Last week, dad and I had one of those days where a job that should have been fairly simple, became hard and laboursome and it was because the client supplied their own new toilet suites.
It may sound tempting to supply your own new toilet suite and just pay a plumber labour to install it, but there are certain measurements and features of toilet pans that need to be taken into consideration when buying a replacement toilet suite.
Firstly, the brand of toilet suite needs to be a reputable brand. I’ve written before that if you choose a European branded toilet suite, you will have issues in the future in getting parts to fix them and the parts themselves can be very pricey. The toilet suites we were supplied with last week were made in Italy. I didn’t recognize the brand and wasn’t impressed with how we had to ‘guess’ how to put in the toilet pan with no measurements as no paperwork was supplied in the boxes.
Secondly, when you buy a new toilet pan you MUST know the measurement of the toilet waste from the wall if it’s an ‘s’ trap (waste goes through the floor) or height of waste if it’s a ‘p’ trap (waste comes through the wall). All toilet pans require a different measurement and because the plumber has to work with the existing waste, you need to ensure that the pan you buy will suit.
Back at the client’s place, the length from the waste to the wall was 180mm. The pan and pan bracket collar supplied would only reach a maximum of 165mm. Because the existing waste had an offset pan connector already installed, we needed to alter the waste and get a different pan connector to make the pan work to the existing waste. The cost to get this ‘Universal’ pan connector was an extra $50 per fitting plus our time in going to the supplier to get this fitting.
Thirdly, because there were no measurements or instructions with the toilet suites, it took time to slowly and methodically work out how to install them. This toilet was close coupled (toilet cistern sits on the toilet pan so you don’t see a flush pipe) and had a concealed waste which means the back edge of the toilet pan must fit flush with the back wall.
The first toilet suite we installed took 2.5 hours, the second one took just over 1.5 hours.
If the client had supplied a toilet suite that suited the existing waste and was a well known brand – like Caroma which can be purchased from Reece or Tradelink, we wouldn’t have been there as long and there would have been no need to purchase a $50 Universal pan connector per toilet suite.
Installing foreign and unfamiliar taps and fixtures with little instructions increases costs with labour as the plumber has to ring up the manufacturer to get information or has to guess by themselves on how to install the item correctly. It’s important to ensure that these items have a Watermark sticker on them which means they are approved to be installed in Australia. If you allow your plumber to supply the toilets for you, (once he or she has viewed the existing waste and toilet suites) this can ensure that these issues are avoided and prevents a high installation bill.
Alternatively, if you are a client still wanting to supply your own toilet suite, get the plumber to check that what you are going to purchase will work with your existing toilet waste. If you are super keen to purchase a particular toilet suite that is foreign due to design and style, discuss with your plumber whether the toilet waste can be offset and the time and costs involved in altering the services to suit the new toilet suite. Often the time and cost of installation will deter the purchase of the foreign toilet suite.
