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Monday 14 July 2014

The great toilet seat mystery

Some people replace things on a regular basis which other folk seem to keep forever. Houses, cars, spouses, jobs. In our case it's toilet seats. For some reason ours don’t last long.

The latest failure was an oak seat from B&Q which split after little more than a year. Here it is reduced to kindling for the log burner. Actually I enjoyed making some more kindling, but it’s an expensive way to buy it.


 Our replacement is a plastic seat made in Germany which I hope will last forever. However, after I’d fitted it I noticed the plastic is supposed to be environmentally friendly, whatever that means. It doesn’t sound good for longevity though. Environmentally friendly often means crap or doesn't work or doesn't last

We'll see.

11 comments:

Sackerson said...

Lifting the lid on another issue of fundamental importance.

Demetrius said...

When I were a lad toilet seats once fixed stayed fixed. Now they move about and if not careful take you with it. Also they are foreign. If Britain cannot make its own toilet seats what hope is there?

A K Haart said...

Sackers - no point sitting on it.

Demetrius - somehow we've screwed up toilet seat technology. Takes some doing that.

Sam Vega said...

Of course, the only truly environmentally friendly method is dispensing with the seat altogether and making direct contact with the porcelain. As the winter draws on, your sense of virtue increases....

A K Haart said...

Sam - we stayed at a French campsite where there were no seats. Makes sense in terms of keeping them clean and easy enough to get used to. That was in summer though.

Anonymous said...

Plainly the chemist's solution - burn it. I had a similar problem, but a good brass plate and good brass screws plus buffers distributed the weight of my fat a$%e sufficient that it is still good 10 years later. I reckon they are designed by marketing persons.

Mark Wadsworth said...

Toilet seats are a hit and miss affair (no pun intended).

Some fit perfectly and last; some wobble and break. I think if the holes aren't lined up perfectly then they soon give in, regardless of how expensive/solid they are.

A K Haart said...

Roger - yes, I think the solid wood is merely a marketing idea which gets bunged off to China for manufacturing and never mind the quality.

They certainly aren't designed by engineers.

A K Haart said...

Mark - I line the holes up carefully enough when I fit them, but in our experience the materials tend to be unsuitable.

We aren't heavy but a solid oak seat split through the grain. Probably unseasoned wood.

James Higham said...

Just what are you doing on top of that bowl, AKH?

A K Haart said...

James - nothing that would split oak.