Has anybody had experience (installatioin and/or operation) with residential wall hung toilets? I’ve looked (online) at the Duravit Darling, Caroma Walvit and the Cheviot Model 805. They look great, but I’m apprehensive about buying sight unseen, without unbiased reviews of their performance. This is for new construction. Haven’t had luck finding anybody locally who is familiar with these (I’m in small-town Wisconsin).
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check with your local plumbing supply houses. they are the ones that supply the parts and materials. you want to use what they supply. just ask them. don't buy plumbing on the internet, it's not worth the hassle. The only experience I've had with wall hungs are American Standard.
Ya... have already checked with local plumbing suppliers and have gotten blank looks. They can order whatever I want, of course. They are familiar with commercial wall hungs, such as the flush-valve models offered by American Standard and Kohler. The models I mentioned don't use a commercial type flush-valve, but have a tank which is enclosed in the wall with an access panel. As it seems with everything a little different, they're much more common in Europe. There was a FH article in the last year or two which showed one in a bathroom remodel job, and piqued my interest.
You may want to consider the fact that local plumbers are not going to be skilled at installing or servicing the type of stool you are considering installating. Parts will also be hard to come by as time passes.
FWIW, I've seen then installed in two homes, never had any experience other then looking at them. One home-owner loved theres, the other hated it because of cleaning under it?
What makes you want a wall mounted instead of floor mounted?
Thanks for the feedback (also to hipaul). I like them because I'd rather clean under it than behind it... to each his own, I guess. In general, there is less to clean because the tank is in the wall. Of course I'd really rather have someone else clean it. Also, they take a little less room, so will give me a couple extra inches in a tight spot.
Am not too concerned about installation... have dealt with many tough problems in the past. And for parts... frankly, 'good' internet suppliers have the same customer support they had when they sold it over the phone... or through a sales representative to the local supplier. And delivery time, even out here in the boondocks, can be next-day if I need it (which I never do).
Nevertheless, your points are well taken... eBay is not a 'good' supplier... and I wouldn't be able to pick up a new wax ring (and any other part) almost anywhere. Thanks.
Question about the tank in the wall:
How do you protect against excessive humidity and possible mold in a confined space and also during warm, humid weather conditions? Or, is this not a problem?...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
I put in one of the duravit wall hung toilets on a basement remodel a couple of years back. Correction, the plumber put the toilet in but I got everything framed out and trimmed out for it. I remember it begin pretty critical getting everything framed in nice and tight for the tank. And even though I'm not a big guy, I just never felt comfortable sitting on that thing hung onto the wall with two bolts. I know it would never fail, but I sure do like my toilet sitting on the floor. That being said, it was a really clean look and worked well for the very modern, clean looking bathroom. You need to have an access hole for the tank, something like 8" x 12". If I remember you can also get a little remote button for toilett so that the activator can be a few feet away from the tank.
Probably not much help since it isn't too specific, but I liked the unit overall. It just took a little more work and fussing to get it in snug, and trim out where the access panel would be. (I cut out part of the wood wall and held it back in with magnets) I know other people have put in tile and installed it with caulk instead of grout so they could cut it back out if they needed access (actually I think that might have been in a FH article.)
Paul
I am in a similar situation and I am going with the American Standard Wallhung toilet the Genwall. Check it out here it even gets Terry Love's seal of approval!
http://www.terrylove.com/wc/as/ascadetparf.htm#Glenwall
If you don't know who Terry Love is you gotta check his site out! More info about toilets and toilet forums and man just a lot of toilets...
The glenwall is not cheap you have to buy the base, tank, and wall carrier seperately. It does use the Zurn comercial wall hung 4 bolt bracket so it outta be plenty strong. If you go thru his checkout I think you can get the whole thing for 800 bucks...
Daniel Neumansky
Restoring our second Victorian home this time in Alamdea CA. Check out the blog http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Oakland CA
Crazy Homeowner-Victorian Restorer
Sounds like a fad to me. Already got the granite counter, the brass exhaust tower for the industrial range, twelve sprayers in my shower, all no longer special. What else can I get to show I'm ahead of the pack? I suggest a horse collar toilet seat to complete the image. Who really has a problem cleaning around a floor toilet?
Latest convenience trend in bathrooms is to mosaic tile the floor right up to an 8" flange set into the floor.
No appliance to keep clean, you see.
We installed the Darling last year, the clients are happy with it. As you said it's a euro thing so we had to educate the plumbing inspector, but that wasn't a big deal.
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Our plumber had never installed one but had no trouble. the wall does have to be a minimum 2 x 6 construction.
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Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience. That's what I'm looking for. not arm-chair quarterbacks.
I installed a wall hung toilet as a problem solver, not as a fad/gizmo. Plans changed during construction and the toilet waste line ended up inside the bathroom wall. We didn't want to break up the radiant heated slab to move the line, so the WH toilet worked great.
Now that we've lived with it for over a year we see the other benefits. They do take up less space, look great and are so much more hygienic and easy to clean. We like it so much that the next two bathrooms to be done will get the same.
So far there have been no maintenance issues and it's very solid, even for me at 6'2" & 270lbs.
The one I installed was made by Porche but has been discontinued. It's mounted on a Geberit carrier frame and very similar to the Duravit.
Here's a link to some more pics including the carrier:
http://tinyurl.com/yrr2dt
...Fixed link
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Despite what some say, our economy can't be that bad when McMansion owners ask about wall mounted toilets. I'm quitting for a year and hoping that people get smarter when I log back on in 2009. Bye