Trying to find flush fitting toilet bolt caps - any ideas?

Spikeygran

When we did our bathroom years back the toilet was supplied with huge dome/ egg shaped bolt covers which stuck out like something from a sci-fi movie.  

I just wanted something that was flush with the porcelain for easy cleaning.  So in the end we fitted the washer part of the caps and added some silicone sealant finished flush to the top of the bolt.  It was only supposed to be a temporary solution thinking I'd find some more discrete caps eventually.  I've been looking again and it seems theres still little choice other than the dome shaped ones. The silicone needs pulling out and redoing so thought I'd try again.  

I've found a few similar to mirror fittings but all are a bit small and also have the washer part hinged. They cant be fitted without removing the bolts, which obviously carries a slight breakage risk so dont really want to chance it.  I briefly considered ceramic tap indices but the ones with no H/C markings I found were too large.

Does anyone have any ideas or  point me to a more specialist plumbing company?  All the online sellers and the plumbing / DIY chains seem to have exactly same stock.  What have other people done ?

Emmia

Spikeygran said:

When we did our bathroom years back the toilet was supplied with huge dome/ egg shaped bolt covers which stuck out like something from a sci-fi movie.  

I just wanted something that was flush with the porcelain for easy cleaning.  So in the end we fitted the washer part of the caps and added some silicone sealant finished flush to the top of the bolt.  It was only supposed to be a temporary solution thinking I'd find some more discrete caps eventually.  I've been looking again and it seems theres still little choice other than the dome shaped ones. The silicone needs pulling out and redoing so thought I'd try again.  

I've found a few similar to mirror fittings but all are a bit small and also have the washer part hinged. They cant be fitted without removing the bolts, which obviously carries a slight breakage risk so dont really want to chance it.  I briefly considered ceramic tap indices but the ones with no H/C markings I found were too large.

Does anyone have any ideas or  point me to a more specialist plumbing company?  All the online sellers and the plumbing / DIY chains seem to have exactly same stock.  What have other people done ?

Where are these bolts (sorry, trying to visualise the situation) is this a floor mounted toilet, or wall hung toilet?

Amazon has these for the floor mount bolts - but they are "egg shaped" to accommodate the bolt 
2 Pair Toilet Bolt Cap, Round Toilet Bolt Covers, Push On Bolt Cap, Toilet Seat Floor Cap for Toilet Bowl Screws, White Screw Covers Bathtub Accessories https://amzn.eu/d/8p9AIuo

Etsy has "decorative" caps -  so should you fancy a cactus or a fish instead...
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/674512209/cactus-ceramic-toilet-caps-in-a-beige

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/674682655/ceramic-toilet-bolt-caps-fish-toilet

Snowmen and Christmas trees are also available!

RipleyG

How about a bottle of white nail varnish? Although it won't cover the shape, the colour and gloss finish should fade them into the background. Cheaper than a tube of silicone (less than £3) and can be removed with nail varnish remover if ever you need to unscrew. 

Spikeygran

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going round fixing a few minor annoyances, there always seems to be something left over from a project, usually because I cant find what I want to finish.

It is a traditional floor sitting bowl as in the etsy examples but mines much neater with just the  bolt end showing  about 5mm above the porcelain.  So the egg /dome shaped covers are 3 times bigger than necessary. It was a case of the bolt end being more attractive and practical than the cover. 

I've seen some frogs too, really cute. But I wanted to hide them rather than make a feature of them.  I dont really want anything sticking out when cleaning the outside. I hadn't thought of etsy, the first one would be OK if it was smaller and white, I will have to investigate. 

I'm not sure whether nail varnish would last, but enamel paint or that plasticote paint might be a more permanent solution?

Emmia

Spikeygran said:

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going round fixing a few minor annoyances, there always seems to be something left over from a project, usually because I cant find what I want to finish.

It is a traditional floor sitting bowl as in the etsy examples but mines much neater with just the  bolt end showing  about 5mm above the porcelain.  So the egg /dome shaped covers are 3 times bigger than necessary. It was a case of the bolt end being more attractive and practical than the cover. 

I've seen some frogs too, really cute. But I wanted to hide them rather than make a feature of them.  I dont really want anything sticking out when cleaning the outside. I hadn't thought of etsy, the first one would be OK if it was smaller and white, I will have to investigate. 

I'm not sure whether nail varnish would last, but enamel paint or that plasticote paint might be a more permanent solution?

I'd avoid anything that can't be easily removed - plasticote or enamel model paint sound a nightmare to get off if you needed to 

Emmia

Would some white heat shrink tubing work, cut, twisted and folded back on itself before being  heated and shrunk to fit.

This is a 5m roll which is far too much, but it's not expensive and comes in different diameters

https://amzn.eu/d/j74jn0U

Emmia

Or perhaps something like these rubber end caps.

https://amzn.eu/d/eSViGUa

Spikeygran

Theres not really enough protruding for shrink tubing or the rubber end caps.

I think this is more of the shape I need, and these do come in various sizes, but really wanted something ceramic that blends in to the porcelain without being obvious.  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DK89MFWL/?coliid=I38G3X7FZKOD6C&colid=XD75DJA9MT79&th=1

I found some larger ceramic tap indices earlier which I thought might do,   but all with h/c or a branding logo no plain white ones.

Spikeygran

My bolts are like this with only the top bit (in the red rectangle) visible above the porcelain.