Types of Toilets: Choose the Right Toilet For Your Bathroom

There are many ways to categorise your next porcelain throne. You could choose a toilet according to its style, flush mechanism or trap. Understanding the difference between toilet styles can save you money and time communicating back and forth with your designer or renovation specialist.

In this guide, we’ll go over the different types of toilets and the pros and cons of each. We’ll look at the styles and how they can tie together your bathroom design, as well as flush mechanisms and how they can save you money while saving the environment. We’ll also explore the different toilet traps and what their purpose is in a toilet installation. Finally, we’ll take a look at how much a toilet installation can set you back. So if you’re looking at sprucing up your bathroom with a toilet replacement, read on.

Toilet Styles

The easiest part when weighing up your toilet options is choosing the style. Every toilet has its pros and cons. The most common toilet styles in Australia are:

• Back-to-wall
• Wall-faced
• Close-coupled
• Wall-hung

We’ll take a look at each of these in further detail below. Rest assured that during your bathroom design, our team will look at each option with you and go through how it could fit your needs.

Close-Coupled Toilet

For the budget renovation

The close-coupled toilet is the most common toilet style. The ‘close’ in close-coupled refers to the toilet trap and cisterns gapless installation. The toilet trap is where the wastage is sent, and the cistern is the tank that holds the water used for flushing.

Close-coupled toilets are a fantastic option for people who aren’t fussy about their toilets and prefer a more affordable, quick and easy installation. These toilets are also a great option to avoid re-plumbing or re-tiling around preexisting plumbing.

While these toilets are an affordable option, they are considered to be more outdated and don’t fit with current trends. Additionally, because the waste pipe is fed into the ground, these toilets have a gap between the toilet and the wall. This gap can be a pain to clean and will be another chore on the household to-do list.

Back-to-Wall Toilet

For the contemporary style bathroom

Suited to contemporary-style bathrooms, these toilets are installed flush against the wall, with the cistern and bowl of the toilet seamlessly installed against the wall. These toilets are slightly more expensive than close-coupled toilets but achieve a more modern taste while being cheaper than high-end wall-hung installations. Back-to-wall toilets offer flexible trap selection, which we’ll explore further later.

Back-to-wall toilets are also quite compact and suitable for smaller bathroom installations. Unlike close-coupled toilets, these toilets boast a clean gapless installation, with no frustrating nooks or crannies for dust and other nasties to collect. These toilets are, however, difficult to install where you’re interested in retrofitting a solution.

Wall-Faced Toilet

For small, shared spaces

A wall-faced toilet takes everything the back-to-wall toilet does and makes it just that little bit cleaner, with a completely hidden cistern. The wall-faced toilet is often confused with wall-hung; however, where a wall-hung toilet has a floating appearance, wall-faced toilets are mounted directly onto the floor. These toilets use either S or P traps and are a great solution for small bathrooms.

Additionally, wall-faced toilets provide significant benefits in households that prefer a quieter bathroom situation, with the hidden cistern and plumbing providing extra noise insulation. The flushing mechanism plate (also known as the flushplate) of a wall-faced toilet doubles as an easy access point for any simple repairs.

While wall-faced toilets offer many benefits, they are more expensive than back-to-wall installations and take longer to install due to their sophisticated design. Additionally, if any major repairs are needed, things can become more costly as the in-wall cistern is complicated to access.

Wall-Hung Toilet

For the accessible, luxury bathroom

For the ultimate luxury bathroom, a wall-hung toilet is the pinnacle of style. Like a wall-faced toilet, a wall-hung toilet features an in-wall cistern. However, this style differs in that it has a distinctive floating appearance. Where a wall-faced toilet is mounted directly onto the floor, a wall-hung toilet is “hung” from the wall. This makes the toilet appear to be floating and can make your bathroom look spacious and modern.

These toilets are fantastic for accessibility for people in wheelchairs or walkers as they can be installed at numerous heights. These toilets are also extremely quiet due to the in-wall cistern installation. Finally, because of their widespread popularity, these toilets come in many designs and styles and include modern features such as soft-close toilet seats and antimicrobial surface technology.

However, all this functionality comes at a price, and wall-hung toilets are the most expensive style you can consider. These toilets are also difficult to repair due to the in-wall cistern.

Ultimately, your toilet style will come down to many factors, including style, price and functionality. During a Accessible Bathrooms renovation, these are all things you can discuss and weigh up to ensure you get the best solution possible.

Toilet Flush Mechanisms

Once you have your style down, you can start to consider how the toilet itself will work. Flush mechanisms can offer many benefits such as noise reduction, low maintenance, eco-friendly and water-saving features. A flush mechanism refers to how your toilet flushes and includes:

• Composting
• Dual flush
• Upfluh
• Single flush
• Gravity flush
• Double cyclone
• Pressure-assisted

Take a look at how each of these flushing mechanisms works and why you might consider one for your brand new toilet.

