distance of soil pipe from wall Drainage and wastage systems and plumbing help, advice and answers

[proudy]

we live in an upstairs flat and want to fit a new bathroom. the soil pipe for the toilet comes up through the floor and is approx 8 inches from the external wall. at the moment there is a cistern and pan with a pipe connecting the two and i would like to change this for a close coupled system. is this possible, given the distance of the soil pipe from the wall? it seems as though the cistern would be floating in mid-air as it will be too far away from the wall! any ideas would be welcome.

[thedoctor]

This is a very common situation so see our projects on timber joints and in the simplest way for you make a box frame from 50 x 50mm timber which is the depth you want and the same height and width of the cistern. Then, using our fixing to masonry project, fix the box to the wall. Then fix plasterboard to the box using 40mm galvanised nails. Then paint the box with a coat of undiluted PVA adhesive (see our project on PVA). Then tile it. You can fix the cistern in place before you tile if you prefer, or you can tile and then fix the cistern.