Toilet seats are generally durable parts that come in plastic or wooden form, capable of lasting many years without any issues. However, a lot can go wrong with your toilet seat, from a simple problem like a loose hinge to more severe cases such as cracks.

While you can use your toilet seat for five years or even more, don’t be shocked or stressed up if it cracks because, after all, wood and plastic and breakable objects. A cracked toilet seat can be repaired, and if need be, you can easily replace the broken seat with a new one.

Without much further ado, find out why your toilet seat cracked and how to fix it below.

Why do toilet seat crack?

A crack on the toilet seat can be caused by different reasons, including dropping a heavy cosmetics case or a hairdryer on it and slipping and falling on it.

Wooden toilet seats are more susceptible to breakage than plastic ones. For instance, improperly slamming it can cause cracking.

Moreover, wood contracts and expands based on weather conditions, shrinking when cold and expanding when temperatures rise. Your wooden toilet seat will swell thus crack when it gets hot.

In addition, exposing wooden toilet seats to water and moisture for prolonged periods will make them crack. Your toilet seat will also likely crack if you exceed its carrying capacity since your weight will exert too much pressure on it.

How To Fix Cracked Toilet Seat

Replacing a cracked toilet seat is the perfect solution, but it is not the only way to fix the problem. Before changing it, here are some easy, quick fixes you can try.

1. Gluing The Toilet Seat

If your cracked toilet seat is made of thick plastic or solid wood, you can try to glue it using two-part epoxy. However, this solution will not be great if you have a particleboard toilet seat since the repair won’t be reliable.

For a concrete repair, remove the seat, mix, and spread the epoxy in the crack. Put a bar clamp on the seat’s middle part, ensuring the stops press against the oval-shaped front midpoint and rear. After tightening the clamp, leave the glue to cure overnight to ensure everything holds well.

Make sure you wipe off the extra glue that got pushed out when you clamped or pushed the seat together.

2. Tape Your Cracked Toilet Seat

Duct tape is usually one of the go-to quick fixes readily available at home. However, while you can use it to hold your cracked toilet temporarily, the tape’s flexibility limits its ability to provide proper support.

The seat will bend when you sit on it, and the crack will remain visible. Alternatively, you can use polyurethane tape with more body and sticking power, thus providing better support.

Polyurethane is undoubtedly a better choice than the standard black or gray duct tape.

To tape a cracked toilet seat correctly with tape, close the crack as tightly as you can by pushing the seat together tightly, then wrap the tape over it. You need to make sure you don’t leave a gap because it may make the tape tear and less likely to work.

3. Add Shims

After gluing it, it’s essential to add a shim on your particleboard toilet seat to prevent another crack. Fix 1/8-inch plywood under the toilet seat on the area that cracked.

In addition, attach an identical plywood piece to the seat’s opposite side directly over the toilet crack in order to ensure it doesn’t wobble.

Most toilet seats are equipped with bumpers, but you can take them out using a screwdriver if glued. Alternatively, you can unscrew these bumpers before attaching the shims with glue.

After the repair, glue the bumpers or screw them back through the shim. While gluing a shim to your cracked toilet is a temporary fix, it should serve you until you can find a replacement.

Before attempting any of the above solutions, detach the toilet seat by unscrewing it using a screwdriver with a flat blade rotating it anticlockwise. Additionally, use a bar clamp to squeeze your toilet seat together.

How To Replace A Cracked Toilet Seat

As I mentioned, the above solutions will only work temporarily, and so you will need to replace your cracked toilet seat eventually. Fortunately, you can easily do it yourself and avoid the expenses of hiring a professional.

Well, here’s what you should do to replace your damaged toilet seat.

Remove The Cracked Toilet Seat

If your toilet has bolt caps, open them using a screwdriver; if not, the hinges will have bolts. Take out the nuts that hold the seat bolts beneath the bowl’s edge with an adjustable wrench.

You will need to rotate the wrench in an anticlockwise direction. The next step will be to remove the hinge bolts on the bowl top using a screwdriver, moving it in anticlockwise movements.

If the bolts are jammed, apply a lubricant to ease the removal. Once the bolts come off, detach the hinges and the seat.

Prepare the New Toilet Seat For Installation

remove your new toilet seat from its package, which will come with a pre-attached hinge. You might also find plastic covers, nuts, and bolts in the box.

Fix the new bolt into the bolt holes, making sure the head is at the top to ensure it cannot drop.

Screw The Nuts Into The Bolts

Insert and screw a nut into a nut sticking out through the toilet bowl’s top, rotating it clockwise. Do the same for the other nut, then cover the bolt with a plastic cap, if given, and push it securely.

Attach the New Seat on The Toilet Bowl

Place the new toilet seat on top of the bowl, ensuring the bolts and the holes at the bowl’s back align. Use your fingers to push one nut followed by the other into each bolt and tighten as much as possible before using a screwdriver or wrench to secure it further.

However, be careful not to make it too tight to avoid cracking the nuts or stripping the threads. Therefore, stop once there’s no needless side-to-side movement, and the toilet seat is securely in place.

FAQ on Cracked Toilet Seat

1. Can you repair a cracked toilet seat?

You can repair a cracked toilet seat, but it offers a temporary solution. Some repair methods include gluing, holding it with duct tape or polyurethane tape, and shimming.

2. How Heavy Do You Have To Be To Crack A Toilet Seat?

Most toilet seats can handle a maximum of 300 pounds, exceeding that renders them susceptible to cracks.

3. Why Did My Toilet Seat Crack?

Your toilet seat may have cracked because you dropped a heavy object like a hairdryer on it or fell on it after slipping on your bathroom floor.

Furthermore, if it is wooden, it may have been exposed to moisture, expanded and cracked due to heat, or it succumbed to your weight.

4. Do Plastic Toilet Seats Crack?

Plastic toilet seats can crack but are less prone to cracks than wooden ones because they are sturdier and heavier. However, the seat’s connecting parts or joints are susceptible to cracks.

Conclusion

A cracked toilet seat makes using the toilet uncomfortable and even hazardous. Therefore, fixing or replacing should be a priority, especially if you don’t have another bathroom in your home.

You can repair or replace your toilet seat yourself since you can readily find the required tools at your home. In addition, the processes are simple.