How to drill a new toilet waste?

[kapricorn]

I am renovating my bathroom and I want to relocate the toilet to improve the functionality of the space so I need to drill a new toilet waste in the floor. I have an old Federation era house with a good sized (3m x 3m) bathroom that was added in the 1950s. The floor is concrete about 100mm thick and re-inforced with small diameter mesh steel and suspended about 1.5m above ground with the original corrugated iron sheets still in situ.

My questions are:

1. Would a core drill (120mm dia) or a jackhammer be more suitable? (I have a jackhammer but not a core drill)

2. If I used a core drill, what type of core drill would go through both the re-inforcing steel mesh, the concrete and the corrugated sheeting?

3. Would an Ozito 900W Rotary hammer drill handle the drilling or would i need to hire something bigger?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Cheers Kapricorn  

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @kapricorn. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about drilling a toilet waste.

You'd need to use a diamond core drill bit to get through the concrete and mesh. A jackhammer will work, but you'll still need to cut the mesh, which will be difficult unless you can break the concrete below and get a reciprocating saw in there. Bit of a rough job, though.

For core bits of that size, you'd typically be looking at something with a bigger motor like the Full Boar 2000W 150mm Core Drill. It also comes with a coolant feed line. It would be best if you took it very slow when you hit the rebar or risk breaking teeth or wearing the diamond coating off. However, it will give you a much cleaner hole than any other method.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[kapricorn]

Hi MitchellMc,

My first time on this site but it won't be the last. I have a few projects planned this year and I might need some advice.

Thank you for the prompt reply and the detailed description.

A core drill looks like the way to go so I'll investigate the hiring option, as buying new equipment for a one off job wouldn't be economical.

Thanks again Mitchell.

regards Kapricorn

[EricL]

Hello @kapricorn

Let me extend a warm welcome as well to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's great that you've received excellent advice from @MitchellMc. Just a handy tip before you start drilling. Please make sure that you've decided on the toilet that you will be using. Some units require that the exit waste be located at a certain distance from the wall. I've placed an example below. The "set out" for this unit is adjustable from 90mm all the way to 190mm. But the sweet spot is usually 140mm. If you choose another toilet unit best to check its requirements before drilling.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing more of your toilet renovation.

The toilet measurements below are from the Caroma WELS 4 Star, 3.5L/Min Luna Cleanflush Close Coupled Toilet Suite.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[kapricorn]

Hi Eric,

 Thanks for your assistance.

The toilet suite I have my eye on is the Milu Ordourless Crest Back to Wall Toilet.

If I am reading the measurements correctly from the Cass Bros Website, the centre of the waste is 135mm from the wall so if I went 140mm as you suggested it would give me some margin for error.

Cheers

Kapricorn

[EricL]

Hi @kapricorn

Thank you for the update on which toilet you'll be installing. Looking at the page you've posted, it doesn't clearly indicate what the set out is. The 100mm is the measurement of the outlet pipe, 180mm is the height of the outlet in a "P" trap configuration. But there is no mention of the "S" trap configuration set out. Just to be on the safe side, I suggest asking them if there is a brochure inside the toilet with the recommended set out for an "S" trap configuration. If you have any other questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to post them.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric