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Toilets typically connect to your main vent stack, a vertical pipe that runs through all finished levels of your home and exits through the roof. It’s located behind the walls, but if you have an unfinished basement or a utility closet, you may find a portion of it running the vertical length of the space. Some basement toilets use an air admittance valve instead, which is a small vent located in the wall directly behind the toilet that extends upward a few feet from the drain.

Yes, you can clean a toilet tank with white vinegar. Before you do, shut off the water supply to the toilet. Then, flush it to empty the tank. Next, combine one part vinegar with one part water in a spray bottle and spray the mixture inside the tank. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse away the vinegar by pouring clean water into the tank. Make sure the tank is empty, then dip a scrub brush in vinegar and clean the tank’s inside walls. Turn the water back on and flush again to rinse away the vinegar.

A standard toilet flange should fit snugly into the outflow pipe and sit level with the subfloor. Installing a new one without first removing the old one will make it impossible to form a seal and keep the toilet bowl bolted securely in place. 

However, if you’re dealing with leakage or wobbling because you’ve installed a new type of bathroom tile (making the floor taller), you may be able to avoid fully replacing the flange by opting for a toilet flange extender. Extenders typically come in kits for easy DIY installation, fit over the existing flange, and bring the drain connection higher.

Yes, you’ll need to replace your toilet’s wax seal any time you move the toilet. This is because movement of the toilet will break the seal, rendering the remaining wax useless. Thankfully, replacing a wax seal is fairly easy, and the seal itself only costs $2 to $10 at most home improvement stores.

When replacing a wax seal you typically also have to replace the closet bolts that secure the toilet to the flange. These are usually about 2.5" - 3" long and have to be cut once the toilet is secure. Cutting them usually makes them too short to reuse.