My latest problem

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This is the problem I have to deal with now. And I admit I am a bit stumped. Basically the flush mechanism in the toilet has worn out. This is easily fixed by simply replacing the thing, and if it was a ‘normal’ free-standing toilet with close-coupled cistern it would be easy, and the work of about 15 minutes. As it is though, the cistern is completely enclosed within a tiled wall. The people we bought this house from really liked everything to be hidden away, which makes it an absolute nightmare to repair anything plumbing-related! I did manage to fit a new mechanism in the main bathroom last year, but there only the pipes are fully boxed in, and after an hour or two of wriggling about on the floor with my arm down a gap in the tiles and a magnet to pick up dropped nuts I actually managed it. This is a whole other level of difficulty though. The tiles cover three walls of the room up to about shoulder height, including the bath panel and the entire wall behind the bath, toilet and bidet, completely enclosing all the pipes and the cistern. Naturally we don’t want to have to re-tile the whole room! Any ideas? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2026.