New toilet needed...

[Roger465]

Why is my life always so difficult… anyway, those ones were only in stock in another town, so off I went; looked at it; thought that doesn't look right… measured it, and the 640mm on the website translated into something like 500mm in the shop… wouldn't have covered the hole in the tiles where the old one comes out, so back to the drawing board.

Eventually I realised the only model which would really cover my requirements was this one – and, actually, it suits the existing retro bathroom. But guess what – there was only one in stock anywhere in N Ireland, about an hour’s drive away, in yet another town. So I managed to get that one; now the fun really begins.

I’ll update this thread when there’s progress, but am going to start a new one as I’m going to have to learn some basic pipework skills in a hurry to get the water inlet attached.

 

[Keithmac]

It's hard work choosing a toilet!.

I ended up in B+Q sitting on the display modles to find a comfy one with a decent base.

I do miss my bigger cistern on the old one though, a "proper" flush rather than an eco one..

Ended up with a £100 jobby from B+Q, had it in bits 3 times due to leaks, ended up siliconing every joint and rubber washer in the end!.

 

[Roger465]

View attachment 168645

View attachment 168646

Oooh that looks familiar!

Will make a start on it today, now that I've bought the beast... main worry at this point is, I have a big cold water tank in my attic, which I'm going to have to drain to do the pipework, and I have visions of the cold inlet being roten and pulling out of the concrete floor or something, flooding the house etc... I seem to attract disasters like that!

 

[Mottie]

Oooh (Betty)..... I seem to attract disasters like that!

I feel a Frank Spencer moment coming on. Make sure your wife is filming it when you connect the water up.

Seriously, just fit it all up, get a 300mm flexible connector hose with valve, connect it at the cistern end first then see where you need to cut your 15mm pipe, cut the pipe, clean off the paint and tighten the compression end with valve of the new hose onto it. Obviously you'll need to drain/isolate the water supply before cutting the pipe.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/flexible-hose-with-valve-15mm-x-x-300mm/1460g

 

[Roger465]

OK, well, that was a bit of a laugh – everything rusted up absolutely solid, cistern to pan fixing bolts just rotating when I tried to unscrew the nuts etc etc etc.

There was no way in the world I was ever going to get the bolts out, so I took a deep breath and pulled the cistern hard. Any doubts about whether I needed to replace it or not because of its being cracked were dispelled when it came to pieces in my hands.

Note to people like me who haven't done this sort of thing before: the pieces of pottery are as sharp as glass, and will shred your fingers if you're not careful. Anybody want to guess if I was careful…

Anyway, one thing I AM good at is breaking things:

So now all I have to do is fit the new one. Is there any way of me knowing what kind of waste pipe to buy from Screwfix’s bewildering range, to directly replace this one? The new toilet spigot appears to be tapered slightly, but at its end, the outside diameter is 100mm.

Ta

 

[Roger465]

I feel a Frank Spencer moment coming on. Make sure your wife is filming it when you connect the water up.

Aah, fortunately, in retirement I have no wife, so there's only the cat laugh at me. Mind you, he does have a pretty big laugh...

Well, I'm going to tackle that next, having... errmmm... uninstalled the old toilet...

 

[Mottie]

Clean it up and reuse it. Your new toilet should push straight onto that and it should be able to be moved up to down in the pipe that’s in the floor.

 

[Roger465]

Clean it up and reuse it. Your new toilet should push straight onto that and it should be able to be moved up to down in the pipe that’s in the floor.

Well, the 30-year-old seal LOOKS fine...

 

[Mottie]

If you want to change it, try it for size with just the pan fitted and if all okay, pull the connector out of the soil pipe and take it with you to get one exactly the same.

 

[Roger465]

If you want to change it, try it for size with just the pan fitted and if all okay, pull the connector out of the soil pipe and take it with you to get one exactly the same.

Well, I got one anyway, as it was cheap - but I really did mean that the old seal looks to be in perfect condition, and seems a good fit... Maybe I'll throw a few buckets of water in the pan to see if anything leaks, then just keep the old one if it's OK...

 

[dilalio]

That's a BFC (Big Fu¢kin Cat)

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Change the pan connector, it is almost guaranteed to leak. Floplast version is cheaper by about £3, but this will be superior. https://www.screwfix.com/p/mcalpine-macfit-mac-8l-90-wc-long-pan-connector-white-90-112mm/95284

 

[Roger465]

OK, short flexi pipes not available locally, and Amazon’s supplier doesn’t ship them to N Ireland. I admit defeat, and have left a message for the plumber.

Thanks so much to everybody who tried to help me, but as a further illustration of why I don’t do plumbing… the toilet is in place, with the cistern bolted to the top, but not yet fixed to the wall.

It attaches to the bowl via two bolts which actually go through holes in the bottom of the cistern – never seen that before – with the bolts passing through two sort of upside-down-conical rubber washers which plug the holes.

I’ve tightened these up moderately – so maybe as tight as I can get the wing nuts with my fingers, then half a turn or something like that – but water is running through at least one of them.

I know this will sound like I must be really stupid, but this part of the job isn't exactly rocket science – how many ways can you put a bolt and rubber washer in a hole? The taper of the washers makes them self-centring, but I made sure the holes in the cistern and bowl were perfectly aligned.

Yet still out comes the water. I must have some kind of genetic defect when it comes to plumbing… so out comes the (now very thin) cheque book

 

[lostinthelight]

Beter to have tried, given up but leaned something than not tried at all?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Not a fan of the bolts through cistern method of close coupling, the bracket on the siphon tail is far superior in my view. Is there a 'back nut' that tightens these through the cistern to ensure water tight before placing onto the pan?