Composting Toilet

For the green-style bathroom, a composting or waterless flushing mechanism is a great way to safely compost natural human waste into an odourless, dry substance. This is done in one of two ways: through a self-contained or central design.

A self-contained composting toilet turns the waste into compost in a self-contained space beneath the bowl using carefully balanced conditions monitored using inbuilt sensors. In a central design, the waste is sent via pipes to an external septic tank where the waste can be composted. Compost toilets provide your household with natural and safe composting material for outdoor plants and reduce the need for chemical fertilisers.

Dual Flush Toilet

A popular modern and less-involved solution for eco-friendly toilets is dual flush toilets. These toilets have two flush buttons representing a half and a full flush. The half flush is used for liquid waste, while the full flush is for solid waste. This reduces water usage by regulating how much water you use to flush different waste types. While these flushing mechanisms can be pricier, they are fantastic for the environment and can help shave some money off your water bill.

Upflush Toilet

Popular in Europe, the upflush toilet sends waste through a pipe in the wall and into a pump which then sends it upwards to existing wastage pipes. This is useful for basement installations simplifying the amount of new plumbing needed for a toilet installation.

Single Flush Toilet

The most common toilet in traditional households, the single flush toilet has one button for both liquid and solid waste. Due to water wastage and frequent faults and issues, this flushing mechanism is on its way out.

Gravity Flush Toilet

Gravity flush mechanisms use gravity to drop water from the tank into the bowl, pushing the waste down into the trap with the assistance of the water’s weight. This flushing mechanism is silent, simple and requires less maintenance.

Double Cyclone Toilet

This flushing mechanism is one of the latest additions to the market, using less water per flush whilst boasting the same power as a full flush. These toilets can’t contend with dual-flush toilets in terms of efficiency; however, they’re still a great option for cutting back on water use.

Double cyclone flush systems shoot water sideways from two separate nozzles, causing the water to swirl around the bowl’s surface, similar to a cyclone. This effectively flushes and cleans the bowl at the same time.

Pressure-Assisted Toilets

Pressure-assisted toilets use pressurised air to force water into the tank. This flushing mechanism is extremely powerful; however, it is also subsequently very loud. This flushing mechanism is great for large households, preventing frequent clogs.

No matter the flushing mechanism you choose, picking a toilet with a high Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) star rating is a great way to help save the environment and some money. Additionally, if you’re building a new bathroom or renovating a pre-existing one, some local councils will stipulate a minimum WELS star rating, so you’ll need to ensure your toilet meets requirements.

Toilet Traps

The final key consideration when choosing a new toilet is a toilet trap. Toilet traps are the bend in a toilet’s waste pipe that keeps odours from rising into the toilet. While we cover three toilet traps in this article, the most common are S and P-traps. Skew traps are mostly seen on older toilets and are not used in modern installations.

P-Trap Toilet

A P-trap directly connects to the wall and is less common than an S-trap. These traps are mostly used for wall-hung toilets; however, they can also be used for close-coupled, wall-faced and back-to-wall toilets.

S-Trap Toilet

An S-trap connects to the floor and is the most common type of trap used in Australia. These traps are suitable for most toilet styles except wall-hung toilets.

Skew Trap Toilet

Skew traps extend from either side of the bowl; however, these are no longer common and are typically only used in situations where other traps are impossible.

The trap for your toilet will depend heavily on whether you are retrofitting your toilet and what brand and style of toilet you purchase.

How Much Does it Cost to Install a Toilet?

A toilet installation can cost anywhere from $224 to $3,500, depending on many factors, such as:

Toilet type

The toilet brand and type can inflate the installation cost by $300 to $1600. For example, a close-coupled toilet can cost between $300 and $1300, but a pricier wall-hung toilet can cost up to $1600 alone.

Location

If you’re planning on doing a brand new custom build, depending on the location, new plumbing may be required.

Disposal fees

Replacing a pre-existing toilet will add removal and disposal fees.

Unforeseen issues

Leaks, broken parts, poor caulking, and blocked drainage, can also arise and influence the final price.

At Accessible Bathrooms, we ensure full communication during all stages of the renovation, remodelling or building process. You can rest assured that you’ll receive the most accurate and up-to-date information on your project and how any arising issues may impact the final cost.

Renovating your bathroom and changing out old toilets for sleek new designs should be a fun and exciting process. Go forward with the confidence you need to purchase the best toilet for your home and get a quality professional installation. Take some time to research your options and consider how they’ll look in your new space. Contact our team today if you’d like to get started on your dream bathroom.