Suspended toilets and bidets: Pros and cons

If you take a look at designer houses and bathroom catalogs, you will realize that suspended toilets and bidets are on-trend right now. Of course, they are visually lighter, go unnoticed and even bring a touch of magic by having the tank concealed.

However, what usually happens in the houses of regular mortals is that you find conventional toilets and bidets, supported firmly on the ground, with their tanks on their backs and their imposing presence – especially the toilet, which can become the inadvertent focal point of the bathroom.

Many of us may have been tempted by the stylish photos of suspended toilets, but perhaps due to ignorance of its advantages and disadvantages, we always seem to be left with the conventional. But, when it comes to choosing the right toilet, maybe we can move out of our comfort zone, right?

Find out your home's credit score

Check your home condition score to find out!

Check it out

Advantages of suspended toilets and bidets

Let’s talk first about the advantages, to discover a little why they attract us so much

1. Visual lightness

Suspended bathroom pieces are visually light as they seem to levitate above the ground. In addition, because of the concealed tank or cistern, they are smaller and their relative presence in the bathroom decreases considerably, as they are much less noticeable.

2. Nicer proportions

Being able to do without the support on the ground, suspended toilets and bidets can recover more beautiful and elongated proportions, plus a cleaner geometry.

3. A mystical charm

Just like overhanging terraces, large bridges and other cantilevered structures, suspended toilets mystify because they seem to challenge the laws of gravity, especially considering that they must bear our weight.

By having the tank concealed, it seems as if the water emerges from a hidden place in the walls of the house. It may seem a bit exaggerated, but part of our brain is a little dazzled by these things.

4. Ease of cleaning

You get a greater ease of cleaning, as you can sweep the floor below the toilet and bidet, avoiding the grimy and inaccessible corners of traditional toilets. This is a compelling reason from the practical point of view, since this type of bathroom piece helps us in our routines for keeping the bathroom clean.

MORE : 10 Rookie Mistakes of Bathroom Design and How to Avoid them

Disadvantages of suspended toilets and bidets

Now that we have seen the benefits, let’s see the problems with suspended toilets and bidets. Maybe that’s why not everyone chooses them when decorating a bathroom.

1. Loss of space

If the tank has to be hidden, it must be somewhere, and that is in the wall behind the toilet.

That being said, it also seems that we won more space; we put the tank on the wall, and everything is resolved. But the tanks within even the thinnest wall take at least 3 inches, and we still need to add ironmongery so the toilet can hold our weight, which we can’t install just any partition.

In order to install a suspended toilet, you need to have a wide wall behind it, which will result in a loss of space that you cannot always allow for in the design and distribution of your bathroom.

2. Increased complexity of installation

Traditional toilets and bidets are fairly easy to install and uninstall; it is little more than connecting everything and fixing them to the floor. By contrast, hanging a toilet is not so simple, and installing the tank also takes more time, which brings us to the next point.

Read more: Frequent toilet problems

3. Higher costs

Given the complexity of installation as well as the need for specific parts such as hangers and cisterns, suspended toilets and bidets pose a significantly higher cost than traditional bathroom pieces. If you have a modest budget, it may be difficult to stay within it because of the price of materials, as well as the installation itself. And the increased costs are not only during installation, but also for any maintenance in the future.

TIP: Use Our Real-Time Remodeling Calculator and Find Out in Minutes How Much Your Bathroom Remodel Will Cost. 

Conclusions

Suspended toilets and bidets are a great option for those who have fairly large bathrooms, or when thickening a wall does not represent any problem to the available space. The drawbacks of these pieces only occur during the design phase – plus maintenance. The rest of the considerations are practically all advantages.

So, if the budget and available space allow, suspended toilets represent a considerable aesthetic improvement of the bathroom, providing visual lightness, modernity and hygiene.

Read more: What is a bidet bathroom fixtures explained?

Written by Oriana Gomez-Zerpa. November 29, 2016

Oriana is an accomplished architect with strong skills in creative thinking, conceptualization and design. She attended Architecture schools at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Universidad Central de Venezuela. She later pursued her Master’s degree at the prestigious Politecnico di Milano in Italy. She shares with us her passion for interior design and architecture.