitting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My rubber fittings, holding the screw, were these: |=O= 2PCS Toilet Seat Hinges Screws, Toilet Seat Top Fixing Part, Toilet Seat Fixing Device Rubber Top Nut, Toilet Seat Screws

What about the plastic washer underneath the toilet that’s connected to the metal expansion bolt meaning you can’t pry it off upward because of the plastic washer. Some of the washer cracked off but I’m still working on it.

If I use a Dremel to cut off the head of the bolt, and push the remainder of the bolt down into the hole, where does it go? Will it obstruct the hole for the new seat's anchor bolt? Will the dropped-in bolt affect the toilet's performance?

Thank you!!! This worked

It worked! Yaay! Thanks a million 😉😁

Any tips for the install? Is it just plug and play?

I'd just use a dremel at that point... That hammer made me cringe.

I just drilled out the bolt from the top, using a pilot drill bit, then larger bits. The bolt head easily separates from the bolt stem

I didnt have a hammer handy but I just melted the plastic nut off with a lighter obviously a fire hazard so I wouldn't recommend it but it did work I made sure it didnt get too big as I didn't want to chance cracking the porcelain but once it got hot enough it just pulled right out with a screw driver.

Worked for me. However the entire expansion bolt, including the rubber gasket came out, around your 3:27 timeline.

what about the nut underneath? Is that what you're fighting against?

thank you so very much for this.

Used WD-40 and a crowbar (almost broke my hammer). It slowly came off after I was about to pull all my hair out. Who invented these things??

I’m 100 lbs on a good day…I’ve been reefing on this bolt with everything I got for over an hour …. It’s gonna happen is it? Fml

Make sure to lay a towel over the top of the bowl so you don’t drop parts, broken pieces or a tool into the toilet. Tape it down if needed.

I’m dealing with a bemis sta-tite system and it doesn’t budge not a single bit. Keep away from those.

Jesus, don’t do this, you’ll probably break your toilet. I had this situation and tried drills and various other solutions, but then got out my dremel multimax and the titanium saw blade attachment from multifitblades.com slipped it between the hardware and the toilet and sawed the bolt in about a minute. Job done.

tried good 20 min to do the hummer, but didn't budge, end up using the saw to cut the head off. Took less than 2 min. Yes, the remains of the screw is somewhere inside the bowl, but I don't think it affects the performance.

What about the plastic bolts? I cant hacksaw mine off. I bought the mini hacksaw from Walmart. Ugh. I feel like setting the toilet on fire.

Thanks this helped!

Can you just melt the plastic?

Yeah, I can see me busting my toilet trying this.

THANK YOU 🙏🏻

So what do you all think is the most secure type of toilet mounting system to replace a seat with?

My bolts are all plastic and and I was thinking on drilling into the plastic bolt until the plastic bolt breaks but I need a second opinion

I poured some white vinigar on my rubber fixing give it a couple of days , then tap it if it moves carry on and tap it through

Y not used deep penetrating oil spray and wd40 often for quick loosening

I used a sawzall with a very thin metal blade that could bend almost 90 degrees. Took it off in seconds.

Used an angle grinder. Took about a minute to remove the rusted bolt

The screw on mine wasn't stripped but, after I unscrewed and took off the bracket, I screwed it back in a bit and was trying to pull the bushing out. Apparently the normal thing to do is push it into the toilet. Okay, that helps!

Omg thank you

Removing plastic with vice grip wrench?!? Two words: Dremel Tool

The real problem is that you cannot see to get a good grip on the nut underneath. But there was no way that I was going to do this. So I put a mirror on the floor under the toilet so that I could see to adjust the wrench, a little dw40 it come loose.

Did not work for me. Instead I drilled a small pilot hole with my drill bit. Next I used my stripped bolt remover drill bit following the included instruction. It worked & was done in two minutes.

I will NEVER buy another type of toilet like this, I have a Kohler, it's recommended to use a crow bar to remove bolts, never again for me.

Yeah I have the exact same model and this is some bs. Don’t the manufacturers know the toilet will outlive the seat most of the time? And the seat even wobbles anyway so it’s stuck and wobbling. :\

I needed to change the seat in my $350 Kohler Rialto I bought years ago. Bolt was rusted and broke off when I tried to remove it. Kohler should know better than to use metal bolts that rust out to secure a toilet seat. Some type of sturdy plastic would at least not rust out. Oh yeah thats right Kohler want s to sell you a new toilet. Will I buy another Kohler product? NO!

I am afraid to pull it out with a lot of force thinking it may damage the toilet.

Hi. I tried removing the toilet seat parts and it broke my tool thingy 😮

Lifesaver

This is foolish advice. Instead, drill the bolts out next time. First drill a small hole in the stripped bolt head with a 3/32" bit. Then drill out the bolt with a 1/4" bit. The bolt will drop straight out. This takes

Geesh, been struggling with mine for 2 days. WTH hasn't someone invented a bold that doesn't strip like this?

What if the gas get is metal?

Used a metal thawing tray with thin cardboard underneath since I had no suitable board :-)

You almost sound like Stu Pickles

Easier way than this.............use a pry bar under the screw to lift it up under pressure, then use a power screwdriver to remove the screw while you apply upward pressure on the pry bar. So easy. Toto toilets are a pain. A plumber told me Toto jobs out all their products to subs, so product quality and color consistency is variable. Just try to find a matching color toilet seat later.....only white is the same.

I literally used a flat head screw driver and just pryed around the bolt until it eventually broke loose.

bolt cutters?

DO NOT DO THIS! One astute reviewer states "This is foolish advice" while another opines "Jesus, don't do this ...". They are both correct. I quickly noticed early on in the video that the de-installer succeeded in loosening the toilet from the closet bolts-you can see the WC rocking back and forth! Use a hacksaw, or Sawzall if you are careful. Or drill. You'll most likely need a new hardware kit from Toto. DO NOT PRY. Please.

MOOD! Why use metal screws on a toilet seat!!! Yeah I to thought this was going to be easy!

You can strip the rubber off with a Stanley knife/jr hacksaw and pliers in a few mins, then just take the bolt out. This is looong

I don’t have the upper body strength frustrated as hell

Damn! Why they do things like this?