Concealed Cistern questions.......

[mo7]

Hi

I have a few questions about concealed cisterns. I think I understand how it all works but I need some practical adive for my own situation as I have never bought or seen any of the actual products - though I will be doing so this week I hope

Here is my current toilet set up. As you can see its a standard toilet with boxing behind which contain the pipes

[DLMURL]http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3650/26122010.jpg[/DLMURL]



This is the drainage, seems to be older style straight on the floor

[DLMURL]http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/667/26122010007.jpg[/DLMURL]

I am planning on breaking the boxing away and putting the cistern behind some new boxing. The current boxing is a lot further out of the wall than I want.

1) If I buy a 'back to wall' toilet, presumably it will totally cover up the drainage hole? How far back to the current wall do you think it will go?


2) How much work am I looking at to have that drainage moved back behind a little? It has been there for 20+ years so don't fancy is to be honest.

3) Lets say I buy a concealed cistern as such:

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/g...-litre-bottom-inlet--37945sh-/thumb-37945.JPG

Where are these normally attached to? directly to a wall? do they provide fixings or is it a case of make your own connection to the wall or a frame.

4) Obivously the easiest thing will be to fit it to th wall, the problem I will have is that the plush lever or plate will have to ocme out of the boxing, the problem is if I have to leave the toilet in its current position the distance from cistern on the wall to end of boxing could be quite a lot.

Would the push plate extend as far as say 20-30 cms? does it vary by make?

If not I could hage thinner boxing and then a gap between the boxing and the back of the toilet, which is not ideal (and i guess the point of the toilet is that its meant to be up against a wall!

5) the pipe that carries the water from the cistern to the toilet itself, does that have to be a minimum height above the toilet itself? I want to make the boxing as low as possible so what would be the be minimum height the cistern could be at?

Hope that all makes sense!

BTW I am going for dual flush so will probably end up with one of those buttons

 

[GQuigley67]

how far out is the boxing ? you'll need around 250mm for the cistern to fit into it, and your wanting to make the boxing smaller ? it looks tight as it is.

 

[Dannypipe]

I'm presuming that this WC is on the ground floor as it looks like the original 'salt glaze' soil pipe coming up from the floor.

You want to know how much roughly it will cost to alter this to set you up with a modern pan?

In short if you get this done, don't get it done on the cheap as you could end up with a right old stink. It will be expensive. The fittings alone to adapt it will cost you quite a bit. I would personally imagine a cost of around £400. You will get quotes for less, but I'd want all of that. Infact I'd want a lot more! Its a nasty job and prone to risks and not working correctly.

Plus its risky as the salt glaze is brittle and can split longer that you want it to. So a cowboy might leave a cracked section inline and just fill it in. Oh and also any small bits that could fall down the soil as you break it out will leave you open to frequent blockages. So ensure that doesn't happen either.

Do you really need a concealed cistern that badly!?

 

[mo7]

The boxing is definitley more than 25cm out - its more like 40cm minimum.

I did think that drainage hole will be too much hassle to move. I will probably stick a back to wall toielt in and then put the box backing onto that (so the box will actually come out a bit more! The drainage hole is on the first floor, so the pipe must go downstairs.

Another question - you know out the back of the toilet comes a soil pipe that then goes into the drainage hole - is there any major difference between the proper plastic pipes and the flexible pipes? If I use a flexible one it looks liek I can get a more of an extreme bend, meaning I can position the toielt better (based on the pipes I saw in the shops anyway)

 

[carpstu]

hi are you sure the pipes not cast and the soil stack is in the boxing behind if youlook the sink waste also gose it to the boxing. if so carnt really move it anyway well with out a load of hassle

 

[mo7]

I have no idea to be honest!

The soil thing on the floor obviously goes down, but I am not sure if it goes straight down or if it goes abck behind the box and then down (more likely).

Might it be possible to get behind the boxing, cut the end off the soil pipe and then put a new end on, therefore moving the end back.

The thing on the floor appears to be rock solid metal, so I dont think gettign it out will be easy.

That said, it all seems to be above my DIY level skills!

 

[carpstu]

that is cast then the pipe in the floor would prob join thee pipe under the floor as to form a downwards flow to be honest is a big job to
change as to do it some floor and the boxing would have to come out then you would have to change the joints to get it closer then you wouldnt gain that much and you would prob have a job to reseal it
plus if you look outside the pipe gose up throught the roof or an outside wall so you got the weight above to contend with aswell

 

[GQuigley67]

i agree seems like a major job, not one for DIY and expensive, I would probably charge alot to do that because I wouldn't fancy doing it.

Most likely there will be a soil stack in that boxing, and possibly some supply pipes aswell so probably no space for the concealed cistern.

as for the flexi pipe "extreme bend" that will result in the toilet blocking constantly.