Toilets

[Mad Doug Biker]

Hello, sorry if this has been asked before, but are sistens designed to leak if there is a problem??

I am wanting to seal up a small gap between the back of the toilet bowl (just behind the seat) and the sistern in my Dad's house as he just pisses everywhere and it is running down the back and collecting on the floor below, meaning that the place is stinking.

My brother tells me not to seal anything as the sistern is designed to leak if there is a problem, but this sounds like bollox to me.

The toilet can still be accessed at the back, so it can still
flood out if needed.

The gap in question. Is that designed to expel liquid too?

It is just the bit at the top behind the seat that I want to seal.

Can anyone inform me more?

The rest of it:

 

[lenfield]

Traditional WCs had an overflow pipe. Modern ones bypass the flushing mechanism and just flow into the pan.

Take the top off yours and pour some water in so that it goes past the maximum level. I suspect the excess will just flow into the pan.

 

[richardfm]

That gap isn't needed.
A better solution would be for your dad to sit down for a pee.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

That gap isn't needed.
A better solution would be for your dad to sit down for a pee.

Aye and pigs might fly, he's 79 and never peed "like a woman" ever! 🙄🤦‍♂️

No, he'd rather spray the place like an over hyper 3 year old, never clean any of it up and then call it "being a man".

Yes, he really is that stupid/stubborn.

 

[yello]

A better solution would be for your dad to sit down for a pee.

Yep yep yep, happens to us all.

I don't agree with the brother, I see no issue with a bead of silicone sealant across the gap - and I can see the sense in it. At least then, in this non ideal masculin world, you'll have less difficult to get to wee to clean up.

The only issue (I can think of) is having to remove the sealant should you wish to remove/change cistern or toilet - and that's not a show stopper.

 

[annedonnelly]

Yes, he really is that stupid/stubborn.

Or just elderly and not wanting to admit that he can't do everything he used to.

 

[yello]

Or just elderly and not wanting to admit that he can't do everything he used to.

Yes indeed. I'm approaching that same description.

Sometimes, I don't even know that I'm no longer able until the results are staring me in the face (and I don't necessarily mean peeing on the floor!) Aging can be cruel.

 

[yello]

Thanks guys but I really don't need hugs! I'm not downbeat about it, I kinda find it funny even. Mea culpa: my delivery can be bare bones and I realise that makes it open to interpretation but, believe me, it's intended to be humorous.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

No expertise but is there a risk that if you put silicon across the front water will still leack, collect and start running round the back.

Has the rubber seal between the cistern and the pan perished or was it fitted with muck left between or just worked lose over time?

Debatably a bigger (or easier) job but maybe check the seal. I say maybe/maybe not as I've always felt that silicon needs to be applied to a completely dry surface and if it's leaking you'll need to completely empty the cistern (to stop water to allow it all to dry, then dry it (hairdryer), etc.

Or maybe I'm wrong (no expertise, just some DIY).

 

[a.twiddler]

The problem doesn't seem to be the cistern. Surely even if there's sealant across the join between the cistern and the pan, excess urine will still escape each side and collect on the floor. Perhaps your dad is losing his self awareness, denying that his behaviour is causing a problem for others. Perhaps also his sense of smell. The obvious solution is for him to sit down to pee but if he's lost the mental flexibility to adapt to this need for change, perhaps feeling that his self perception as a male is threatened, it will be tough to change his behaviour. Even with sealant, absorbent pads on the floor, and air freshener, the original problem remains. I bet he doesn't have problems with urinals, though he probably wouldn't want one in the house. Perhaps he's as distressed about the situation as others are, but can't express it.

Does your dad have problems with his flow, something that a urologist might be able to sort out? Sometimes things don't happen in isolation.
A lot of chaps in his age range have problems in that department.

I wonder if a chat with an adviser on disability aids or Occupational Therapist might turn up some sort of toilet top splashguard which might be acceptable to him and cut down the workload? Or have a look online.

The least worst option might be to get him to pee in the bathroom sink if he's tall enough. Sounds horrible at first hearing but it's a familiar object, needs no alterations to anything, is hard to miss and is easy to clean. He might object to the idea as much as sitting down to pee but it's an alternative practical idea, depending on who else is likely to want to use it for the more usual purposes.

Perhaps I've wandered far from the original query about sealant? Just some thoughts.

 

[oxoman]

Between the cistern and the pan is a large donut seal that is secured at the back by usually 2 wing nuts. As long as no movement between the cistern and pan when you sit on it then you can seal it up. It has to be squeaky clean and dry and given plenty of time to dry off. However expect to replace it occasionally as pee will discolour it and work its way under the sealant eventually. Also if sprayed with pee in may abandon expect pools either side the pan. You could always install a urinal in an outside loo if you have one.

 

[SuffolkBlue]

Yes, he really is that stupid/stubborn.

Can't really help with the cistern issue but when you've got some time look up "micturition syncope" especially in older men.

My elderly Father passed out mid pee in the night. He managed to wedge himself between the toilet and the radiator. The radiator came on with the timer in the morning and it burnt his backside. TBH it was the start of an insidious decline in his health - up until then he had been very independent.