Fienza Chica Close-Coupled Toilet Suite

This was a replacement for a leaky toilet that had been fitted when I first built my house and as such many things have changed in toilet suites. The old one, which was a Caroma ,was leaking and I thought it was cracked but upon removal I had found that the plumber had for some reason fitted two connectors one on top of the other and one had moved, nevertheless I went ahead and replaced the suite which was dated and also because it was cemented in place . The Fienza is a elongated oval shape bowl and is close coupled, meaning the cistern sits on top of the pan all ceramic and it had to be fitted against the wall.

The first problem is ,these suites are mostly P traps and not S traps meaning the connector comes straight out of the suite and does not form an S bend to a floor connection. Okay , you order the S pack that you think will connect to your floor or you buy the P trap toilet.

The kit that comes with this suite to make the S bend connection is to put it lightly, a pain in the butt. It requires a lot of measuring and cutting which can be frustrating for a lot of people and the S pack sent is made of more than one piece so it is next to useless, and in my case, because the setup in the floor was 20 years old, I had to purchase a Universal pan connector from Bunnings which simplified the whole operation.

The cistern is a 3 litre/4.5 litre flush which does not really save water as at times you have to flush twice and even then, you may have to physically clean the bowl, so I am not a fan of this legislation for compliance as it is counterproductive.

The next thing I found with this suite is that it leaked, not a rush but a dribble. I replaced the brand-new plunge washer, readjusted the float level and it still leaked until I hand ground the washer into its seat, that hand grinding meant moving the centre valve back and forth against the seat which helped bed the washer.

To be honest, this should not happen from a brand-new toilet suite and along with the poor S pan connector which is poorly designed gives the impression it was slapped together.

Another thing I noticed while looking underneath with a torch staring at the bend of the toilet suite, light penetrated very easily into the pan, which also told me the porcelain was thin.

I doubt the quality is there compared to some brands, but it will do the job and came with a 5-year warranty which I found differed depending on who you purchased the suite from, as some suppliers offered a 10-year warranty on the same suite. Go figure.