Just finished installing the loo in my new shower room. One of B&Qs
finest (Barcelona IIRC). I was rather surprised to find that the pan
only has two screw fixings right at the back of its pedestal and nothing
at all at the front. The (close coupled) cistern sits on the back of the
pan and is attached by two feeble plastic wing nuts that are in a
sufficiently inaccessible place as to be difficult to get much more than
finger tight, and the cistern does not fix to anything. The net result
is a loo not too far off being mobile!

Are they all this bad these days?

Anyway, having made sure there are no leaks between the close coupled
bits, I have siliconed them together (at the same time as sealing the
join between pan and cistern), and placed a couple of large blobs of
silicone behind the cistern to fix it to the wall. Hopefully when that
has set it should all feel a bit more rigid.


--
Cheers,

John.

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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
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"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Just finished installing the loo in my new shower room. One of B&Qs finest
(Barcelona IIRC). I was rather surprised to find that the pan only has two
screw fixings right at the back of its pedestal and nothing at all at the
front. The (close coupled) cistern sits on the back of the pan and is
attached by two feeble plastic wing nuts that are in a sufficiently
inaccessible place as to be difficult to get much more than finger tight,
and the cistern does not fix to anything. The net result is a loo not too
far off being mobile!

Are they all this bad these days?

Anyway, having made sure there are no leaks between the close coupled
bits, I have siliconed them together (at the same time as sealing the join
between pan and cistern), and placed a couple of large blobs of silicone
behind the cistern to fix it to the wall. Hopefully when that has set it
should all feel a bit more rigid.


--
Cheers,

John.

There is a special socket to do up the wingnuts. My cistern bolts to the
wall, the pan is bedded in mortar and screwed to the floor. Nothing moves.

mrcheerful

Must say I am surprised that the cistern doesn't fix to the wall. Done 3
recently and they all had holes in the back at the top to screw to the wall.
Two screws through the pan should be ok but the screws need to be up to the
job and in brass with rubber bushings to prevent the pan cracking around the
hole. Is the floor wooden or concrete? Just recently i had to redo the cold
cistern feed with a flexy as when the toilet was sat on the pan moved the
close coupled cistern which moved the copper fed cold feed pipe from below
and caused a leak Whole thing was too rigid even allwing a bit of movement
on the cistern wall screws. The toilet should be solid and firm where you
have fixed it. No problem on a chipboard or T&G floor but if on concrete,
check that the rawlplugs are firm in their holes and that the screws are not
bottoming in the plugs. If they are, redrill the holes deeper and replug
and refit with the right screws. I would say that with only a 2 screw
fixing, they need to be in the concrete at least 40mm so you will need
65-70mm screws. Make sure that they both go in at about 20 degrees inwards
so the screwheads seat correctly in the recesses in the pan mounting holes.
If the floor is not level you will need to pack the front underneath of the
pan to level it up. Old marley tiles are ideal. Recheck for mounting holes
inside the cistern because if it stays loose to the wall there is a risk of
a leak at the doughnut seal especially if the connector kit is using plastic
screws. Do not let the existing cold feed pipe - whatever form it takes -
dictate where the toilet/cistern combination is fixed. Fix the
toilet/cistern and then pipe to the underside for the cold inlet, modifying
if necessary so that there is no strain at all on the tap connector/ball
valve joint and the fibre washer has a chance. Have all plumbers stripped
the thread on a brand new plastic valve trying to make the connection have
it?!


"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Just finished installing the loo in my new shower room. One of B&Qs finest
(Barcelona IIRC). I was rather surprised to find that the pan only has two
screw fixings right at the back of its pedestal and nothing at all at the
front. The (close coupled) cistern sits on the back of the pan and is
attached by two feeble plastic wing nuts that are in a sufficiently
inaccessible place as to be difficult to get much more than finger tight,
and the cistern does not fix to anything. The net result is a loo not too
far off being mobile!

Are they all this bad these days?

Anyway, having made sure there are no leaks between the close coupled
bits, I have siliconed them together (at the same time as sealing the join
between pan and cistern), and placed a couple of large blobs of silicone
behind the cistern to fix it to the wall. Hopefully when that has set it
should all feel a bit more rigid.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

mrcheerful . wrote:

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...

Just finished installing the loo in my new shower room. One of B&Qs finest
(Barcelona IIRC). I was rather surprised to find that the pan only has two
screw fixings right at the back of its pedestal and nothing at all at the
front. The (close coupled) cistern sits on the back of the pan and is
attached by two feeble plastic wing nuts that are in a sufficiently
inaccessible place as to be difficult to get much more than finger tight,
and the cistern does not fix to anything. The net result is a loo not too
far off being mobile!

Are they all this bad these days?

Anyway, having made sure there are no leaks between the close coupled
bits, I have siliconed them together (at the same time as sealing the join
between pan and cistern), and placed a couple of large blobs of silicone
behind the cistern to fix it to the wall. Hopefully when that has set it
should all feel a bit more rigid.


--
Cheers,

John.


There is a special socket to do up the wingnuts. My cistern bolts to the
wall, the pan is bedded in mortar and screwed to the floor. Nothing moves.


I glued mine to the floor (tiles) with silicone. One screw was all that
I could get to bite into teh unferlying chipboard...Solid as a rock.

mrcheerful

wounded horse wrote:

Must say I am surprised that the cistern doesn't fix to the wall. Done 3

So was I... but definetly no screw holes through the back of the cistern.

recently and they all had holes in the back at the top to screw to the wall.
Two screws through the pan should be ok but the screws need to be up to the
job and in brass with rubber bushings to prevent the pan cracking around the

It came withc soft plastic bushes and slim 3" coach screws.

hole. Is the floor wooden or concrete? Just recently i had to redo the cold

19mm chipboard suspended floor.

cistern feed with a flexy as when the toilet was sat on the pan moved the
close coupled cistern which moved the copper fed cold feed pipe from below
and caused a leak Whole thing was too rigid even allwing a bit of movement

Its rigid pipework from the cistern to the floor, but then plastic
barrier pipe under the floor (its in a loft conversion hence lots of
joists to navigate over/under/through). So the pipe is able to move if
it needs to.

Just checked last nights silicone fixing treatment, the whole affair
does seem far more rigid now. I think with a bead of silicone round the
perimiter of the cistern, then it will be as good as screwed ;-)



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/