Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean

i would first look at the bidet seats for your existing toilet since
there are more available features on them, at:
http://www.terrylove.com/wc/washlet.htm

"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean


Dean:

They are only rare here in the US. We've lived all over the world and
almost everywhere else has them, almost as a matter of course, right next to
the commode in the main bath.

I'm sorry I don't know how to plumb one but I'm sure you will get help from
many non US folks here on USENET.

The add on seats don't seem to be any kind of an economic deal for just air.
According to my wife, 'the water is where it's at'. She has already told me
that when we get our next house she wants one, so I too will watch the
answers closely as I will be doing one in the next couple of months myself!

Jay

"Jay" wrote in message
...
"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean


Dean:

They are only rare here in the US. We've lived all over the world and
almost everywhere else has them, almost as a matter of course, right next
to the commode in the main bath.

That's where our bidet is. House was built in'78 and it matches all the
other fixtures in the bath.

I know it sounds like a personal problem, but the one in our bath gets used
as a magazine rack.....

;-]

dean wrote:
Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean


Without seeing your house and whether it's slab on grade,
or accessible basement directly below, etc, etc, etc,
I'm guessing the install will be at least 10X the cost of the Bidet.

The add on seats don't seem to be any kind of an economic deal for just air.
According to my wife, 'the water is where it's at'. She has already told me
that when we get our next house she wants one, so I too will watch the
answers closely as I will be doing one in the next couple of months myself!

Jay

They all have models that use heated water. A side benefit of the Toto
is that it also deodorizes dunno about the others. If you have a lot of
guests that will become an function that you'll wonder how you lived
without. An additional benefit is that your toilet paper use will drop
dramatically.
When I was in Japan my relatives had one that had a humongous remote
(the Totos have a remote too but it's small) there was an entire bank
of buttons that were just for women. I mean like 20 buttons: different
patterns, oscillations, drying air. I'm not sure if it has arrived here
yet.
I installed the Toto myself, very simple, replaced the previous seat
and only needed an GFCI outlet. If you install one make sure you don't
"lose" your wife in there. ;).
Richard

i put in an american standard cadet ,rim flush with a spray a few years
ago. i reccomend to get the spray and rim flush. it installs basically
like a sink . bidets have same size drain and water supply lines. lucas.

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

I opted for one of the washlet seats for three reasons:

1. Saved space.

2. More features than a standard bidet.

3. It was easier to add an electric outlet than to plumb supply lines
and a discharge line.

Interestingly, bidet installation is said to be dropping in Europe and
they are rarely found in new construction.

dean wrote:
Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean

On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 10:26:03 -0500, wrote:

i put in an american standard cadet ,rim flush with a spray a few years
ago. i reccomend to get the spray and rim flush. it installs basically
like a sink . bidets have same size drain and water supply lines. lucas.

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

Thought I was clicking on a link about bidets.

Did you write this? Record it? It made me cry. Do you remember the old
song Teen Angel? That one, too. (My husband says I cry at McDonald's
commercials but I don't. It takes something special to make me cry and
this was one of those things.)


Maxi

Email addy upon request.

"Not@home" wrote:

Interestingly, bidet installation is said to be dropping in Europe and
they are rarely found in new construction.

I'd be very surprised. That would be like saying fewer people in the
US are building homes with more than one bathroom. Do you have a cite?

dean wrote:

Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet?

Yes, wonderful investment. Don't know how I got along without it.

We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room.

Is that supposed to be "between a toilet and a shower stall"? I hope
you're not thinking of putting the bidet in a separate room.

I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Just like a sink. There's really not much waste. No more than you have
from washing your hands.

I plumbed mine into a branch that includes the sink and the shower but
I suppose you could go directly into the main stack.

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Don't forget you have to add on a faucet and drain set. For labor
you'd have to ask someone in your area.

http://www.porcher-us.com/pdfs/porch...stall_1524.pdf

dean wrote:

Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

Thanks for any insight,

Dean

dean ) said...

Anyone here installed or had installed a bidet? We have room upstairs
between a toilet and a shower room. I have no idea how the waste gets
expelled, does it go into the toilet's 4" pipe?

