Choosing a toilet style
The right toilet depends on your ceiling height, how much wall you have to work with and how traditional you want the room to feel.
- Close coupled: the cistern sits directly on the pan. Compact, familiar and easy to fit.
- Low level: the cistern sits a little above the pan with a short flush pipe. It reads as traditional and suits a room with a window above the WC.
- High level: the Victorian original, with the cistern on brackets well above the pan. The Radcliffe high level toilet stands 2000mm to 2200mm overall, so check your ceiling first.
- Back to wall: the pan sits flush to the wall and the cistern is hidden behind it.
- Wall hung: the pan is fixed to the wall and the floor stays clear beneath, which makes cleaning easier.
Planning a back to wall or wall hung toilet
Both need a concealed cistern, sold separately. A back to wall pan needs boxing-in or a unit to hide the cistern, and a wall hung pan also needs a wall frame to carry its weight. The Carlyon wall hung toilet brings a traditional pan shape to this modern installation.
For a close coupled toilet, the pan style matters too. An open trap pan, like the Regent close coupled toilet with open trap, shows the trap in the traditional way; a skirted pan has smooth sides that are quicker to wipe down.
Seats, levers and finishes
Where a toilet comes with a soft-close seat, you choose the hinge finish to match your taps. Seat colours vary by range, from smooth white to natural oak and grained painted finishes. The Westminster soft-close seat in natural oak is a warm option for a period room.
Which toilet suits a bathroom with a low ceiling?
A low level or close coupled toilet keeps the traditional look without needing the height a high level cistern does. Our traditional bathroom ideas guide compares the three.
Does a wall hung toilet need a frame?
Yes. A wall hung pan is supplied without its supporting brackets and needs a concealed cistern and a wall frame, which your fitter builds into the wall or a boxed-in section.
Can the toilet seat match my vanity unit?
Often, yes. Lichfield seats come in the same Cashmere, Sage Thistle and Oxford Blue grained finishes as the Lichfield bathroom furniture, including a matching back to wall WC unit.
Can I see the toilets before buying?
Yes. Book a free one-to-one consultation through our contact page and we can check your layout and pipework before you choose.
