New build and toilet stains

diystarter7

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Postik said:

Thanks for your replies. There are actually 3 toilets, and they are all the same. I am wondering if the previous owners used limescaler remover and left it on too long (perhaps went on holiday or something) and it destroyed the finish. Or it was a bad batch of toilets. Seems very odd as in my old house I would leave the cleaner on overnight and never had an issue.

diystarter7 said:

High that cleaner you used may have damaged you toilet pan as we used it and went out forgetting to flush the toilet for several hours. Took several attempts of hard work to make it like new again.

We have several w/c's in our house and do not allow anyone to do a "number 2" in the one off the hall.

Thanks

How did you get it like new again?

As per my first post on this thread, it took hard work, ie elbow grease and we used flash bathroom. Mrs Diy gave up but I persevered and used old credit card, the corners of these -  pur hot water over the areas and get  old cotton material and ideally white as they will colour fast the w/c and you don't want that - then gentle and hard work on your hands and knees - use the flash bathoom cleaner as less abrasvie - saved us getting new w'c.  Now urine stains etc just wash away.

Do it over a couple of days and hold the pan as well your don't want that to move

If the glazed surface has been removed or wasn't there to start with then no amount of "elbow grease" will restore it to  a "like new" condition.

It is the equivalent of suggesting that having used a power sander to remove the paint from a car to bare metal, it can be restored to "like new" by hard work with T-Cut or Turtle Wax.

Once the surface material has gone it has gone.  Potentially it could be replaced by a professional repairer (analogous with having the car resprayed), but the cost would be prohibitive compared to the cost of a new toilet pan.

If it worked for you then whatever problem you had was very different to what the OP is describing.  They could scrub the surface with "flash bathroom" for centuries and it still won't re-glaze the pan and make it non-porous.

Hi

About "glazed surface removed"  is irrelevant to the post of mine your quoted,

I was clearly stating the use of the toilet Gel, leaving it on for too long and getting a rough finnish, and  then us doing as per my previous post you quoted and getting a puka result.

Thanks

Section62

diystarter7 said:

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Postik said:

Thanks for your replies. There are actually 3 toilets, and they are all the same. I am wondering if the previous owners used limescaler remover and left it on too long (perhaps went on holiday or something) and it destroyed the finish. Or it was a bad batch of toilets. Seems very odd as in my old house I would leave the cleaner on overnight and never had an issue.

diystarter7 said:

High that cleaner you used may have damaged you toilet pan as we used it and went out forgetting to flush the toilet for several hours. Took several attempts of hard work to make it like new again.

We have several w/c's in our house and do not allow anyone to do a "number 2" in the one off the hall.

Thanks

How did you get it like new again?

As per my first post on this thread, it took hard work, ie elbow grease and we used flash bathroom. Mrs Diy gave up but I persevered and used old credit card, the corners of these -  pur hot water over the areas and get  old cotton material and ideally white as they will colour fast the w/c and you don't want that - then gentle and hard work on your hands and knees - use the flash bathoom cleaner as less abrasvie - saved us getting new w'c.  Now urine stains etc just wash away.

Do it over a couple of days and hold the pan as well your don't want that to move

If the glazed surface has been removed or wasn't there to start with then no amount of "elbow grease" will restore it to  a "like new" condition.

It is the equivalent of suggesting that having used a power sander to remove the paint from a car to bare metal, it can be restored to "like new" by hard work with T-Cut or Turtle Wax.

Once the surface material has gone it has gone.  Potentially it could be replaced by a professional repairer (analogous with having the car resprayed), but the cost would be prohibitive compared to the cost of a new toilet pan.

If it worked for you then whatever problem you had was very different to what the OP is describing.  They could scrub the surface with "flash bathroom" for centuries and it still won't re-glaze the pan and make it non-porous.

Hi

About "glazed surface removed"  is irrelevant to the post of mine your quoted,

I was clearly stating the use of the toilet Gel, leaving it on for too long and getting a rough finnish, and  then us doing as per my previous post you quoted and getting a puka result.

Thanks

The OP believes that something has destroyed the finish of their toilet, i.e. it has removed the glazed surface.

I was just pointing out that the hard work described in your toilet story won't restore a finish which has been removed, so that the toilet would be in a "like new" condition again.

This wasn't made clear in your post I quoted - and it would be unfair to the OP or anyone with a similar problem to make them think that hours of "elbow grease" can produce a "like new" result when permanent irreversible damage has already happened.

