to get a man in to change a loo seat?

[Onky]

The old one's cracked and neither of us knows how to get the old fittings off. Is that too incompetent of us?

They may need wrenching off if they're on tight. But shouldn't be too complicated. Loo seats don't cost much, so you'll be miffed with yourself paying loads for someone to fit it

Oh god the feminists will have a field day with this one lol.....

It is pretty incompetent, yes.

Really easy - honestly - if you have a free standing loo. If you've got one that's all fancy-pants and boxed in, maybe get someone in. Otherwise you can do it yourself and feel amazingly accomplished!

I have had to use a hacksaw to remove the fittings before as they can be rusty and difficult to shift.

and yes, it is incredibly pathetic incompetent to get a "man" i to do it.

Yes, totally! Just fiddle underneath the seat where the two screws are screwed in - undo them and voila!! Take off old seat. Insert screws of new seat into holes. Tighten up. Ta da!

OP, I am with you! Dh has put 3 loo seats on in our house all by himself and without exception they have either fallen off again or they won't stay up by themselves which is really inconvenient at the moment as I am in the throes of morning sickness and am puking into them and holding the seat up with one hand at the same time.

I am equally shite at DIY and in my pukey state don't feel up to the job either so tbh am thinking of getting a man/woman/chimpanzee in to do it seeing as we are so useless.

We've tried turning the bolts. Can't. DH even went to the garage and came back with some equipment and fiddled about in there for a bit making spannery noises. We are laughing at our own incompetence. DH even suggested getting a whole new suite and disposing of the kazi with its seat attached so he doesn't have to admit to another man that he can't remove a loo seat.

LOL at some of you being so sniffy about getting a man in. The person I'm thinking of calling happens to be a MAN. Heck.

Get a spanner at it! We were pretty rubbish at this sort of thing, you don't learn how till you try! It might be rusty, which will make it harder, like someone earlier said, a hacksaw may be required. Essentially though, it is just a case of unscrewing the two bolts at the back. Putting the new one on is much easier than getting the old one off!

But, doing it yourself will be very rewarding, trust me!

Give the bolts a spray with wd40 leave a few hours for the wd40 to loosen the rust around the nuts and then use a spanner to undo the nuts.

when choosing your new loo seat get one with plastic nuts and you wont have the same problem again.

YANBU..... I called my partner up to ask him to change my loo seat when I got a new one a couple of weeks ago as I'd never done it before and had no idea what to do, he was too busy and said he'd do it later but I was too excited to stick on my stylish new purple seat to match my new bath mat (how sad is that!?) so had a go myself and it was really easy and I felt quite stupid!!

However if you've already tried and can't get it off then maybe you could call up and pretend to be on your own whilst DH hides in the bedroom so he can protect his pride a bit

WD40, every time I fuckin love the stuff!

WD 40 it! You aren't incompetent, just dealing with some stubborn bolts. Indeed get plastic ones for the new seat...

Um, I take mine off every couple of months and give it a good wash cause you can't get into some of those spaces when the seat is attached to the base. Am I the only that does this?

We are in the process of having a new bathroom fitted, it has taken our plumber all day to not fit the loo or the bath. Tis a mystery what he has been doing all day but DP can see his point on the loo seat, for some 'design' reason the whole thing has to be taken out just to secure the seat. I am

They unscrew the opposite way that a screw normally unscrews. Iykwim. Well all mine have. Last loo seat I forgot this and spent 30 minutes trying to get the bloody thing off before figuring out where I was going wrong - then had the stupid seat off in about 30 seconds.

Completely reasonable. My DH wouldn't know where to begin. We have an Alan. Last time he came he:

tightened the handles on the kitchen cupboards
fitted a curtain rail
removed cleaned and replaced the skylight
Fitted a new cat flap
Removed an old TV
Put together a flat pack desk
Replaced the light bulbs for me (I can do this but if I know he's coming, I leave it for a few weeks and he does them en-masse)

He comes about twice a year to do the jobs that we can't do or don't want to do in about a third of the time it would take dh me. Over the years he has hung mirrors, planed the bottoms of doors, moved furniture, put up shelves, cleaned guttering, put up curtain rails, replaced lavatory seats, fixed toilet roll holders, put together flat packs, taken furniture apart to move it and put it back together again.

I am rubbish at DIY, but I would be ashamed of myself if I couldn't remove and replace a loo seat - a five minute job with a normal, free-standing loo.

Get some WD40 on the nuts/bolts, leave to marinade for 30 mins and then get a spanner/pliers to loosen.

I'd be surprised if you got anything other than plastic nuts with a new loo seat.

The nuts do NOT go on the opposite way (as somebody else suggested) it just feels like that because you're tightening them from above (unless you lie on the floor to do it).

Also, don't buy a cheapy seat, all the fixings will start to loosen in fairly short order - especially if you have dcs who like to stand on the toilet to brush teeth and/or act like feral chimps. Anything costing £25+ from B&Q or similar should be good quality.

video.about.com/homerepair/Replace-a-Toilet-Seat.htm

There ya go Op, a video showing you how. :)

Um, my Alan changed some light bulbs for me yesterday. In my defence, they were inset ceiling ones and I just couldn't figure out how to get the fittings out (I know now!). DH wouldn't have a clue.

In the end, if you are paying, and they want the work, then get people to do any household jobs you jolly well like - they will be glad of the easy money. Different people have different skills.

Oh, I have changed loo seats because it really is SOOOOO simple. In fact, how much will you pay me to come round?

Existing loo seat is an expensive one from John Lewis (it cost about £60 six years ago). It's solid oak and the seat is starting to crack in one place. The metal bolts have wings (ie they are not conventional bolts) and are tucked up under the underside of the ceramic rim of the loo, making them extremely difficult to get to.

Will try WD40.

Mole grips may shift the wing nuts.

YANBU. You are creating work in a difficult economy and should be proud of yourselves. To get value for money, make a list of other small jobs and get them all done at once. Only boring people are good at DIY.

Its really easy to change a loo seat. I should know, mine only last about 6 mths.