Models vary, but many that I have seen, including the one we installed
in our master bath, drain out the bottom. This means that a P-trap will
have to be installed beneath the floor, and the vent attachment has to
be there.

I have seen some that are high enough that a P-trap can fit under it but
above the floor, then the drain can go into the wall similar to the way a
sink would (except, the drain is MUCH closer to the floor!).

Any guess as to how much $$ it would be to get one installed? The
bidets themselves seem quite reasonable ($200-400) considering their
relative rarity.

I have seen the bowls go for that much, but then there is the faucet!

We managed to find a decent bowl from a shop that deals with used fixtures
that were pulled from a demoliion. It was $75 and didn't require much
cleaning, but the old faucet on it was crap. Besides, we wanted a faucet
to match the rest of the bathroom (Moen Monticello series).

Our local BORG told me the price for one of those faucets (special order)
would be C$465 plus C$35 for the handles (plus our wonderful 15% in sales
taxes). I managed to find one and the handles on Ebay that ended up costing
me about C$250 including shipping and taxes (collected by the post office
when things come into the country).

So, you are doing pretty good if you can get the bowl and the faucet for
about $400, but it is not unheard of to spend $800.

Installation? Well, that can vary greatly. The rule of thumb I always
use (besides doing it myself, if I can) is $2 labour for every $1 in
materials. On a specific job, that may vary greatly. For instance, it may
be fairly easy, or extremely difficult to bring in either the DWV or the
supply lines to where you need them.


As for the usefulness of a bidet - I wouldn't want to live in a house
without one. I think it is safe to say a bidet is more useful for women,
but - and I'll try not to be too graphic -- all the advertising for
toilet paper aside, when you get a case of the trots, the softest brand
that you can find in the world starts to feel like 80-grit sand paper
by the third visit to the throne. ;-)

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"I really think Canada should get over to Iraq as quickly as possible"
- Paul Martin - April 30, 2003
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If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having a
wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

C & E wrote:
If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how
having a wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

Who said it was supposed to?

Bidets are popular in areas where daily showering is not the norm so I suppose
water is conserved. I have never heard that it is suppsed to reduce the use of
paper.

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 22:18:29 -0500, "C & E"
wrote:

If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having a
wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?


More water and less of something else.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

C & E wrote:
If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having a
wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

I'm talking about the Toto Bidet Seat here, which uses a jet of warm
water about 1/8" in diameter. Not a French bidet which is more like a
fountain or a stream of water like a garden hose. After it's done
there's nothing to wipe except a small amount of water. The comment
about toilet paper usage was based on experience in a house where we
had a lot of conferences and workshops. Probably ~40 people a month.
Also if you have hemorrhoids.... My friends husband has them and he
uses the bathtub...you get the idea. Eeeewww. Whenever I'm over there
that image sticks in my mind.
Richard

C & E ) said...

If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having a
wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

For the most part, it isn't intended to, but there are a few exceptions:

If you have a case of the runs, the most plush toilet paper will start to
feel like 80-grit sandpaper by the third trip to the throne, so washing
with a bidet and patting dry with a towel is a better alternative that
will save a bit of TP.

Another situation that comes to mind relates to a young visitor who
clogged the toilet each time he went. It seems he was taught that after
doing a poo he should wipe until there is no trace on the toilet paper.
Sounds like a good plan, but occasionally diet has a way of creating a
consistency that would still create track marks after half a roll of
toilet paper. The child should have been taught about the wonders of
using a wet piece of toilet paper in such situations, but of course a
bidet would also reduce the need for so much toilet paper, not to mention
the plunger to unclog he toilet.

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"I really think Canada should get over to Iraq as quickly as possible"
- Paul Martin - April 30, 2003
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"C & E" wrote in message
...
If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having
a wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

I'm seeing a greater comfort and cleanliness issue moreso than paper
savings. It was just a Q, thinking that I was missing something obvious. I
found most of the add-on seats to be quite expensive until I found the Biffy
http://www.biffy.com/order.asp . About $100. Of course, you don't get air
dry or even warmed water but what the heck. I've done my business in the
snowy woods enough to think that it can't be that bad. Still pondering.

