Repair of a crecked plastic toilet seat

[ChrisXenon]

My toilet seat cracked through last week.

It's an unusual design - Cabria Ideal Standard - in that the hinged are higher than the rim of the bowl, meaning the seat curves down to meet it, and no ordinary replacement seat will fit it - it only touched the bowl at the hinges and the very top - the stabilizers are air born and the seat tilts forward. It would crack through very quickly, I imagine, and in any case, looks very odd. The cheapest replacement I can find online is £99, so I want to repair it.

The underside is dished, allowing the chance to use that space to repair it.

Epoxy glue broke on the first outing. My next thought was glass fibre enclosing re-enforcing steel strips stuck to the underside in the concavity, but the guy selling the fibre glass said it may not stick well to the plastic seat. He advised a plastic repair kit, but the only ones I can find are for car bumpers, where strength against flexing is not a concern.

So I'm stuck and wondered if anyone could offer any suggestions. I'd just eat the £99 bill if I wasn't very hard up.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Chris

 

[BLOD]

by the time you've spent money on epoxy resin & various glues & fibre glass you may as well have just bought a new seat imo.

 

[ChrisXenon]

by the time you've spent money on epoxy resin & various glues & fibre glass you may as well have just bought a new seat imo.

The resin kit is £12 and the new seat is £99. £87 may be a trifle for you but it's a big deal for me.

 

[SimonG]

Doubt very much that the repair will work. You'll prob end up with a new seat and more out of pocket than if you had just replaced the seat in the first place. Blod's advice was sound imho

 

[Paulus]

As Simon says, you're going to spend money on different remedies and still finish up buying a new seat. If you're not careful the bill for the seat could finish up at well over a ton.

 

[ChrisXenon]

Blod's advice was NOT sound, It was dismissed an £87 cost saving as not being worth it.
Your advice is not sound either because it is based on unreasoning pessimism.
You don't think it will work but don't bother to say why.

 

[SimonG]

Blod's advice was NOT sound, It was dismissed an £87 cost saving as not being worth it.
Your advice is not sound either because it is based on unreasoning pessimism.
You don't think it will work but don't bother to say why.

Why ask for advice and then totally ignore it because it's not what you want to hear. You remind me of my daughter when she was 5. She'd ask a question, be told the answer and say "no it isn't".

No pun intended but crack on.

 

[Paulus]

It's just possible, Chris, that the guys who have provided advice are experienced in trying to repair such things and have failed. That is what the forum is all about, learning from other more experienced people.

 

[lame plumber]

you need to think of the result of slapping your bum down on that repaired seat one day that immediately snaps and opens up leaving 2 nice razor sharp edges that slice quickly into your gonads, removing the need for a visit to your doc in years to come or worse still rearranging some female's lady parts. Botching a seat to save money wont work and can be rather dangerous to say the least

 

[ChrisXenon]

It's just possible, Chris, that the guys who have provided advice are experienced in trying to repair such things and have failed. That is what the forum is all about, learning from other more experienced people.

Paulus,

If BLOD was giving plumbing advice you'd have a point, but wasn't. He's telling me that £87 isn't worth worrying about, and I absolutely reserve the right to differ on that matter of affordability.

If Simon G had substantiate his suspicion, then you'd have a point, but he didn't. He just said he doubted it would work, without saying why. Granted I could take that on faith, but faced with spending £99 I don't have, I was hoping for something I could believe in. I've never been good at blind faith.

Contrast that with the guy I tried to buy a glass fibre kit from on Ebay. He told me it was unlikely to work as the resin would not adhere properly to the seat. Now THAT was good advice. He gave me the benefit of his expertise - expertise I do not have - in less than five minutes, and in giving it to me, he lost a sale. Impressive. That's the kind of bloke I like. But that's not what's happening here.

