Floating toilets and weight limit

[ReacherSaidNothing]

We recently moved into a new house which has a floating toilet. Not my first choice but happy to live with it for now. I have a worry which is probably me being silly but my SIL is coming to visit us soon for the first time and she is morbidly obese (unsure of her exact weight and would never dream of asking). Do you think she would be fine to sit on the toilet or would it be at risk of getting damaged in some way? I'm happy to be told I'm being paranoid, stupid or mean but would just be happy to have other people's opinions or insight on this, thanks. SIL will definitely need the toilet when she is here as she has medical issues.

Not quite that bad @tenderstem81 but definitely very large - she needs a joint replacement which has been refused by the NHS due to her weight. I'm having visions of the toilet becoming damaged after she sits on it. We also have a floating sink which she will no doubt need to pull up on to stand back up as she struggles to get up off the couch.

According to Google if it's correctly installed it should take 30 stone ok. I think I'd be more concerned with the sink if she needs to pull herself up.

If you think the wall-hung toilets are not able to support your SIL then I would be more worried that she could hurt herself. You sound like you’re worried about the toilet.

Well I'm a size 20 and we have floating toilets. I've never managed to damage them!

What dress size do you think she is?

Get DB to advise SIL that toilet is wall hung in advance (not ideal but gives her options to not come or something) or swap out the toilet and sink so all guests are comfortable with the facilities (ideal) and you don’t worry some poor obese guest will damage your suite never mind her distress at seeing a basic ‘convenience’ as a hazard and social embarrassment to boot!

Otherwise what exactly will you do if it’s not suitable 🤔

Why would you not just do an internet search for the brand of toilet that you have in the house, or if you can't see what the brand is then a generic Google search, rather than asking on here? I am at a loss to understand why it is easier and seems to make more sense to share this information about your SIL when you could just type into google "is there a weight limit for wall hung toilets?". I did just that and it says 500lb and some models go up to 800lb.

She's definitely bigger than a size 20 dress, no other toilet in the house.

We had a family member who was very obese and broke chairs in restaurants and broke a strut in our new 'solid hard wood frame' sofa. He also broke beds. The problem wasn't just the weight but that he wasn't mobile so didn't lower himself gently into chairs etc. on several occasions he was offered a 'more comfortable' chair in restaurants by helpful waitstaff.

He wasn't my family member so I did the mature thing and ignored it.

It should be ok and I can't see how you can say anything about it.

I weigh over 18 stone and am considering having a new bathroom installed next year. I definitely won’t be choosing a wall mounted toilet as I too worry about my weight pulling it off the wall! But I do not need to lean on the sink to get up and can stand easily from a normal height settee although lower ones are an issue, I might need to push myself up on the arms! That’s more age related though as my friends much slimmer than me also struggle.

So, I think you are right to be concerned about your toilet but I don’t know what to suggest other than putting a stool or something next to it so your SIL can lean on it as she gets up. I doubt that her weight alone will yank it off but if she pushes her weight down on it to get off when standing up, it might cause problems.

I can't see a brand anywhere on the bathroom suite at all. Thanks to everyone who replied, even those who are implying I'm being a bit of a bitch by even asking this but it's fine, I'm a big girl and can suck it up.

It's not just the brand of the toilet that will affect the weight limit: the fixtures / fittings used and the skill of the installer will have a huge affect also.

I had this problem with my mother in law visiting and we got a thing from Amazon designed for disabled people which fits around the toilet and gives ' arms ' to lever yourself up and down. It was easy to move when she wasn't there and also great if you're pregnant! It might help with the' plonking down' issue. She liked it so much she asked us to get her one for her own house! Just looked it up and can't do the link but it's NRS Healthcare M00869 Free Standing Toilet Frame - Height Adjustable (Eligible for VAT relief in the UK)

I'm 15 stone and never broken a toilet

This is true, I used to work in a building where a wall-hung toilet fell off (and injured someone) and it transpired that the toilet hadn’t been bolted on at all. Just stuck on with Tec-7.

Might be worth mentioning to them both that you think the sink is a bit dodgy/not fitted properly so could they try not to lean on it as your worried it might come loose and injure them? if her mobility is poor like you say hopefully she has a stick or something that she’ll then take with her to use to get up

@cunningartificer I was wondering about some kind of subtle support for the toilet that she maybe wouldnt notice but that toilet surround is very un-subtle!! Not sure if we could get one but make up some excuse for why it's there. I just don't want to hurt her feelings as she's been body shamed by strangers a few times in the past. @littlemousebigcheese she is definitely over 15 stone, possibly 20 or over I would say but I'm crap at judging things like this

Tbh we discovered some dodgy building practices so don't have much faith in the stability of this toilet system! I know I'm likely projecting my paranoia as this place has been a money pit since we moved in with unforeseen issues and I feel like I'm waiting for the next thing to go wrong. @Ineedanewsofa we could maybe say something like that, then get the toilet surround and say it's for her benefit due to her knee?

We spent two years(!) warning guests about our dodgy sink and very few eyebrows were raised so I’d have thought they’d accept it 😊