Whatever you did may have worked for you, but it won't be a solution to the OP's problem if it is what they believe it to be.

YoungBlueEyes

I was thinking limescale too.

When I moved into my last house (hard water area) the loo looked like it had been bleached but not properly cleaned. I poured a big bottle of cheapo cola into the bowl and left it overnight, flushed in the morning - worked a treat. Then every time I cleaned I took the lid off the cistern and poured some vinegar in there, so it got a bit of de-limescaling with each flush.  

If either of those things don't help, seems like you'll need a new loo.

Postik

Thanks for your replies all.  I'm becoming fairly convinced that the glazed finish has been destroyed.  I find it very hard to believe because I used to attack my old toilet with all kinds of acids and scrubbing brushes and it was never a problem.  The toilets are 4 years old and there are 3 of them.

I used Harpic Power on one of them as a test and I've always found this to shift limescale quickly in the past - in this instance it made no difference apart from staining the bowl blue.

When I look very close to the rim (where the water comes out) it looks like there is powder baked on at the edges.  However I can't get rid of it no matter how much I scrub and I've tried Harpic Power, limescale remover and vinegar.  I am wondering if the baked on powder is actually just the edge of where the glazed finish has been etched and meets the original non-damaged finish.

The sinks, taps, dishwasher and washing machine all look pristine, so it would be a bit strange for the toilets to be completely covered in limescale.

To complicate matters the flooring has been cut around the toilets rather than laid underneath, and the brand of toilet (Sottini) doesn't seem to be readily available for sale to the public.

Section62

Postik said:

To complicate matters the flooring has been cut around the toilets rather than laid underneath, and the brand of toilet (Sottini) doesn't seem to be readily available for sale to the public.

You could try emailing the manufacturer's technical department and ask if they have heard of such a problem. Do it sounding as a genuine enquiry rather than fishing for compo and they might offer advice.

I've never seen total removal of glaze from sanitaryware as a result of using normal domestic cleaning products.  Localised damage is always a possibility, but stripping large areas of glaze suggests there was a manufacturing problem, or the previous owners put something unusual in their toilet pans but not in anything else.

Postik

Just a quick update on this.  I contacted the manufacturer to enquire what the issue could be.  They asked to see some photos, so I sent a photo of the staining.  They then asked to see photos of all sides of the toilet so they could identify the model and send out a replacement - I didn't specifically ask for this but I believe they are guaranteed for 25 years.

However, when it transpired there are 3 toilets in the house, all with the same issue, they back-tracked and said they think it's limescale, and to use Viakal.

Viakal didn't make any difference.  In the end I used cream cleaner and a microfibre and scrubbed until I almost had no fingers left.  The situation has improved in the sense that poop no longer leaves staining and can be brushed off with a toilet brush.  However, blue toilet cleaner still stains the bowl.

The toilets are smoother than they were, but still don't have a high gloss finish like the outside does.  It's still a mystery whether the finish has been stripped/etched via some kind of weird cleaning product, or whether it is a manufacturing fault.  Given the situation isn't perfect but has improved somewhat, I'm inclined to live with it for now.

sew_what

Nancy Birtwhistle (bake off winner) has a "recipe" for a green toilet cleaner that uses citric acid - many swear by it.  It wouldn't be fair of me to copy from her book, but Villeroy & boch say " Citric acid is very commonly used to clean toilets. This is because It smells pleasantly fresh and is less pungent than vinegar. Mix two to three tablespoons of citric acid powder with one litre of water – always add the water to the bucket before the citric acid to avoid splashes"
Citric acid isn't pricey from somewhere like Wilko

plumb1_2

Limescale? Most probably tile grout put down the wc by the builder’s tilers.

YoungBlueEyes

Erm at the risk of sounding like a petulant child - how is that fair?!

If one needs replaced they’re ok with that, but 3 means backtracking to it’s a limescale problem. 

That’d make me not be inclined to live with it…. 

Section62

YoungBlueEyes said:

If one needs replaced they’re ok with that, but 3 means backtracking to it’s a limescale problem. 

Possibly because one might lead them to think a manufacturing issue was plausible, all three in the same property tends towards an environmental issue (aka what's being flushed)?

All three toilets are likely to have the same water supply, ergo limescale from the water is a prime candidate.