 

[ChrisXenon]

I've avoided slapping it, Lame, I've been nestling it gingerly. There's "botching" and there's "repairing". What this thread was intended to be about was to explore the possibility of the latter, not the former. So far, 100% of people have said "don't bother" but 0% of people have explained why. I know beggars can't be choosers, but so far this hasn't impressed.

 

[SimonG]

Not here to impress, here to offer genuine advice.

 

[ChrisXenon]

SimonG, if you're interested please see my comments elsewhere in this thread. It may be that the only sensible option is to throw it away and fork out £100. That's not a happy option for me, so I'd like to make sure I really have to take it. Not only because of the £100 I can't afford, but because of the chap who knows he's got me over a barrel and is entirely happy to block my outflow while I'm bent over because - well - he can and take £100 for what is actually a pretty poor bog seat worth maybe £15.

 

[SimonG]

Then maybe go to a local independent plumbers merchant and get yourself a cheap seat (£10 - £15) rather than the 'repairs' that either may not work or definitely not last. Toilet seats are bad enough when they are 100%. In the meantime you can shop around and save whilst not having to 'hover'.

 

[lame plumber]

knowing a decent plumber might help get the price down, but having said that a villeroy bosh bog seat costs me £80, and they are a waste of moneyt but daft custards insist on having them put in then winge 9 months later when the seat breaks!

 

[Dotty]

Wonderful! I just love these kind of threads!

OP. you've been given sound advice. Accept it, don't accept it. that's your choice.

Just don't try waving the snotty response stick.

Because my sticks bigger and it has a permanent effect.

 

[Killy Bing]

Spend the 12 pounds, get the kit, have a go and hope it breaks when some other poor chap is on it.
Thats my sound advice.....

 

[Phil_Plumb]

a seat is a seat, why pay more than £20 note for it, i wouldnt be asking to fix a £100 seat nor would i ask to be sold a £100 seat, no id just buy a cheapo seat cos it dont matter as they all do the same job,

And for reference, BODS advice was sound. Dont Fix it, replace it!

 

[tamz]

A Cabria was a top of the range WC about 15-20 or so years ago so the "pretty poor seat" has lasted a long time. The seat cost 80 odd quid back then and is shaped to fit the WC.
No repair that looks presentable will last. You could get a fibreglass kit and make a bandage around it which might last for a bit but it wouldn't be in my house skint or not.
You could always make a wooden one the same shape. Broken glass is good for shaping wood:smile:

 

[lame plumber]

never seen a scottish bog with a seat yet, just assumed the kilt brigade like it cold

 

[tamz]

They usually steal them over in the west coast !
Now there's a cheap idea. Take it off and sit on the porcelain :smile:

 

[lame plumber]

They usually steal them over in the west coast !
Now there's a cheap idea. Take it off and sit on the porcelain :smile:

from my experience of the glasgow drinking emporiums, the locals dont sit but take aim from afar, which means us lowly southerners tend to hold it all in for our weekend lash up away as you go to sleep lashed, wake up with a headache and go straight down the pub for a hair of the dog before you remember you want a no 2, and its too late by then as your in the boozer!!!!!! so you just take aim

 

[lame plumber]

prehaps that should be in a closed forum ,sorry

 

[Dotty]

Only the swearing bits. Consider your thighs slapped.

 

[lame plumber]

Only the swearing bits. Consider your thighs slapped.

you really should see someone about that little fetish of yours John, it seems to be getting more and more into the threads you write. I am sure rolf and jim probably had similar feelings, do learn some control before its too late, that or let us have some phots in the arms

 

[ChrisXenon]

Then maybe go to a local independent plumbers merchant and get yourself a cheap seat (£10 - £15) rather than the 'repairs' that either may not work or definitely not last. Toilet seats are bad enough when they are 100%. In the meantime you can shop around and save whilst not having to 'hover'.

That';s what I'll do SimonG, thanks. And I forgot to mention before - the £99 seat is gray (my suite is white) - a white one would cost me £277. What fun!