Fitting a toilet.

[gazzafield]

My toilet's cistern has finally given up the ghost completely and will not attempt to flush. So, in talking to someone knowledgeable in these matters it appears I have a "back to wall" cistern which explains why the damn thing is fully boxed in.

So, I am considering buying a new bathroom suite (a cheap one) from B&Q. Why a whole suite? Well, we were going to replace a brown plastic hand basin which is boxed in (Aaaaaaargh!) at the bottom to make cupboards with a pedestal basin. There is also an old chipped enamel bath that might as well go at the same time!

So, to the point of my post. I plan on getting an ordinary toilet with "close coupled" cistern and redo most of the boxing in (old house, shortened window, huge window ledge for the thick walls etc, etc) for the loo to sit normally. Do all toilets have a standard diameter soil pipe? Would I be as well buying a new soil pipe rubber gasket (does it come with the toilet?) or would the old be acceptable to reuse?

[Roger Mills]

Toilets have standard-ish soil pipe outlets but, since they are cast in ceramic, there's a slight variation in size and roundness. A toilet connector - with large rubber seal inside - is designed to accommodate these variations. Buy a new one - don't try to re-use an old one, which will have taken up the shape of the old toilet! You're almost certainly going to have to re-jig the pipework, anyway, since it's most unlikely that the outlet from the new toilet will be in exactly the same place as the old one.

Be aware also that some toilets are made with horizontal outlets and some with vertical outlets, to go straight into a soil pipe in the floor. Your new one must be the same as the old one in this respect. Hopefully yours is horizontal - vertical outlets give much less flexibility for positioning the new toilet.

[Arfa Daily]

Personally, I would advise against a real 'cheapo' toilet. I used one from the B&Q "To Go" range, and it was the worst purchase I have ever made bathroom furniture-wise, in that the surface glazing is just not as good as on a quality one, so the - err well - sticks like - err well - to the proverbial blanket ...

( :-\ )

This is exacerbated by the dual flush system that the cistern employs. It's pretty unpredictable as to what exactly causes it to do a 'long' flush, and what to do a 'short' one. So needless to say, the button just gets stabbed by the kids, and anyone that doesn't know, and a short flush is the result. Just about enough water down the spout to empty the bowl, not enough to give it the necessary 'wash' ...

Arfa