Toilet/bathroom renos/repairs

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FoNX

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#247912 2-Mar-2019 16:38

Just a quick question regarding renos, I have a 50's state house in an un-cared for state. I have plans/ideas for renos, however I have no money/ a super tight budget. Now the incredibly tired toilet has started to leak from a crack in the underside of the cistern. My question is, do I replace the toilet and look at re-doing the bathroom at the same time as this will save me money in the long-run, or can I just get a new toilet and get it installed and then continue the reno further down the line as planned, with no added cost. I have no plans to change the layout of said bathroom, just to slightly update it, and rejuvenate as required.

This actually didn't turn out to be a quick question.

Any help would be appreciated!

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#2189894 2-Mar-2019 16:57

Just swapping out the cistern shouldn't be a big job. I'd do that, assuming I couldn't simply patch the old one and wasn't ready to start renovation.

Plumbing parts seem to persist for a remarkably long time on the market, so there is a good chance you can find a drop-in replacement, or certainly something very similar.

Bung

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#2189940 2-Mar-2019 17:24

"Crack in the underside of the cistern"? My memory of that era state house was a Stanley copper cistern inside a wooden skin probably replaced by a Dux plastic cistern. Is it really a crack or just a leak? What is the cistern made of, does it have a brand name visible?

neb

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#2190485 4-Mar-2019 00:26

FoNX:
My question is, do I replace the toilet and look at re-doing the bathroom at the same time as this will save me money in the long-run, or can I just get a new toilet and get it installed and then continue the reno further down the line as planned, with no added cost.

Some general advice from a mate who's a plumber, you'll find some relatively cheap toilets at Mitre 10 / Bunnings which he says you shouldn't touch with a barge pole, they're made of the thinnest ceramic/porcelain you can get away with, with plastic where there should be metal, and mild steel where there should be stainless. The main concern though is the thinness of the porcelain, which in his experience won't last. If it's just a rental property, see if you can buy some vintage porcelain from when they made things solidly.

beddy

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#2190924 4-Mar-2019 18:54

I'm currently renovating a tiny ensuite and it's not a cheap thing to do, so my suggestion if you're on a tight budget would be to get a good quality toilet for now, and then do the rest at a later time. You can re-use the toilet later when you do the rest, and it'll be one less thing to buy.

Bunnings/Mitre 10 sell Caroma toilets which have a good name, so I'd get one of those rather than the other ones they sell that I've never heard of.

neb

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#2190930 4-Mar-2019 19:05

beddy:
I'm currently renovating a tiny ensuite and it's not a cheap thing to do, so my suggestion if you're on a tight budget would be to get a good quality toilet for now, and then do the rest at a later time. You can re-use the toilet later when you do the rest, and it'll be one less thing to buy.

+1. Got a good-quality one (see my previous post) to replace the crappy one in the matchingly crappy ensuite with the goal being that that's the one thing in there that'll get reused when we go for the full redo. Maybe a personal taste thing, but a back-to-the-wall one is vastly easier to keep clean than the old style exposed S-bend form.

Bung

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#2190942 4-Mar-2019 19:57

neb: Some general advice from a mate who's a plumber, you'll find some relatively cheap toilets at Mitre 10 / Bunnings which he says you shouldn't touch with a barge pole, they're made of the thinnest ceramic/porcelain you can get away with, with plastic where there should be metal, and mild steel where there should be stainless. The main concern though is the thinness of the porcelain, which in his experience won't last. If it's just a rental property, see if you can buy some vintage porcelain from when they made things solidly.

I'll take his word that that these poor quality toilets exist but when I was looking last Nov for a back to the wall model I found no real difference except price for ones that met the better 3/4s spec. I bought a $299 Bunnings Mondella instead of others ranging up to $600. 3 months later no regrets, it flushes as well as anything else I've come across.

Now I see that Bunnings NZ have a Caroma Sahara for $349 which may be a clearance special as Bunnings AU list a Sahara II model for AU$449.

It doesn't matter how old the toilet is it will crack if you are unlucky enough to drop a glass jar into the bowl. It's a good habit to leave the lid down.

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Goosey

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#2190984 4-Mar-2019 21:23

1) Who carries a glass jar with them into the toilet? @bung

2) Crappy is puntastic here @neb

3) Back to the wall... well.......

