When did buy a toilet become so complicated!

[Poppyblush]

Need to buy a toilet and having a look but omg, it’s so complicated. there’s allsorts of shapes, sizes, rimless/ rimmed, coupled etc. Has anyone bought a decent toilet for cloakroom recently?

I'm no help but I really want a Japanese toilet, they do all sorts!

Choose a decent brand and visit a showroom. Look at the differences. We have close coupled (vital) and wall hung. Ours is Duravit. Most have rims. Soft closing seat is vital too. Also decide if free standing cistern or wall hung.

Soft closing…. I actually got excited by the soft closing option!

Didn’t realise a decent brand made a difference so good to know.

would love a Japanese toilet - one like in the “Why him?” Film!!

Get one that will take a standard sized loo seat. If you don't and your loo seat breaks you may end up having to buy a whole new loo.

We've a Japanese toilet - it's fabulous!

We have found the seats are better and the quality of ceramics is better. If not built in, the flush system is more robust too. Think about what toy like the look of and go for it.

If you live in a hard water area, rimless toilets are good as they have fewer hard to reach areas for limescale deposits to build up so they are easier to keep looking clean . The are more expensive though

Close coupled just means you can see the cistern I think , though you can sometimes hide it in a toilet cistern cover/ box. If you have a hidden cistern that can look neater but I was worried it would be hard to get to if you needed to fix anything in the cistern for whatever reason

I prefer a back to wall one so you don't have a hard to access area between the toilet and wall that needs cleaning ( can you see a theme of easy to clean here)

I also feel obliged to say we are having our bathroom done so I have just finished thinking about this and I don't spend mush time normally thinking about toilet types ,,😃

I like a standard close coupled toilet. We have a back to wall toilet upstairs that is currently broken but can’t get to the bits to fix it without ripping out tiles and bits of wall, so would never recommend one of those. Wall hung look great but having listened to my mother moan about having to put a hole in the wall to fix the one they inherited in their house I wouldn’t recommend one of those either 😂😂. We got outs
from Victoria Plum and it’s great. Seems pretty durable, takes a standard seat, soft close and easy to clean. Not bank breaking either. Can’t remember what it was called and no doubt they’ve probably discontinued them (as they always seem to do with decent inexpensive stuff!) but we have no complaints at all.

We are going through this and renovating a derelict house. There is FAR too much choice! We need to buy 5 toilets!!!

So far, we having rimless, back to wall and comfort height. The extra height makes it much easier for anyone with knee/hip issues, yet doesn't look like a disabled toilet. We are getting a Japanese toilet for our en-suite.

Ours is a cheap one from B&Q. No need to spend £££

If you live in an old house, check your soil pipe setup. Mine comes up from the floor about 20 inches from the back wall. I made a mistake (although I did check with the plumber first who didn't say anything) and bought a toilet that couldn't sit flush with the wall and there was a 6inch gap. Hideous! Bought another which was traditional low level with a pipe joining it to the cistern, which was a perfect fit.

Also The trend for square toilet seats, why? Your arse is not square, so uncomfortable!

Sorry to hijack the thread but genuine question (i’m not a poo troll, honest, i’m just also redoing a bathroom) - so many of the new toilet seemed to be shaped with a long shelf-part before the water, which inevitably gets mucky. Is there a standard term for the old fashioned shape where your bum was over the water that i can search for?

the shelf is German practice, I have not seen it in UK

modern low-water WCs have a rather small pool of water

Many modern WCs have a weak and ineffective flush.

I have confidence in established British makes such as Twyfords, Armitage, Ideal Standard.

you can see the full range on the makers' websites and any merchant can order them for you.

Glossy showroms and discount warehouses may sell unknown brands.

If you get a cistern that is visible and accessible, you will not have to smash any walls open to repair or replace.

i agree about getting one that a standard seat will fit.

There’s two heights at least so watch for that one. I assumed they were standard. We have 3 toilets and one is rectangular… don’t get one like that, it’s so uncomfortable!

Hmm. Twyfords, Armitage and Ideal are all worthy brands. In a 5 loo house, these might not cut it for style!

I'm doing the same search at the moment. So far, all of the wall hung ones seen to have the dreaded shelf arrangement.

Soft closing - a caution:
You get accustomed to this and then visit someone who doesn't have it and let the lid crash down at 3:00 am... 😱

You hang a wall hung off the wall. It’s a “false”
wall and all plumbing and cistern is behind it. Effectively built in. The flush is a large push button arrangement. The huge advantage is cleaning and a streamlined look. If you have limited funds, they are maybe not a good idea. Ones that sit with their own cupboards look a bit cheap in my view. Much better to have floor standing.

Duravit has a clear explanation of toilets on their web site. Close coupled siphonic is best. Soft close lid (decent makes don’t have lids that break!), floor standing or wall hung and then choose height. German or British males are fine. We have Rak in our holiday house but they are not as robust.

@TizerorFizz

'German or British males are fine.'

Good to know!

If you get rimless, make sure you get a full-height cistern behind it. Bathroom salesperson sold us a compact cistern with a rimless pan and the water pressure isn’t enough to clean the front of the pan. We made them change it.

I was about to say exactly this - the ‘designer’ loos we inherited with the house don’t take standard loo seats, replacements took weeks to track down, and you can’t get the seat off to change it without taking the loo out completely anyway. (Our lovely plumber swore. A lot).

Came here to say this. This happened to us! Well, we did find a new seat for about £200 - cheaper to buy and fit a new loo (especially if the seat ever breaks again!)

If you buy a high quality loo, the seat will not break. We have 30 plus year old loos that are perfect. Make sure you buy a better brand with a robust seat. Good hinges and a solid feel.

The siphonic loo doesn’t have a shelf. That’s what most companies sell as a regular loo. @Equiphant

We have numerous loos in several properties. 7 in main house, 2 in a flat and 4 in holiday house. All are siphonic and only one has needed a replacement seat - in the holiday house that’s let out! That was a Rak installed by the builder. They are Spanish. Serviceable but not great.

Lots of loos are designed to flush with less water these days. For obvious reasons. Therefore size of cisterns can be quite small.

Don't get soft closing - it's the kind of thing that people think is a positive improvement (and I agree it works well in other places such as cupboards/ drawers etc) but actually on toilets it's a pain.

You either have to stand and wait for the lid to close before flushing or flush before the lid is fully closed - which negates the whole point of having a lid and is unhygienic. Who wants to waste time waiting for a loo lid to close?