Toilet installation cost

Installing a toilet costs $200 to $900 including the fixture, typically around $400. Labor alone, if you buy your own, is $150 to $400. What pushes it past $900 is not the toilet: it is a rotted subfloor or a flange sitting below the finished floor.

What it costs

That last row is what a basement bathroom costs when the drain is above the floor.

Where the money actually goes

A swap in the same place, on a sound floor, is under two hours and the fixture is most of the bill.

The things that change it:

The flange. The plastic or metal ring the toilet bolts to should sit level with or slightly above the finished floor. After a tile job it is often buried below, which needs an extender. After a leak it is often cracked. Neither is expensive; both are invisible until the old toilet is off.

The subfloor. A toilet that rocked for a year has been leaking at the wax seal the whole time, and the plywood underneath has gone soft. This is the single most common reason a $400 job becomes a $1,200 one, and it cannot be quoted until the toilet is lifted.

Moving it. Relocating a toilet means moving a 3 or 4 inch drain and maintaining its fall, which usually means opening the floor. It is a different job at a different price.

Choosing the fixture

Rough-in is the distance from the finished wall to the center of the drain bolts. Twelve inches is standard; 10 and 14 exist in older houses. Measure before you buy, because a 12 inch toilet does not fit a 10 inch rough-in.

Height. Standard is about 15 inches to the seat, comfort height about 17. Comfort height suits taller adults and anyone with knee or hip trouble; it is worse for small children.

One piece or two. One piece is easier to clean and heavier to install. Two piece is cheaper and the parts are easier to replace.

Flush rating. Look for a MaP score, which measures how much solid waste a toilet clears. Above 600 grams is good and cheap toilets frequently score far lower. This predicts satisfaction better than any other number on the box.

Gallons per flush. Federal maximum is 1.6; WaterSense models use 1.28 or less. The saving is real over years and a bad low-flow toilet that needs two flushes saves nothing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I install a toilet myself?

It is one of the more approachable plumbing jobs: shut the valve, drain, unbolt, new wax ring, set, bolt, connect. Two things catch people out. Do not overtighten the closet bolts, which cracks the porcelain. And if the flange is damaged or the floor is soft, stop and call someone, because that is the part that leaks quietly for a year.

Why does my toilet rock?

Uneven floor, a flange set too low, or a soft subfloor. Shimming a rocking toilet treats the symptom; the movement breaks the wax seal every time you sit down, and it has probably been leaking for a while.

How long does a toilet last?

The porcelain outlives the house. The internals last five to ten years and are cheap to replace: a flapper is $10, a full fill and flush kit $30. A toilet is rarely replaced because it wore out.

Is a bidet seat worth it?

They fit most standard toilets and need a nearby socket for the heated versions. Fitting one is 30 minutes and the plumbing is a tee off the existing supply. It is the cheapest meaningful bathroom upgrade there is.

My toilet runs intermittently.

The flapper is leaking and the fill valve is topping the cistern back up. Put food coloring in the cistern, wait twenty minutes without flushing, and check the bowl. Color in the bowl means a $10 part is costing you a few hundred gallons a month.