Can I remove this toilet, or do I need a plumber?

[FireflyGirl]

Our house was built in the 70s, and this is the downstairs loo.

I want to replace it with a nice new white one, but I can't find a YouTube video replacing one where it's attached to the wall with pipes at either side like this.

DH and I are complete DIY novices. DDad is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to DIY (and does most of the stuff we need doing) so might be able to help, but I'm just trying to get an idea whether it might be better to just get a plumber in to do it?

That looks tricky to me - can you get a new cistern with the inlet/overflow holes in exactly the same positions?

Even if you can, do you have the tools and capability to work in such a confined space?

I've not seen one similar to this on the DIY websites, Paula. I'd be looking to replace it with a 'normal' one anyway, I think.

I'd be able to borrow the tools (either off my dad, or my uncle who's a builder).

It's not that confined a space - just at the right hand side near the wall. There's lots of room to get to the rest of it.

It looks tricky to me too. I just can't find anything similar online, but if we can save money and do it ourselves I can spend the money we save on new tiles that are less ugly 😁

It is possible for you to replace the toilet and cistern. The biggest difficulty you are likely to find, is finding a close coupled toilet that fits back to the space behind your old toilet and cistern. You shouldn't need to worry about the overflow, as new toilets should be set to overflow into the toilet itself. The inlet is likely to be on the bottom on most toilets you see, but there will be some side entry cisterns that you can get too. The hardest problem at the moment, will be looking at ones that will be suitable for the area you need, cos it's difficult to find what you need through online photos as far as I'm concerned