Toilet buying guide
If you don’t know your close coupled from your back to wall, or your wall hung from your high level, this expert toilet buying guide is the perfect place to begin.
With a range of designs to suit bathrooms big and small, there are so many options when it comes to buying a toilet. Why not take a quick look at our toilets are made?
What types of toilet are there?
There are all sorts of toilet designs available, each suiting different types of bathroom. To simplify things, we’ve categorised them into 3 main types.
Close coupled toilets
These are the most traditional types of toilet, with a floor standing unit and a visible cistern behind the seat. They are called “close coupled” because the cistern and bowl are closely coupled together, as opposed to the old-fashioned style where the cistern was set high above the toilet, as with some of more traditional suites (we’ll touch upon high level toilets later).
Flush mechanisms vary, from the traditional handle to the modern chrome button, and some may even provide options to adjust the flow of water.
Back to wall toilets
A more modern option, back to wall toilets are similar to close coupled toilets except that the cistern is concealed within a partition wall or a furniture unit. This style of toilet is great for a contemporary bathroom and can provide a space-saving option in a smaller ensuite or cloakroom.
Toilet Installation Cost
How Much Does It Cost to Install a Toilet?
If you have a functional bathroom in your home, then you also have at least one toilet in the house. Toilets are an integral part of most bathrooms in the US and serve to remove bodily waste products through a sewer or septic tank system.
Toilet Costs by Type
While a toilet may seem pretty straightforward, there are various types to choose from, and the type you select has a big impact on the final cost of your installation. Basic toilets can be purchased for just $100 – $300, but pressure-assisted toilets can cost much more, and eco-friendly waterless toilets are the most expensive of all.
Gravity-fed Toilet
Gravity-fed toilets are one of the most common types of toilet. They literally use gravity to pull the waste through the pipes along with large amounts of water. As water amounts per flush have dropped from 6 gallons to just around 1 gallon, however, they are often no longer effective. A gravity-fed toilet costs $100 on average
Vented Toilet
Vented or vacuum-assisted toilets push a gust of air through your vent pipe prior to opening for the waste. This gush of air creates a vacuum that pulls the waste through. This is a good solution for toilets on the first floor of a structure. They require a stack line, which must exceed the height of the roof by two feet in order to be effective. The average cost of a vented toilet is about $100.
Dual-flush Toilet
Dual-flush toilets are ideal for people who want to save water. They use a water-saving flush for liquids only and a standard flush for solid waste. They usually have two buttons in place of a lever, which is located on top of the tank to allow you to choose which flush you want. A dual-flush toilet costs about $180.
Things You Should Know How to Do Around the House
Plumbing powers the essential utilities in our homes and enables us to accomplish daily and essential tasks, such as shower, drink water, cook, wash hands, brush teeth, flush the toilet, clean, heat water, treat air and more.
Most people don’t give plumbing a second thought when it’s working right, but it is all we can think about if something goes wrong. A basic understanding of your plumbing system and the components that affect it will help you troubleshoot, do small repairs yourself, know when to call a plumber, be better prepared in a crisis and make informed decisions.
Recognize the Source of Your Water
Generally, water comes into a home from one of two sources: a residential well and private pump or a city water line. Most of the time, rural residents have well water that is carried into the home via a pump, and they do not receive a water bill. Urban residents have city water they pay for by gallons of usage and usually receive a monthly or quarterly bill.
Test Water Quality
It is always good to know what’s in the city or well water. Many people conduct tests when they move into a new place, but experts say to test well water at least once per year because much can change due to different supply or treatment, soil shifts and some processes used by agricultural or industrial businesses in the region.
Locate and Turn Off Your Water Main
Should your home spring some kind of leak, you will appreciate knowing right where to go and what to do to cut off the water instead of trying to find it while you’re panicked and water is spewing everywhere. There is almost always a main valve near the street, and sometimes a secondary in or around the house, such as in the basement. The water main usually resembles a wheel or bar-type lever. If it’s a wheel, you should turn it slowly clockwise until it stops. If it’s a lever, you push right (or down) until it stops.
Things To Know When Doing A Toilet Installation In New Construction
Toilet installation in new construction is often viewed as an intimidating job because of its complex process. But the truth is this task is much easier than you think.
In toilet replacement, you need to deal with old plumbing lines, removal of the old toilet and flooring tiles, and cleaning. These tasks are all physically demanding. But with toilet installation in new construction, everything is new which allows the licensed tradie to start the work as planned.
What toilet to purchase?
First on the list is the most important element in toilet installation – the toilet itself. The factors that must consider before purchasing a toilet are models, types, design, and height.
One-piece models are toilets with tank and bowl that are built together. Since it has a compact design, the one-piece toilet is easier to install and clean, consume small space, and low maintenance. It’s a plus that it has a lesser chance to encounter leaks or breaking as well.
Two-piece models are the toilet with tank and bowl that are built separately. This is a good toilet option if your bathroom has an odd-sized rough. You will only need to change the tanks size to fit it to your bathroom’s rough
There are four types of toilets that you can choose from, namely: back to wall, close coupled and wall hung pan.
The Back to wall toilet is designed with the cistern located behind the toilet’s pan and being concealed by a wall or the toilet unit itself. It is called back to wall because the back of this toilet’s pan rests the flush against the wall. The advantage of this toilet type is it is accessible for minor repair because the cistern is exposed.
The close coupled toilet is commonly the design of modern toilets. The design of this toilet is the pan and cistern are built together, and all the pipes are hidden inside the toilet’s unit. The advantage of this toilet type is its’ affordability and has a less complicated installation process.
The wall hung toilet is installed with the pan hung on the wall, while its’ cistern (and the rest of the pipes) rests in the wall cavity. The advantage of this type of toilet is it consumes less space and can easily adjust the height of the unit’s pan.
The factors that you must consider when it comes to toilet design are the flush’s handle location and shape of the bowl.
Convenience is the main reason why the location of the flush handle is important to be accessible. Flush handle is typically located on the left or right side of the toilet’s tank. But on the modern designs of toilets, you can now see the flush handle either on top of the toilet’s tank or in remote control.
For maximum comfort, you must choose the best shape of the bowl that fits your need. The available shapes of the bowl are elongated, U-shaped and round-front.
How to Repair a Toilet
Removing and replacing a toilet is not a task to be undertaken without good reason, but it is certainly not beyond your capabilities. When you can’t unclog the toilet by less drastic means, removing it is the answer. Maybe you want a more modern toilet, maybe the bowl or the tank is cracked or maybe the fixture leaks around its base. All of these situations call for removing and reinstalling the old toilet or installing a new fixture.
Although there’s nothing difficult about removing and replacing a toilet, local plumbing code may prohibit anyone but a licensed plumber from doing the job.
Measure the rough-in distance—the distance from the wall behind the bowl to the center of the toilet floor drain. Measure from the wall to the center of either of the two hold-down bolts, one on each side of the toilet, that hold the fixture to the floor. If there are two bolts on each side, measure to the center of the rear bolt.
Select the replacement toilet unit using the rough-in distance so that it will fit properly in your bathroom. You can replace your old toilet with a more modern fixture, but you must make sure that the new unit will fit into the space between the drainpipe and the wall. You can install a smaller unit, but you cannot put a larger toilet into a space that was occupied by a smaller fixture.
Shut off the water supply to the toilet tank, then remove all the water from both the tank and the bowl. Trip the flush handle to eliminate most of the water from the tank. Then soak up whatever water is left with a sponge. Bail out the water in the bowl with a small container, and then use a sponge to dry out the bowl completely.