Horizontal toilet waste outlet.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are they all at the same height above floor level, and has this been a standard for ever, as it were? And what is the height, if standard?

[sm_jamieson]

Probably a standard now, but the 1930s loo I took out on the bathroom refit had the soil pipe a few inches higher - I had to move the soil pipe. And old toilets were higher to sit on for some reason, even though people used to be smaller. Simon.

[Guy King]

The message from "sm_jamieson" contains these words:

I used a loo in Coalbrookdale the other day which was so low it ought to have been in a school nursery.

[Huge]

They vary. The 1977 loo I took out of our old bathroom was about an 1" taller than the new which replaced it. I couldn't move the soil pipe so I put the loo on a little plinth, on account of the Third Rule of Plumbing.

("3. Shit rolls downhill.")

[manatbandq]

No.

The distance from the outlet to the wall varies as well.

MBQ

[adder1969]

I'm 6'5 and almost eveything in this world seems to be school nursery sized to me. Designers design for the population and by cost. Smaller things are cheaper and women and children are generally smaller than grown men so even if you're an everage sized male most things are designed too small.

With loos, they're often fitted to the 'underfloor' and then the flooring is put down around them so that makes them relatively lower.

I believe one can get slightly offset pan connectors which will allow for some difference in height of the outlet.

[Phil L]

I agree.

Shit does roll downhill.

[Guy King]

The message from [e-mail] contains these words:

I thought of that - and no, it was sitting on top of the vinyl.

Our downstairs loo is wall mounted, so I set it rather lower than I would have liked for myself (I'm 6'2") because my wife's 4'9" and the kids are even smaller.

[Phil L]

They're all different...each manufacturer decides where the outlet is and that's that.

[Matt]

The fourth rule being

shit cannot be pumped uphill through tiny pipes, especially by tiny boxes containing French "engineering"

[Guy King]

The message from Matt contains these words:

Rule 5: The word "macerator" is actually a mistranslation of messerator n. a device for making a bloody awful mess.

Rule 6: There is no rule six.

[David Hansen]

On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:24:23 +0100 someone who may be Guy King wrote this:-

My sample of one, in a house which is occupied by members of the family mostly of the female persuasion, has yet to succumb to all the problems the nay sayers say always happen to such things.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. I'm considering replacing a Victorian one with a high level cistern with a close coupled type. Unfortunately the cistern is a modern plastic one - had it been an original cast iron Thomas T I'd have considered keeping it as a 'feature'. ;-)

The waste is cast iron and therefore very difficult to alter, and the stack is in good condition anyway. The waste sticks out about 2" from the wall inside. How much 'up and down' adjustment is allowed with a coupler? Or do I have to search for a pan that has the outlet exactly right? I'd rather not bed it on a plinth.

[manatbandq]

Best buy a selection of straight, offset & adjustable pan connectors from B&Q (or anywhere else that operates a similar refund policy) and return what you don't actually need to use

MBQ

[adder1969]

I've never worked on cast iron stacks but with the rubber sealed couplers even a straight one will allow for some adjustment, depending on the distance between the outlet and the stack pipe. What's the difference in height between the centre of the stack and whatever the loo will rest on?

[Andy Hall]

Thomas Crapper have a wide selection of repro Victorian bogs.

[Huge]

Inches. Both back and forth and up and down.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. Didn't know that - I'll have a look.

[Andy Hall]

You may wish to be seated first (as it were). Nice products but certainly at a premium price. £2k for the complete set is not atypical.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

[Splutter.] The pan itself is perfect. Just the cistern's been replaced.

The main bathroom is large and modern, and I rather like the old cloakroom. Perhaps I should look out for a secondhand Thomas T and fix it up.