bathroom
Toilet repair and installation
Fitting a replacement WC costs £150 to £350 in labour, and a cistern repair is £80 to £180. A toilet that runs continuously wastes 200 to 400 litres a day, so on a metered supply the repair pays for itself within weeks.
What this covers
What it costs. Fitting a replacement WC costs £150 to £350 in labour. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Replacing close coupled and wall hung WCs
- Curing running and weak flushes
- Cistern, flush valve and fill valve repairs
- Concealed cistern and frame installations
- Macerator units where gravity drainage is not possible
What is involved
Most WC faults are in the cistern and cost very little to fix. A flush valve whose seal has perished lets water pass into the pan continuously, which shows as a permanent trickle down the back of the bowl. A fill valve that has not shut off sends water to the overflow, which on a modern internal overflow means it goes into the pan rather than out through the wall, so a running toilet is easy to miss and expensive on a meter.
Replacing a WC is straightforward when the new pan matches the old on the soil connection and the fixing centres. A close coupled pan swapped for another close coupled pan is a morning. A close coupled pan swapped for a wall hung unit is a different job: the frame has to be fixed to the structure, boxed in, and the soil connection moved up, and that usually means the wall being rebuilt.
Where there is no gravity route to a soil stack, a macerator takes the waste, grinds it and pumps it through small bore pipe to the stack. It works, and it is often the only way to put a cloakroom under stairs. It also imposes rules: nothing but paper goes down it, it needs power, and it is noisy. Building regulations require a macerator installation to have access to a gravity WC elsewhere in the property.
Replacing close coupled and wall hung WCs, one of the jobs a toilets specialist is hired for.
Choosing someone for the job
Measure the distance from the wall to the centre of the soil pipe before choosing a replacement pan, because that dimension decides which pans will fit. Ask whether the quote includes a new pan connector and fixings. For a concealed cistern, ask how the flush valve will be accessed when it eventually fails, because a serviceable panel is the difference between an hour and a day.
Common questions
Why does my toilet keep running?
Usually a flush valve seal that has perished, or a fill valve that is not shutting off. Both are inexpensive parts and an hour's work, and both waste hundreds of litres a day until fixed.
How much does it cost to fit a new toilet?
£150 to £350 in labour for a like for like close coupled swap. A wall hung unit on a concealed frame is £400 to £900 because the frame has to be fixed and boxed in.