Installing A Toilet

[Iolare]

I’ve noticed that most toilets in Thailand are apparently just cemented in place, but I’d much prefer to install the toilets in my new house the western way with a closet flange, bolts and a wax ring. I just returned from checking four different supply shops in Phuket, and couldn’t find any of those parts.

I don’t speak Thai, so I’m not sure I communicated what I wanted well enough to know if the store actually had the parts, but i suspect they did not. One clerk led me to a pneumatic nailing gun after I tried to tell her what I was looking for.

Aside from a shipment from America, does anyone know where to buy these parts? And is the Thai way to just smear the bottom of the toilet with mortar and nest it over the pvc pipe, as I’m thinking my builder would do if I wasn’t involved? That's what I think it is, but maybe there's more to the installation the Thai way.

[chownah]

If you have Home Mart stores there try the best one you can find...that's where I get my toilet stuff but I live in Chiangrai. They sell a kit which contains a flange and a wax ring...I used one and it works perfectly....for some reason they don't sell just the wax ring....but they do sell all of the other parts for the guts of a toilet either in sets for complete rebuild or one piece at a time if you're into saving money.

Chownah

[Iolare]

If you have Home Mart stores there try the best one you can find...that's where I get my toilet stuff but I live in Chiangrai. They sell a kit which contains a flange and a wax ring...I used one and it works perfectly....for some reason they don't sell just the wax ring....but they do sell all of the other parts for the guts of a toilet either in sets for complete rebuild or one piece at a time if you're into saving money.

Chownah

Thanks Chownah,

I'll be in Home Mart on Monday AM for sure. I'm really enjoying the house building experience here in Thailand despite its many challenging moments. I can do the construction business back in the US practically in my sleep, but here just getting a concept across to my workers and having it done is a major challenge, but success is a sweet victory. Difficulty in shagging parts and materials is something that never occurred in the US. But then there were a whole set of different issues like the price of those parts, satisfying building inspectors, and the list could go on for several paragraphs. Thanks again.

[Jandajoy]

If you have Home Mart stores there try the best one you can find...that's where I get my toilet stuff but I live in Chiangrai. They sell a kit which contains a flange and a wax ring...I used one and it works perfectly....for some reason they don't sell just the wax ring....but they do sell all of the other parts for the guts of a toilet either in sets for complete rebuild or one piece at a time if you're into saving money.

Chownah

Thanks Chownah,

I'll be in Home Mart on Monday AM for sure. I'm really enjoying the house building experience here in Thailand despite its many challenging moments. I can do the construction business back in the US practically in my sleep, but here just getting a concept across to my workers and having it done is a major challenge, but success is a sweet victory. Difficulty in shagging parts and materials is something that never occurred in the US. But then there were a whole set of different issues like the price of those parts, satisfying building inspectors, and the list could go on for several paragraphs. Thanks again.

Why on earth would you want to "shag" toilet parts?

I've always thought I was open to anything but "toilet parts" is a new one on me.

[ProThaiExpat]

My wax ring came in the box with the toilet I bought, an American Standard elongated shaped one.

Kohler should also provide the wax ring and bolts with any of their new toilets.

If you have your toilet already and it didn't come with a ring, then I can't help with where to find them separate from the toilet, but Homepro comes to mind.

I caught my construction plumber concreting one of my toilets into place with the wax ring and bolts cast aside. Called the developer who built my house and he came running. He persuaded me that the cemented in one would work fine and not to worry. So I said ok, but the other toilet I want the wax ring used. Both work fine and I haven't had any trouble with either of them. I do believe they use a mixture of "plaster" that can be knocked loose easily after the toilet is lifted if access is desired.

[JimmyTheMook]

I caught my construction plumber concreting one of my toilets into place with the wax ring and bolts cast aside. Called the developer who built my house and he came running. He persuaded me that the cemented in one would work fine and not to worry. So I said ok, but the other toilet I want the wax ring used. Both work fine and I haven't had any trouble with either of them. I do believe they use a mixture of "plaster" that can be knocked loose easily after the toilet is lifted if access is desired.

I wish to have been so lucky. Trying to troubleshoot a leak and just wonder if the damm toilet over the non sealed hole is causing it , Somchai the plumber swears by the Thai method of just gluing the damm bowl in place.

