Toilet Seat problem driving me mad!!

DebtMagnet

Hi All

I need to replace my toilet seat for the third time this year. Having realised that something is clearly not right I have spent hours and hours researching on the web, and ages driving round looking at toilet seats in DIY shops etc.

Having done all of the above I still don't know what to do to stop my toilet seats breaking and I'm no closer to knowing which seat to buy next.

Every toilet I have looked at in the shops is flat and all the seats for sale are mostly all flat too. My toilet is not really flat at any point and appears to have a slight contour all the way round the pan. Each seat I have bought over the past year has never felt 100%right from the start.

Firstly the seat never seems to sit straight and so I began to think that the holes are not straight and the pan is a slight second or something (I bought the house after it was let for a few years by the last owner)

Anyway I have now realised that the seat doesn't actually sit correctly no matter what I do to adjust it and I think it is down to the fact that the pan is contoured. The back of the seat doesn't actually touch the pan on either side and so I think over time this forces the seat to slip and twist. This then breaks the hinges and usually at some point the actual seat will then crack too.

I have also now noticed that the front supports on the seat only just touch the inside edge of the pan too. It's like the pan edge is too thin or something?

Having compared the measurements to standard sizes on the web, it seems pretty normal, but I can't find another contoured toilet to compare with.

So anyway I'm hoping someone can give me a clue as to what I need to do to stop this crazy situation of seats only lasting a few months max.

I have taken photo's on the link here which may help show what I'm trying to describe.

http://s1188.photobucket.com/albums/z412/DebtMagnet/

The toilet is an Armitage Shanks and was in the house when I bought it so that's all I know.

Any ideas or help will be massively appreciated

Many thanks in advance
DM

vivatifosi

I have what looks like the same toilet and my seat broke too! I made the mistake of taking off the horrible coloured toilet seat that came with it when we bought the house and fitted and nothing I've put on since has been the right shape. Try Armitage Shanks, they may do a seat specifically for it, my answer was to get a new toilet as I wanted a dual flush, but that may be a bit drastic. My house was built mid 1990s, would that fit with times?

27col

I was just going to say what vivatifosi has said, that it looks like that particular toilet requires a specially designed seat. You will need to contact Armitage Shanks about it. In any case toilet seats usually only touch the pan in possibly three or four places. My toilets all require special seats which are quite expensive.

DebtMagnet

Thanks both for the replies!!

I kind of suspected that it may be the actual toilet that is wrong as nothing I can find in any shop is anything like it.

In answer to the year it was built vivatifosi, I don't know without looking in to it but my guess would be late 80's, however the bathroom suite may well have been put in in the mid 90's?

I had checked the Amitage Shanks website but to be honest, I found it quite poor and not of any help.

I will give them a try but if we are talking silly money for a seat, I may just go down the line of buying cheap basic seats and trying to make them last as my plan is to one day replace the whole bathroom suit as it is looking tired (if I ever have the money that is! )

Failing that, I'll just have to hold it all together with Duck tape

Thanks both
DM

pimento

We had a similar problem that was solved when I bought one of these on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SECURE-THAT-TOILET-SEAT-HINGE-PERMANENTLY-QUICKLY_W0QQitemZ320596471725QQihZ011QQcategoryZ37637QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

aboard_epsilon

Looks like you are going to have to move the little support pads to a new position on the underside of the seat ..so they make contact with the pan properly on all pads .

they make these toilet seats generic ..so one size is supposed to fit all ..but not in your case .

so you are going to have to alter it..move the pads ..or hunt around maybe forever for a seat that is right .

all the best.markj

WestonDave

I suspect the problem is caused at least in part by the rim down the two sides at the rear - unless you have a pretty narrow back part to the seat, its going to sit on those slopes as opposed to on its feet. Then when you sit on it, you are effectively forcing the seat down putting stress on the back part of the seat because part of it wants to sit on the slopes and part of it is being pushed down onto its feet. You need to be looking for seats that are narrow at the back - more oval shape than round. If you can measure the gap or even copy the available shape on to some newspaper you can then take that into the plumbers merchants, DIY stores or bathroom shops to find the seat that matches that profile best - bearing in mind that its going to be the narrow back part which is most important.

WestonDave

http://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/Armitage_Shanks_Toilet_Seat_Alternatives.html

http://www.discontinuedbathrooms.co.uk/manufacturers/armitageshanks.htm

Either of these may be helpful if you can work out what the style was called!

DebtMagnet

pimento wrote: »

We had a similar problem that was solved when I bought one of these on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SECURE-THAT-TOILET-SEAT-HINGE-PERMANENTLY-QUICKLY_W0QQitemZ320596471725QQihZ011QQcategoryZ37637QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

Looks like you are going to have to move the little support pads to a new position on the underside of the seat ..so they make contact with the pan properly on all pads .

they make these toilet seats generic ..so one size is supposed to fit all ..but not in your case .

so you are going to have to alter it..move the pads ..or hunt around maybe forever for a seat that is right .

all the best.markj

Thanks both, I really appreciate the advice and will certainly give both ideas a try.

Many thanks
DM

DebtMagnet

WestonDave wrote: »

I suspect the problem is caused at least in part by the rim down the two sides at the rear - unless you have a pretty narrow back part to the seat, its going to sit on those slopes as opposed to on its feet. Then when you sit on it, you are effectively forcing the seat down putting stress on the back part of the seat because part of it wants to sit on the slopes and part of it is being pushed down onto its feet. You need to be looking for seats that are narrow at the back - more oval shape than round. If you can measure the gap or even copy the available shape on to some newspaper you can then take that into the plumbers merchants, DIY stores or bathroom shops to find the seat that matches that profile best - bearing in mind that its going to be the narrow back part which is most important.

I think that is exactly what is happening WestonDave and that is why they just break at the hinges and then everywhere else. When I looked in various places I didn't even think to check the width at the back to be honest.....they just all looked the same so I gave up!

WestonDave wrote: »

http://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/Armitage_Shanks_Toilet_Seat_Alternatives.html

http://www.discontinuedbathrooms.co.uk/manufacturers/armitageshanks.htm

Either of these may be helpful if you can work out what the style was called!

That's really good of you to go to that much trouble. As you say, I don't quite know how I'm going to work out the style......but at least it gives me something to go on and if I can find the style then I should be able to get the perfect seat!!

Really appreciate your advice.

Many thanks
DM

maninthestreet

DebtMagnet wrote: »

......but at least it gives me something to go on

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: