Concealed cistern in party wall?

P

Paul Hooper

New Member
Hi all looking for some advice.
My neighbours have had a room changed to a down stairs toilet and I believe they have put in a concealed cistern and cut it into the wall and when they flush it I can hear it filling up across the whole wall and it is very loud. Is this allowed or should they have given notice as it’s in the party wall or should they have sound proofed it? I am. It sure what to do as we don’t really see eye to eye. Is the wall is a cavity wall.
Thanks Paul
 
You might consider getting a bluetooth inspection camera then drilling a hole on your side and having a look perhaps.
 
More importantly having cut in, it might have weakened it structurally. Suggest you have a word with a party wall surveyor ( important to go with a local one as there are many many large national chains who are only good with paperwork) and see what he/she has to say
 
Thanks I have been trying to get hold of the party wall people today but they are all shut for New Years etc. My understanding is that putting the cistern in the wall would be a breach as it’s not minor work just putting in a electric box. It’s so loud as I believe he has put it in and the noise is just spreading in the cavity wall all over the house I have recorded the db level and it’s at 60 when he flushes down stairs and 52 dp upstairs in my house My own toilet make less noise in my house than his does in mine!
 
Paul Hooper said:
Thanks I have been trying to get hold of the party wall people today but they are all shut for New Years etc. My understanding is that putting the cistern in the wall would be a breach as it’s not minor work just putting in a electric box. It’s so loud as I believe he has put it in and the noise is just spreading in the cavity wall all over the house I have recorded the db level and it’s at 60 when he flushes down stairs and 52 dp upstairs in my house My own toilet make less noise in my house than his does in mine!
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Structural alterations are under the remit of PWA. drilling holes to install cupboards etc are not. As the works have already been completed, you may as well wait till the new year. You may need a structural engineer too as what they have done may require remedial work which they will need to pay for. However, the law is unclear on areas of compensation etc so start with a PWA and update here to see how things have panned out.
 
Worth bearing in mind that any formal disputes with neighbours need to be declared if/when you move in future and this can have a big impact on the salability of the property.
 
Jimbo said:
Worth bearing in mind that any formal disputes with neighbours need to be declared if/when you move in future and this can have a big impact on the salability of the property.
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You are correct, but if they have created a structural problem that is later picked up by a surveyor, you are in the same position (ie saleability) but it need not result in a dispute if handled carefully and the neighbours did not intentionally do this. Could be dodgy builders. IMHO better it’s resolved now than at a stage when an house sale could collapse !
 
dcox said:
What makes you think the cistern has been cut into the wall itself? ‘Just’ the noise level? It would be an unusual way to do it. You’d normally hang the cistern within a purpose made cabinet or on the wall then build a partition to hide it.
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I've been wondering this and cannot for the life of me think why someone would go to the trouble of sinking a cistern into a wall unless there was absolutely no room to allow a normal installation. It makes access for the inlet and flush pipe difficult at best and is a lot of work in itself. There's a good chance that it's simply noisy and the wall is amplifying the sound.
 
Couple of reasons one is the noise of hearing it full up all over my house as it so loud in the cavity. Second reason was the noise that was made the day before the sound of a breaker on the wall so I believe that was him digging in to the wall. The noise wasn’t there before the toilet was fitted if it not the cistern in the wall that is making the noise how loud must the std be! I believe he did the work.
 
Paul Hooper said:
Couple of reasons one is the noise of hearing it full up all over my house as it so loud in the cavity. Second reason was the noise that was made the day before the sound of a breaker on the wall so I believe that was him digging in to the wall. The noise wasn’t there before the toilet was fitted if it not the cistern in the wall that is making the noise how loud must the std be! I believe he did the work.
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Maybe the pipe has been buried in the wall which is much more common, and it’s the sound from that. If it’s mains pressure and there is a partially open valve that can cause a loud noise.
 
It could be mains pressure not sure if the pipes are buried in the wall surely there should be some sort of sound proofing as it is really loud enough to wake my 2 year old up at night when flushed. And enough to hear with the tv on at a decent level down stairs fills for around 30 secs at a time.
 
Cant understand why anyone would go to the the trouble of fitting a cistern in a wall? Even for room size reasons it sound bizarre.
 
koolpc said:
Cant understand why anyone would go to the the trouble of fitting a cistern in a wall? Even for room size reasons it sound bizarre.
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I don’t think they would tbh, it would be a nightmare to do and I don’t see what could be gained from it. Much more likely to just be the pipe either buried to the wall or clipped to the wall imo. The sound of water rushing through a half open ballofix type valve is my guess as this can be a pretty loud noise. The way to combat this is use a flow restrictor(sometimes supplied with the filling valves) rather than use the isolation valve to restrict flow.
Just my guess, could be wrong.
 
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