Edited January 26, 2008 by JimmyTheMook

[Frotting]

I've noticed that most toilets in Thailand are apparently just cemented in place, but I'd much prefer to install the toilets in my new house the western way with a closet flange, bolts and a wax ring. I just returned from checking four different supply shops in Phuket, and couldn't find any of those parts.

I don't speak Thai, so I'm not sure I communicated what I wanted well enough to know if the store actually had the parts, but i suspect they did not. One clerk led me to a pneumatic nailing gun after I tried to tell her what I was looking for.

Aside from a shipment from America, does anyone know where to buy these parts? And is the Thai way to just smear the bottom of the toilet with mortar and nest it over the pvc pipe, as I'm thinking my builder would do if I wasn't involved? That's what I think it is, but maybe there's more to the installation the Thai way.

Hi

As somebody else has mentioned below, 'HOMEPRO' is about as good as you'll find. The best being in Pattaya and Bangkok. I guess because Pattaya has a lot of Farang, you can get some good Italian and other bathroom furniture. They also sell the flanges, seals, grommets, etc,. necessary for ensuring your WC seals okay and doesn't leak. The system is slightly different to what I'm used to in the UK. Here all the WCs tend to exit downward through the floor - I haven't yet seen one that exits horizontally through the wall.

Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but there are two standard distances the WC suite is installed from the wall (that I'm aware of). One is about 500mm from centre of exit pipe to the wall, the other a lot longer. I can't remember exactly as I'm not in Thailand right now.

I remember having a real problem getting anything other than cheap PVC pipe for hot and cold (domestic) water system, and wanted to use copper - just as I've been used to it for the last 30 years and think it's superior. I finally found an air conditioning supplier where I could buy copper tube and end-feed solder fittings in Pattaya (I live up north!!). The tube sizes are (strangely enough) imperial and not metric as back home. They have tube from 1/4 inch up to 2 1/2 inch and all the fittings you'd require.

Good Luck

[xerostar]

We had a toilet fitted while I was away .. brand - American Standard.

When I came back a few months later there was a distinct poo-ey smell in the bathroom.

On close inspection there was a brown stain on the floor tile cement near the edge of the bowl.

I asked "the plumber" if he had used a rubber seal. He said "no need!".

I showed him the problem and explained that "of course you need - there's poo coming out from under the bowl!"

If the bowl had been cemented onto the cement floor, maybe we would not have noticed,

but a bowl "cemented" onto shiny floor tiles without a seal? Good grief

(did somebody say "welcome to Thailand"? )

Added to this there were no vent pipes outside, so when we flush, we get a whirlpool and rising water.

A second flush almost makes the bowl overflow until the weight of water sends the whole lot down with a huge

"whoosh" leaving the bowl almost empty.

The plumber placed the sewer pipe so the it's inaccessible (and horizontal) under the concrete floor and runs for several metres

before emerging from under the house and directly into a septic tank which is usually full ..

We had a second septic tank added, that has partly solved the problem.

[Iolare]

In my search for toilet flange and wax ring, I took Chownah’s suggestion and tried the Home Mart in Chalong, but they didn’t have the parts either. So that made it zero for four (including Home Pro), but fortunately they directed me to an American Standard dealer who had a kit containing the flange, a wax ring, and bolts. They’re located in a shophouse on the Bypass Road just north of Lotus on the west side of the highway, for those of you in Phuket who are interested.

As I mentioned in my post about floor drains, i was kind of lured into a happy complacency by the performance of my builder in the early stages of the building project. He proved himself to be competent in the siting and stakeout of the building, the excavation, and the cement work, so when I arrived on site to see the initial plumbing work, I was surprised and disappointed.

If i had been out of the country or just not paying attention, I would have had a situation exactly like Xerostar described. Fortunately the builder and I reworked almost everything and I’m confident that the system, as constructed so far, will perform correctly. He has taken my intervention in good humor so far, and I’ve tried to sell my involvement as wanting to have the system the same as we do it in California. But the fact is that he totally “freelanced” away from the plans, and if covered in concrete I wouldn’t have known until it was too late to correct. By the way, I’ve never seen blue PVC pipe with such a thin side wall as he was using.

Frotting mentioned using copper in the water piping, and I considered it too. In California it’s it’s still the new construction standard, and I’m very comfortable using it, but I’ve been advised that PPR plastic is actually a better choice. It’s strong, heat resistant, a good insulator, nontoxic and not subject to corrosion. It’s installed by heat welding, so it’s a little more bother than gluing PVC, but it’s my choice.