4) You need decent flush power...

:-)

Bung

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#2190999 4-Mar-2019 22:02

Goosey:
1) Who carries a glass jar with them into the toilet? @bung

If the toilet is in the bathroom there could be any number of glass jars of primer or undercoat about.

Aredwood

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#2191006 4-Mar-2019 22:13

Replace just the cistern for now. And replace the whole toilet when you do the renovation.

Often the outlet pipe needs to be modified/ replaced to work with newer toilets. (old pipe is probably cast iron). Then there is almost a visible spot on the floor where the old toilet was, that the new toilet doesn't cover.

So you have to also redo the floor to fix that. Or put up with an ugly patch in front of the toilet. And when you eventually renovate the bathroom. You then have to pay to have the toilet removed and then reinstalled, so the floor can be redone then. Meaning that you have paid for 1 install and removal, with nothing to show for it. And the new bathroom now has a toilet that no longer new.

If you dont have the funds available for a full bathroom renovation right now. Replacing just the cistern is also far easier to DIY compared to replacing the whole toilet. And you could probably buy a working Dux or Caroma plastic cistern from Trademe for almost nothing.

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#2191017 4-Mar-2019 22:39

The OP hasn't answered "Is it really a crack or just a leak? What is the cistern made of, does it have a brand name visible?"

It could just be a flush pipe washer.

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#2191049 5-Mar-2019 08:06

Bathroom reno can easily get to $20k before you blink, especially if you are buying everything new. If you're on a tight budget, time can be your friend:

A bit of judicious planning and prep on your part could make a big difference. For example, I like big tiles in bathrooms... but they can be tricky to size up requirements for the space plus offcuts. Lots of people get it wrong, overorder and have surplus... so keep an eye on trademe etc for those.

Cabinetry can be restored and colour changed if you have the time to sand paint and prep. again building recyclers are a good place and you would be surprised what can turn up.

Probably worth investing in window frames that can support double glazing though!

When the walls are off you can pop lots of nice insulation in too

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#2191056 5-Mar-2019 08:54

Agree with the others, replace what needs to be replaced (Toilet). Whilst I understand you have a small budget, don't cheap out on the toilet in my opinion. You don't need to spend $1000 on one, but as mentioned there are horrible ones around.

Bathroom Reno's are very expensive typically, as are any part of a house that gets "wet".

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2191062 5-Mar-2019 09:00

networkn: Whilst I understand you have a small budget, don't cheap out on the toilet in my opinion. You don't need to spend $1000 on one, but as mentioned there are horrible ones around.

I'm going to partially disagree here. Don't cheap out and buy the cheapest toilet from stores with items of questionable quality. By all means, buy the cheapest toilet from a reputable supplier. Go along, take a seat and use the bum best. Some of those modern toilets are awful to sit on, and the seats are expensive to replace if you need to.

Stick to the basics and you really can't go wrong. A fancy unit is not likely to match the style of the rest of the house. I'd advise against fully modernising the bathroom unless you're looking at renovating the whole house.

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#2191063 5-Mar-2019 09:04

SirHumphreyAppleby:

networkn: Whilst I understand you have a small budget, don't cheap out on the toilet in my opinion. You don't need to spend $1000 on one, but as mentioned there are horrible ones around.

I'm going to partially disagree here. Don't cheap out and buy the cheapest toilet from stores with items of questionable quality. By all means, buy the cheapest toilet from a reputable supplier. Go along, take a seat and use the bum best. Some of those modern toilets are awful to sit on, and the seats are expensive to replace if you need to.

Stick to the basics and you really can't go wrong. A fancy unit is not likely to match the style of the rest of the house. I'd advise against fully modernising the bathroom unless you're looking at renovating the whole house.

Yeah I wasn't really talking form over function. I was saying buy quality.

We bought a fancy bathroom for the ensuite, wasn't expensive per se, but the toilet seat as you say, has been a royal PITA to find replacements for.

One thing I would do, is get a soft closing lid.

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#2191155 5-Mar-2019 11:12

Some years back I bought a cheap cistern to replace a very old one. It was easy to swap over.

I eventually had to replace the whole inlet valve with something better, not a big deal but factor that in.

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