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:08:40 -0500, "C & E"
wrote:


"C & E" wrote in message
t...
If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having
a wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

I'm seeing a greater comfort and cleanliness issue moreso than paper
savings. It was just a Q, thinking that I was missing something obvious. I
found most of the add-on seats to be quite expensive until I found the Biffy
http://www.biffy.com/order.asp . About $100. Of course, you don't get air
dry or even warmed water but what the heck. I've done my business in the
snowy woods enough to think that it can't be that bad. Still pondering.


Despite the price (and whatever it'll cost to have an electrician come
in and put an outlet behind the thing) I'm seriously considering this
one:

http://www.brondell.com/Swash-600-400.php4

I think there's a video on the site too.

I can definitely see saving TP, and being so much more hygienic with
something like the Swash. Weird name, but looks like a good product.
(It had better be for that price.)


Maxi

Email addy upon request.

maxinemovies wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:08:40 -0500, "C & E"
wrote:


"C & E" wrote in message
t...
If anyone is still following this thread, can you explain to me how having
a wet tush is going to save on toilet paper?

I'm seeing a greater comfort and cleanliness issue moreso than paper
savings. It was just a Q, thinking that I was missing something obvious. I
found most of the add-on seats to be quite expensive until I found the Biffy
http://www.biffy.com/order.asp . About $100. Of course, you don't get air
dry or even warmed water but what the heck. I've done my business in the
snowy woods enough to think that it can't be that bad. Still pondering.


Despite the price (and whatever it'll cost to have an electrician come
in and put an outlet behind the thing) I'm seriously considering this
one:

http://www.brondell.com/Swash-600-400.php4

I think there's a video on the site too.

I can definitely see saving TP, and being so much more hygienic with
something like the Swash. Weird name, but looks like a good product.
(It had better be for that price.)


Maxi
I just googled "Brondell Swash" and "Toto Washlet" The last time I
checked it out was about 10 years ago and bidet seats were almost
unknown. The Brondell was developed by a group in the US. This is from
the Summation Site: "This is the first product of the Silicon Valley
100 which I will be blogging about in the future. I got the Brondell
for free and there is no way I initially would have paid the hundreds
of dollars for it. But after using for a month, I now need to have it
and would gladly pay for it."
I wondered when this "technology" would make it to the States.
Richard

Doug Warner wrote:
lid (Calvin Henry-Cotnam) wrote:


If you have a case of the runs, the most plush toilet paper will start to
feel like 80-grit sandpaper by the third trip to the throne, so washing
with a bidet and patting dry with a towel is a better alternative that
will save a bit of TP.


Perhaps you can tell me how Bidets are used. With the water controls
on the back, it would seem difficult to turn them while sitting facing
away from the wall. Somewhere, it was suggested you were to face the
wall, but this would seem to require removing shoes, pants, etc...

Also, is the water spray sufficient to remove any "deposits" I've had
skidmarks in my toilet that remained for days, underwater. I just
don't see how a minute or two of spray are supposed to remove this
waterproof stuff. Is one supposed to use soap and a hand as well?

(Sometimes, I think I'd need a bidet with a rotating brush with
detergent dispenser, in addition to the water :-)

It varies...
http://www.burningannie.com/features/****list.html
--
Email reply: please remove one letter from each side of "@"
Spammers are Scammers. Exterminate them.

On a true bidet (as opposed to the seat substitutes) you don't sit on
it, any more than you would stand on a sink. You hover over it (usually
facing the controls, although I guess there is no rule against facing
away from the controls, and wash your crotch with a washrag, hands,
soap, whatever cleans your hull. Its something like a sink, mounted low
enough that you can wash and rinse your crotch, or your feet, if you want.

I think the seat substitutes, such as the washlet, do not provide enough
water power to obviate the need for toilet paper, unless you want to sit
there for a half hour or so. I suspect the posters who allege a
reduction in paper usage have never used one, or have never checked the
final results of their work.

