Raised toilet pedestal - wood to plastic

[S R]

My mum has arthritis of the knees, so when we bought our house and did it up, one of the things we did was to raise toilets about 2 inches by building them on a simple plywood (layered) pedestal.

The wood was bare but after 6 years mopping/cleaning/water it has started to "suffer", and needs replacing.

What I would like to do is replace the pedestal with a solid white plastic block. The advantage of this is that it would last longer, is easier to clean, and isn't troubled by the odd splash of water.

What I want is about 300mm wide, 450m long and 50mm high.

I would undo the toilet base floor screws (these go into the existing wood pedestal), remove the toilet, remove the pedestal, clean up/repair/level floor board, fix the plastic pedestal to the floor, and refix the toilet with the base screws going into and through the pedestal to secure the base. I might fashion a recess to match the toilet base shape so it sits in the block with a raised side perimeter so as to avoid any slight lateral movement.

The trouble I am having is finding a suitable plastic block. Most craft plastic blocks are too small. Where can I source this?

To replace with wood would be easier to source, but then I have to worry about sealing it. Advice on how best to do this would also be appreciated.

[D.M.Chapman]

Have you ruled out a toilet plinth? They do seem rediculously expensive admittedly...

Darren

[spuorgelgoog]

They tend not to be white, but you can get plastic 'wood' extrusions intend ed for making garden furniture etc from plastic recyclers.

r-2/ (minimum order £300 + VAT but perhaps they'd so a 'sample?)

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

You may find that, in fact, using wood covered in plastic is a better bet.

The sort of thing I hand in mind was a bit of wood glassed up and finished with car body filler. And a tough epoxy paint

Seriously large blocks of plastic are quite expensive.

for example will set you back ~ £150 for a 50mm x 500mm x500mm nylon block..

HDPE a bit less.

>

[Roger Mills]

I had to do something similar when our 90+ year-old father-in-law came to live with us.

I made a frame out of 4 x 3 timber (or somesuch) rather than a solid plinth, and chamfered the corners so that it was almost the same size and shape as the pedestal. I painted it white all over (primer, undercoat and topcoat). It got a bit splashed, but it lasted ok for the

4 years for which f-i-l survived.

You can also get raised seats such as

but you'd then have to mount the pedestal on the floor, and the plumbing may not be at the right height. [Water to the cistern is easy, but turds don't flow uphill very well if the soil pipe is too high!]

[Brian Gaff]

What about some kind of slab of decorative finish? Plastic blocks that big and solid are hard to get and quite expensive, though one might find one at a wholesaler who cuts stuff to size and has bits left over. Brian

[DerbyBorn]

You only need to give support around the edges as the toilet basin only has a narrow rim that takes the weight. Perhaps you could fabricate something rather than search for a block.

[Tim Watts]

Offcut of stone worktop? Thinking corian style synthetic which means the OP might find a suitable colour.

[Fredxxx]

What's wrong with a stack of flooring tiles?

Possibly separated / bonded with silicone mastic?

[Gazz]

or a stack of plastic chopping boards? easy to cut to shape, stick em together with silicone, you could probably melt the edges gently to make it look like one solid block (i'm thinking flame polishing as used on clear perspex, not sure it'd work for the chopping board material, which is not usually perspex)

[Andrew Gabriel]

To add another suggestion, a cast-in-place concrete (or even mortar) block, which is then tiled.

[ianp5852]

....or you could consider a taller toilet basin. I've recently installed one to avoid the dreaded plastic seat raisers. The 40+mm extra height feels much more. Just a thought. Ours is a Burlington Regal but I think I recall seeing a similar item in the Vitra brochure but can't lay my hands on this at the moment. Please reply to group - email address is not monitored Ian

[Roger Mills]

But if you're going to do that, check that the outlet height is ok for your soil pipe connection. As I said in an earlier post, turds don't flow uphill very well!

[Andy 14357]

You have a turd obsession?

If the toilet is raised they will be flowing downhill!

[bob]

I think they've probably flowed in the last 7 years.

[Tim+]

Bravo Andy. Your lightning wit after 7 years is much appreciated.

Tim