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I would like to unscrew a nut that is in a pretty hard to access position. It is at the end of a very long screw, in a cramped space. There must be a tool that allows me to work on that nut, but I don’t know what it would be called.

Can anyone name what I should be looking for on Amazon or the local hardware store?

For context, this is the screw that holds the toilet seat lid in place. In the pictures, it’s the one at the end of the long screw.

bolt enter image description here

Edit: The top of the toilet seat looks like the following, I don’t see any screw, nor it seems possible to rotate the caps as they hold the lid in place and the sit can’t be removed unless I unscrew the nut first.

top on the screw top of the screw

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    That a nut you need to remove. The bolt (or screw) is the long screw and the wide part up above that's holding the toilet seat on.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jul 29, 2019 at 21:14
  • Thanks, edited to use the right term
    – Marco83
    Jul 30, 2019 at 5:55

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I believe the tool to get a proper "bite" on the nut is a crow foot wrench attachment. You'll be able to get a cockeyed bite on the nut using a typical wrench in order to unscrew it from above, but just for posterity, a crowfoot wrench is used for these angles. I've also had deep sockets that are hexagonal at the end so that they may be used in a wrench. Seeing as how you cannot unscrew from the top, I suggest using a socket with a hexagonal end fitted into a flex head gear wrench.

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Normally I just grab it with an adjustable wrench, hold the nut still, and unscrew the screw from the top (sometimes there's a cosmetic cover over the screw head that needs to be removed to access the screw head.) The adjustable wrench is at a bit of an angle, but normally works fine. Locking pliers are another option, given that few people are going to lie on the floor under your toilet and look up to see if the nuts on the toilet seat screws are scarred. Do hold that wrench, so it's not trying to crack the ceramic.

You could use a crows-foot wrench or a tubular wrench if you had the right size, but this is a sufficiently infrequent job (unless you are plumber) that special tools seem like overkill.

You could also cut most of that screw off to make the job less tedious, particularly if you'll be re-using the screw for the new seat. At which point a deep socket should do the job.

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  • +1 Yes i think a pair of pliers ( you may have to try a couple of different kinds ) would hold enough to use a screwdriver from the top. If not a pass through socket or deep socket may be needed. If you do have to cut it for the deep socket just buy a new shorter one to replace it.
    – Alaska Man
    Jul 29, 2019 at 21:51
  • Thanks for the suggestions! I believe the “hold the nut still, unscrew from top” is not a viable option because I can’t rotate the screw from the top at all, I edited the original picture to show why.
    – Marco83
    Jul 30, 2019 at 6:04
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    If you tape some cardboard over the toilet bowl (you do NOT want to go fishing for screws) and unscrew the hinges from the toilet seat, then unscrewing the screw should be quite feasible, with the seat removed. Without seeing it in person, I can't say if the hinge down-post lines up with the screw below - I'd still bet on there being a screw head under the metal cover right in the center of the round part, rather than the hinge-post being extended to make the screw, particularly with it off-set to the side like that.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jul 30, 2019 at 14:57
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That's called a "basin wrench". Google will show you pictures of them for sale, and videos of them in use.

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A nut driver is a screwdriver for nuts. It has a hollow shaft which allows it to access nuts over long screws.

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