Years ago there was something called a sitz bath that was prescribed for
people with hemorrhoids, or for women who had just given birth; I think
the seat substitutes are about the equivalent of that, although they
have added heat, pulsation and vibration of the water stream, a
deodorizer (think fart-filter) and even a heated seat. Mine even has a
special slow-closing seat; they don't say what that is for, but I'm
thinking it is for reduced noise, or ease of mind for parents who have
young boys.

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:01:45 -0500, "Not@home" wrote:



Doug Warner wrote:
lid (Calvin Henry-Cotnam) wrote:


If you have a case of the runs, the most plush toilet paper will start to
feel like 80-grit sandpaper by the third trip to the throne, so washing
with a bidet and patting dry with a towel is a better alternative that
will save a bit of TP.


Perhaps you can tell me how Bidets are used. With the water controls
on the back, it would seem difficult to turn them while sitting facing
away from the wall. Somewhere, it was suggested you were to face the
wall, but this would seem to require removing shoes, pants, etc...

Also, is the water spray sufficient to remove any "deposits" I've had
skidmarks in my toilet that remained for days, underwater. I just
don't see how a minute or two of spray are supposed to remove this
waterproof stuff. Is one supposed to use soap and a hand as well?

(Sometimes, I think I'd need a bidet with a rotating brush with
detergent dispenser, in addition to the water :-)

It varies...
http://www.burningannie.com/features/****list.html
--
Email reply: please remove one letter from each side of "@"
Spammers are Scammers. Exterminate them.

On a true bidet (as opposed to the seat substitutes) you don't sit on
it, any more than you would stand on a sink. You hover over it (usually
facing the controls, although I guess there is no rule against facing
away from the controls, and wash your crotch with a washrag, hands,
soap, whatever cleans your hull. Its something like a sink, mounted low
enough that you can wash and rinse your crotch, or your feet, if you want.

I think the seat substitutes, such as the washlet, do not provide enough
water power to obviate the need for toilet paper, unless you want to sit
there for a half hour or so. I suspect the posters who allege a
reduction in paper usage have never used one, or have never checked the
final results of their work.


I use one (seat bidet). It does not eliminate the need for paper, but
it does significantly reduce it. A more indirect benefit: fewer toilet
overflows (clogs caused by too much paper).

Years ago there was something called a sitz bath that was prescribed for
people with hemorrhoids, or for women who had just given birth; I think
the seat substitutes are about the equivalent of that, although they
have added heat, pulsation and vibration of the water stream, a
deodorizer (think fart-filter)

Considering deodorizers, one time last year when I was in a nursing
home (just visiting, hopefully it'll never be anything else), the
place smelled like a mixture of deodorizers and dirty diapers. I think
they got some bad food that day.

and even a heated seat. Mine even has a
special slow-closing seat; they don't say what that is for, but I'm
thinking it is for reduced noise, or ease of mind for parents who have
young boys.

Considering seats and boys, one thing I remember reading is "Why can't
women look before sitting?" (having to do with that "put the seat
down" nonsense).
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Not@home ) said...

On a true bidet (as opposed to the seat substitutes) you don't sit on
it, any more than you would stand on a sink. You hover over it (usually
facing the controls, although I guess there is no rule against facing
away from the controls, and wash your crotch with a washrag, hands,
soap, whatever cleans your hull. Its something like a sink, mounted low
enough that you can wash and rinse your crotch, or your feet, if you want.

That is a pretty good description. If you need to use it with your
pants around your ankles, then you would face away from the controls.
Otherwise you would face the controls.

Bidets vary, but ours has a faucet like a sink and a diverter valve. At
one end, the diverter sends the water through little holes around the
rim of the bowl, similar to a toilet. At the other end, it goes through
a spout that is in the bottom of the bowl that points up. The valve allows
you to mix how much water goes to each.

I also forgot about using it for washing feet - another benefit on
occasion. Of course, our cat will come into the bathroom when you are
there and expect you to turn on her "drinking fountain"! ;-)

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"I really think Canada should get over to Iraq as quickly as possible"
- Paul Martin - April 30, 2003
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