HELP !!!!!!.....Flexible toilet waste pipe or rigid?????

[PJ-uk]

Hi there,

I have a serious question to ask and hope someone here can help me.

Yesterday I heard water dripping in the bathroom and soon realized it water leaking from the toilet. Initially I thought it was only coming from the pan connector but soon realized it was actually coming from the seal where the 45deg rigid pipe connects to the main waste pipe. Water was everywhere and the second I touched the stop valve, it just ended up spraying everywhere making even more flooding. I finally managed to get to the mains and shut the water off but the damage was already done.

My set up is (bear with me guys)...the main 4” rigid waste pipe comes through the wall about a foot and a half which then connects to another 4” rigid 45deg pipe. That then goes to the back of the toilet and connects to a short pan connector which obviously then connects to the pan.

In a mad panic, we contacted our insurance company and ultimately, after about 3 hours, they ended up sending out a plumber. He was in the house for maybe 2 minutes and after taking a few pictures, went back to his van to make some calls. When he returned, he advised that he couldn’t go ahead with the repairs because the toilet had been incorrectly installed and would not be covered by our insurance.
When I asked him what part of the system was faulty, he explained that there should be a flexible connector on the back of the toilet rather than the rigid existing waste pipe.

I won’t explain what happened next as I would be banned from the forum.

No matter what we said, as soon as the plumber mentioned incorrect installation to the insurance company, they won’t budge and we have to fix it ourselves at our expense.

Am I just mad or would it be fair for me to say that the vast majority of toilets in the UK would NOT have flexible pipes fitted??????

Does anyone know why a plumber would say my toilet (which was probably fitted 20 years ago if not longer) would be classed as being incorrectly installed???
His point of contention was specifically regarding the lack of flexi pipe, nothing else.


Any opinions would be very much appreciated!!!

PJ

 

[denso13]

Any photos?

 

[PJ-uk]

Hi denso13

I tried to take some photos but because of the layout in the bathroom, and the fact that the most of the back of the toilet is enclosed within the porcelain itself, proper pictures are nearly impossible

 

[terryplumb]

Your post doesn't make much sense to be honest.
You need to show some pics ,and explain what exactly is spraying water everywhere.

 

[PJ-uk]

I know it is a difficult one to comment on without being able to see photos of the installation but it's impossible to see anything without the use of mirrors and torches...which is confusing enough in person, let alone taking a picture. The only way to take photos is to unbolt the whole toilet but I wasn't game to do anything like that just yet.

Also, different terminology gets a bit confusing as well sorry. What I meant was as soon as my screwdriver touched the adjustment screw on the isolator valve, water started spraying out everywhere. That problem was sorted out as soon as I shut off the mains water supply but that was a nightmare to access so the bathroom was already a swimming pool.

*** There has been a bit of an odd update to this story***
The original plumber who was suppose to turn up today, hadn't been cancelled by the insurance company so I asked him to take a quick look and get his opinion on the whole flex pipe thing. As it turns out, there was a slight issue with the way things had been installed but that wasn't the whole story.
Unbelievably it seems to have come down to weighing up the cost of him doing the repair, against the contract pricing they receive for minor jobs like this one (Minor if you are a plumber ) Put simply, it seems easier and cheaper for them to turn down a job using a conveniently small technicality, than to actually carry out the repairs.

In a way I do understand it...BUT, it comes at a huge cost to folks like me who get left to pick up the pieces....literally!!!!
Thankfully, today's plumber has explained the job and somehow convinced the insurance company to accept our claim so we are now waiting for an appointment and jobs a good'n.

What I was really looking for initially was advice as to whether or not there was some sort of building regs issue regarding the use of flex pipe because that's the impression we got from the plumber last night. However, I now know that's not the case at all so apologies for any confusion.

 

[terryplumb]

Thanks for the explanation ,although I have no idea exactly what your plumbing problem is ,but glad you are going to get it sorted on your insurance cover. I hate insurance company's who are happy taking your money ,but try to get out of coughing up when you need them.
Rant over...Happy new year

 

[kidgreen61]

If water is "spraying everywhere", it's not the soil pipe to blame.
Sounds like a 10 min fix to me