Self-inflicted plumbing disaster (need advice if possible)

[LoriT71]

I reckon the pedestal is upside down..........

You could be right, photo three basin on pedestal certainly looks wrong fitting.
The ridge running around the pedestal would give more support to basin if its turned the other way around

LOL! I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or not - but no, the pedestal is definitely not upside down. The bottom is totally flat - as it would need to be to be completely flush with the floor. Whereas the top is contoured in order to fit the curve of the basin (albeit NOT this particular basin).

Bosswhite, your advice to screw it to the wall is what I'd normally do. However, the wall in question is concrete - and not just any concrete, "No-Fines concrete". And from what I can gather from reading various online forums etc, this is a nightmare to drill holes into (which is probably why the basin was not screwed to the wall when it was originally fitted). If I had an SDS drill and the required drill bits (neither of which I have, unfortunately) then I could anchor it safely. I have already come up against the dreaded wall when I fitted a towel rail (using a standard cordless drill). The drill bit jumped all over the place and I ended up with a rather large hole! LOL! I ended up filling it with wood filler and screwing straight into that (which is ok-ish for the weight of one small hand towel). But since I'd be drilling into the wall tiles as well as the concrete wall in order to anchor the basin, I couldn't attempt it with anything less than the best of tools (or else I'd wreck the tiles in the process).

The tip you mentioned about packing out the top of the pedestal in order to get a good fit with the basin sounds very similar to what I'd come across on YouTube (I vaguely remember now that the poster might have been "PlumberParts"). I'll definitely do something to help level things out and evenly distribute the weight of the basin on the pedestal.

You guys have all been really helpful in giving me plenty of ideas. I hugely appreciate it! I'm mindful of the fact that every time I post a reply here it will pop this thread back up to the top of the page. So for anyone else reading this, can I just say that the problem has been solved (in theory anyway) - just to save anyone else taking time out to reply to me.

Thanks again!

Lori
x

 

[Bosswhite]

I reckon Dave Herns is right the pedestal is upside down.
I would be tempted to fix two steel brackets to the wall to add extra support for the basin, silicon the back of the basin to the wall and the underneath to the pedestal, and silicon pedestal to floor. Then tile over the brackets on the wall.

 

[sooey]

Haven't read all of this thread, but how anyone can look at that pedestal and say it is upside down is beyond me. The normal cheap ones you get generally fit where they touch anyway.

 

[Bosswhite]

This B N Q model is narrower at floor level , Larger rim fits under basin.

 

[Bosswhite]

Photo of Hand Basin Page 2.

 

[sooey]

Yes, we've all seen pedestals which are wider at the top but the one in question is obviously the right way up.

How can you look at the top of that pedestal and think it should be to the floor? Stop talking b*ll*x.

 

[Bosswhite]

Yes, we've all seen pedestals which are wider at the top but the one in question is obviously the right way up.
View attachment 93719


How can you look at the top of that pedestal and think it should be to the floor? Stop talking b*ll*x.

Well it dont fit the basin very well,

has it been tried the other way around ???

 

[Newboy]

No way is that the right pedestal for that basin.

 

[sooey]

The girl's already said this...

"LOL! I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or not - but no, the pedestal is definitely not upside down. The bottom is totally flat - as it would need to be to be completely flush with the floor. Whereas the top is contoured in order to fit the curve of the basin (albeit NOT this particular basin)."

...but apart from that it's just obvious that it's the right way up anyway. (some pedestals you do have to look twice I grant you, but not this one.)
What are you smoking today?

 

[sooey]

No way is that the right pedestal for that basin.

That's a different argument, I hope you're not going to say it's upside down as well.

 

[Newboy]

No chance - unless it's designed for very uneven floors!

Just no way that pedestal was ever supposed to be supporting that basin

 

[DaveHerns]

Sooey is obviously the expert on pedestals . Shame he has to be so aggressive about it

 

[sooey]

It doesn't take an expert to know when a table is upside down or not, or a golf trolley, or an elephant!

Or this particular pedestal.

What you read as aggression was actually a mixture of disbelief and astonishment.

 

[Bosswhite]

It doesn't take an expert to know when a table is upside down or not, or a golf trolley, or an elephant!

Or this particular pedestal.

What you read as aggression was actually a mixture of disbelief and astonishment.

We are going by a photograph and what it looks like, without seeing the pedestal, basin in reality one can only summarize if it is
a, the right pedestal for the basin,
b, is it correctly installed ( there is a raised edge around underneath of the basin that could accommodate the ridge around the pedestal)
c, the pedestal is a reject and badly moulded.

All in all at the present moment the pedestal does not appear to fit the handbasin, that does not help the Poster that wants it to be fixed.

 

[sooey]

"b, is it correctly installed ( there is a raised edge around underneath of the basin that could accommodate the ridge around the pedestal)"


I give up.