We are making steady progress with our master ensuite, and it's time to install the toilet. All credit goes to Hubby for the work on this one as my skillset doesn't yet extend to plumbing. I just helped out by holding stuff and bringing cups of tea!
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Supplies
You will need:
- Toilet (with toilet seat and fixings)
- Flexible tap connector (one with a valve is best)
- Flexible pan connector
- Plumbing tape (optional)
- Wrench
- 2x Hanger bolts
- Silicone
- Silicone gun (caulking gun)
- Masking tape
- Drill
- Drill bits for tile and wood/masonry
- Flat-headed screwdriver
- Washing-up liquite/dish soap
Installation
Before starting, you will see that there are two services in place for the toilet: the water supply and the soil pipe. The soil pipe has a temporary plug in it to prevent dangerous and odorous fumes from escaping. Hubby already fit a flexible tap connector to the water supply when we were tiling the floor - here's what those pieces look like, with the water inlet coming from the right side in this example. The brass ring is a compression olive that ensures a watertight seal.
The tap connector we used has an isolation valve incorporated into it that enables the water to be shut on or off, so we don't need to drain the system to work on the toilet installation. If you don't have such a valve on the water inlet, be sure to drain the system first!
Next, Hubby marked the position for the bolts onto the floor. Then he used a special tile bit to start drilling the holes. When through the tile, he changed the drill bit to suit the substrate - in this case it was wood underneath, but if the floor underneath your tiles is concrete, you will need a masonry bit for that part.
With the bolts secured into the floor, he temporarily placed the toilet into position and used masking tape to mark its outline onto the floor. This makes it easier to set the toilet into place later on.
Next, he fitted the pan connector onto the back of the toilet. The flexible ones are easier to use than the rigid ones, which require that the toilet be positioned precisely or otherwise they may leak - and you definitely won't want that! Using washing-up liquid (dish soap) to lubricate the joint helps it to fit on more easily.
He removed the filter from underneath the toilet and wrapped plumbing tape around the threaded connection to ensure a watertight seal. This is probably not absolutely necessary, but it certainly doesn't hurt to do it.
He used a wrench to attach the flexible tap connector to the filter connection ...
... and fit the filter back into place underneath the toilet. The other end of the tap connector is attached to the water supply coming out of the floor.
Next he removed the temporary plug from the soil pipe and pushed the pan connector into it.
If you look closely at the connection on the water supply, you will see the little brass shut-off valve. When it's perpendicular to the hose, it's in the off position - as seen in the photo above. The next step is to open that valve by using a flat-headed screwdriver to turn it a quarter turn so that it is parallel to the hose. The cistern should now start to fill with water. The reason for opening the valve now, before installation is complete, is so that we can check for leaks while the connection is still accessible. It is important to be vigilant and give it time, as a small leak might only produce a few drops over the course of several hours. Once we were certain that the connection was watertight, we could proceed with the installation.
Fit the toilet seat now while the bolts underneath can easily be reached, as it's extremely awkward to try to do this when the toilet is in position against the wall.
At this stage the toilet is actually fully operational, although it's not in the correct position yet. To give it extra stability, Hubby used a silicone gun (caulking gun) to spread some silicone on the wall where it will contact the cistern.
Then he lifted the toilet into position over the bolts in the floor. This is where that masking tape outline we made earlier on the floor comes in really handy - with water in the cistern, the toilet is now quite heavy and difficult to manoeuvre into position, so having a clear target to aim for makes the job much easier.
We placed a strip of masking tape around the base of the toilet. In conjunction with the taped outline on the floor, this helps to get a really neat finish for the next part: running a bead of silicone sealant around the bottom edge of the toilet.
After applying sealant all the way around the base, Hubby wet his finger and smoothed out the silicone.
Before the silicone dries, remove the masking tape to reveal a perfectly neat seal all around the base of the toilet.
Finally, place the cistern lid on top of the toilet.
And that's it! I recommend allowing the silicone to fully set before putting the "throne" to use.
