The exciting world of toilets

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Bung

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#2371731 10-Dec-2019 13:29

nickb800:
Fascinating - they certainly don't make it easy to find that list of areas! There's actually a current proposal out for consultation to get rid of that exemption, and I would imagine it would fly through.

There used to be a plumbing trade web site with a list of all the gazetted areas but that page has gone (probably got lent on by the Board).
There are some large areas with the exemption. Unless it can be shown that these areas have a serious problem caused by the exemption the Government should extend the exemption. If plumbers have a genuine problem it is the amount of new build work that is done by unregistered people and signed off by a plumber.

The electrical trade seem to have accepted that the householder exemption is here to stay?

mattwnz

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#2371795 10-Dec-2019 14:13

Check that the hole in the bottom is a good size. Some of the cheap ones have a tiny hole and can clog easily, and the sides also soil easier. Some also don't have a strong flush but that is very hard to test in a store. Also with some of them, the internals can be very expensive to maintain. Some of the gaskets and flush valves can need regally replacing, and sometimes they only sell larger parts, and you can end up paying large amounts for parts. There also isn't much competition in the parts trade, so the part can be very expensive. We were quited about 400 for a new seat, and over 700 if we wanted it softclose, after our toilet seat cracked, which was more than the toilet cost, and were told it was because of a lack of competition. The government needs to do somethig about the lack of competition in the building sector, as we pay far too much in NZ

sittingduckz

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#2371846 10-Dec-2019 15:04

The biggest thing for me are the buttons and the guts of the cistern. Nothing worse than having to hold the button to get a full flush or it sounding like a A380 while it's filling.

I'm not a complete idiot, I still have some parts missing.

neb

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#2371848 10-Dec-2019 15:08

sen8or:
Beyond that, you're pretty much paying for styling and/or installation differences (S trap, back to wall, hidden cistern etc). Just find one you like the look of and that will work for your particular installation requirements.

Some are more than just style. Like your soft-close lid, I'd never choose anything other than back-to-wall, which has flat, even surfaces unlike the baroque dust- and dirt-catching tubing of the S-trap model.

Also, never ever get a hidden cistern, you'll love it right up until anything at all goes wrong, or even doesn't go wrong, just a slight dripping noise occasionally, at which point you'll curse whoever decided to install a system with 95% of everything inaccessible for maintenance.

neb

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#2371850 10-Dec-2019 15:10

davidcole:
I always found, the ones with a really heavy lid....that doesn't rest against the cistern really sorts the men from the boys....if you're not quick enough, you may find yourself missing an appendage.

Oh, and don't spent overly much on the lid/seat. Eventually it's going to yellow, crack, pick up stains that don't come out, etc, so you'l want to replace it every 5-10 years or so depending on use.

MrTomato

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#2371851 10-Dec-2019 15:18

Wow! This provoked a much bigger response than I was expecting! It turns out it is an exciting world of toilets after all...

Thanks to everyone who's contributed. It sounds like it's generally worth considering the more expensive options, mainly due to better materials and manufacturing; and a few hundred dollars extra isn't much when you consider how long a toilet's in place for. I'll certainly weigh up the options carefully.

Also, thanks to the people who pointed out that it's not even legal to fit a toilet yourself. I had no idea! It's not like I'm repositioning any of the waste pipes or anything, so I'll end up having to get a plumber in and stand there watching them do a job I could have easily done quickly and easily myself. Gah!

Oh, and soft-close lid it is, then..!

neb

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#2371855 10-Dec-2019 15:28

MrTomato:
Also, thanks to the people who pointed out that it's not even legal to fit a toilet yourself. I had no idea! It's not like I'm repositioning any of the waste pipes or anything, so I'll end up having to get a plumber in and stand there watching them do a job I could have easily done quickly and easily myself. Gah!

One thing about swapping an S-bend for back-to-the-wall which I didn't mention earlier is that you could well end up repositioning the waste pipes, for some reason a lot of S-bends go out to the side. Which is another "feature" that makes them such a joy to clean.

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mattwnz

20147 posts

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#2371856 10-Dec-2019 15:28

neb:
sen8or:

Beyond that, you're pretty much paying for styling and/or installation differences (S trap, back to wall, hidden cistern etc). Just find one you like the look of and that will work for your particular installation requirements.

Some are more than just style. Like your soft-close lid, I'd never choose anything other than back-to-wall, which has flat, even surfaces unlike the baroque dust- and dirt-catching tubing of the S-trap model. Also, never ever get a hidden cistern, you'll love it right up until anything at all goes wrong, or even doesn't go wrong, just a slight dripping noise occasionally, at which point you'll curse whoever decided to install a system with 95% of everything inaccessible for maintenance.

Some have a very large button panel for maintenance through the hole. But I would probably avoid installing one on an external wall, and then tiling the bathroom. So if installing on an internal wall, you probably want a gibed wall on thr other side, that if you were going to need to replace the cistern it can be done from the other side, and it isn't going to require retiling or removing cladding etc. At least with gib, you can just cut a hole and patch it.

mattwnz

20147 posts

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#2371857 10-Dec-2019 15:30

neb:
davidcole:

I always found, the ones with a really heavy lid....that doesn't rest against the cistern really sorts the men from the boys....if you're not quick enough, you may find yourself missing an appendage.

Oh, and don't spent overly much on the lid/seat. Eventually it's going to yellow, crack, pick up stains that don't come out, etc, so you'l want to replace it every 5-10 years or so depending on use.

Our lid was over 30 year old and still looks white and as good as new. But I don't think it is plastic like most the new ones.

semigeek

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#2371866 10-Dec-2019 16:04

Did you see the Bidet toilet seat at Bunnings that needs a power point to run? It's around $500 or so dollars.

neb

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#2371867 10-Dec-2019 16:09

mattwnz:
Our lid was over 30 year old and still looks white and as good as new. But I don't think it is plastic like most the new ones.

Ah, that'll be one of the old-style bakelite/duroplast ones, not the modern thermoplastic ones that don't last. Surprisingly, you can still get them.

mdav056

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#2372781 11-Dec-2019 21:20

Try it in the shop (for a goodly period of time...) and make completely sure that the fittings match up. Some friends renovated their loo, bought what I consider a rather tall monolithic toilet, then the plumber couldn't get the fittings lined up and had to raise it a further 2 cm...with the result that many users' feet don't reach the floor. Very bad for a nice clean sweep, as they say.

gml

MadEngineer

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#2375518 14-Dec-2019 21:39

^ with your shoes off :)

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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