Luxury Vinyl Planks - MUST remove toilet?

Maffy52

Hi, planning to fit Luxury vinyl planks in the bathroom (5 mm thick on a 1mm underlay).

I was planning to cut them around the toilet and sink (3mm gap), then seal all the edges with sealant.

I've been told this won't work and I have to lift the toilet and sink to fit LVP's.

Anyone have any experience of doing this. Do I HAVE to take up the toilet and sink?

Thanks.

Famau

I had this done (LVT SPC)_ last year. The fitter cut around then sealed. It may not look 100% as good as having the loo sitting on the planks - but it is fine. And less bother if you need to remove/change them in future. So I'd say crack on and cut around !

grumpy_codger

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6681191/luxury-vinyl-planks-must-remove-toilet

I've been told this won't work and I have to lift the toilet and sink to fit LVP's.

This will work, but will be a botch.

By 'sink' do you mean the pedestal? Normally both the toilet (if it has an isolating valve) and the pedestal are easy to remove and then put back, on the top of the new flooring, but this depends. Some photos?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117098#Comment_82117098

Will depend on the type of toilet… if its a back to wall type then raising it higher will be more complex as you will have to deal with the pipe from the concealed cistern and the hole it emerges from to connect to the toilet

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117076#Comment_82117076

LVT and SPC are usually seen as two seperate products.

LVT is more the luxury end and consists of mainly pure PVC ( vinyl), whilst SPC also contains significant amounts of cheap mineral filler. This makes it harder underfoot and more brittle, ( and cheaper) .

Sometimes the marketing can be confusing ( deliberately)

FreeBear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117166#Comment_82117166

And if it a close coupled pan/cistern, if you split the two, the rubber donut should be replaced on reassembly.

bjorn_toby_wilde

Hell of a lot of work to move them.

Unless connected with flexis all the pipework would need moving and then new mounting holes drilled in the wall for the basin and cistern just 5mm above the existing holes. What a PITA.

It’s not a bodge to cut around. It’s what good flooring fitters do all the time.

grumpy_codger

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117383#Comment_82117383

It’s what good flooring fitters do all the time.

Well, this depends on how one defines 'good'.

By my standards they are bad, but this depends on other factors that the job complexity depends upon. LVT in a toilet will last for decades. It's well worth some extra effort to be done nicely.

bjorn_toby_wilde

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117540#Comment_82117540

I’m just imagining the conversation in the flooring shop.

“Yes, no problem sir. We can fit your new flooring next week but first our plumber will need to call the day before to remove the basin and toilet. After the flooring has been fitted he’ll be round again to refit everything.”

“Holes in the wall sir? Tiles no longer aligned to the basin? Repainting around the basin and toilet that are now higher than they were? We’ve never had any complaints sir.”

grumpy_codger

Yes, that's the problem with so called 'good' fitters. Their skills don't spread beyond fitting. How boring! Once I saw a 'good' decorator painting a wall where some plaster fell apart. After all, he was a good 'painter', not a plasterer.

And, with some care, a pedestal can be temporarily removed without taking a basin away. The fixing holes in a basin with a pedestal are usually big enough to allow for some extra thickness (if any) of LVT. Tiles don't have to be aligned to the basin. With a toilet it can be more complicated, but not necessarily.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117560#Comment_82117560

Guess you dont go for the old "jack of all trades, master of none" idiom then?

Accept you dont always need the best of the best and sometimes ok is good enough but for some jobs a specialist is better than a generalist.