Standard Modernus

[Achutch]

Visual Aids

Nick,

Here are some closeup photos of a spud that I promised you. The first is the entire unit with the nut, washer and gasket (the bell-like cover that rotates fits over the nut to hide it). The second is the spud itself with its flared end that enters the back of the bowl, the third is of the spud with only the gasket and the fourth is the gasket.

Good luck with your fix!

achutch

 

[Nick2000]

Excellent

Very nice pictures achutch. Thank You. It is good to see what it's supposed to look like as opposed to what it actually looks like after decades of use.
I thank everybody for all their advice and input. Now all I need to do is get the parts and do it! Hopefully this week and if not, next week definitely. I'll let you know how it goes. Nick

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I got a bunch of these spuds and gaskets, all shapes and sizes. Got a bunch of them on a odd lot buy off the net.

RUGGED...just think of it like the Modle T Fords or some of the 60s and 70s Muscle cars that got 6-7 MPG.

a 5 gal. flush now and then isn't going to affect any one...

I was speaking from "those" who use these toilets daily, wasting tons of gallons of water as a result. Of course, it's their choice just like letting a faucet leak without repair,


but these old toilets are intentional wastefulness, and they look like crap! IMO.

I used to like the older stuff at one time,

till I had to work/service them.


I hated the fact that I became so well known in the supply houses, watching the guys behind the counter blowing the dust off the parts, smiling, knowing how much money I made them that day buying antiques at a full price.

 

[jimmyangst]

Standard Modernus bowl replacement

I'm very glad I found your forum-- I've got a busted Standard Modernus (on the bowl, where the seat bolts on). Here's my tale of woe: my parents house, built in 1841, has a half bath under the staircase (tiny, but theoretically serviceable). From the time I was born, the 1/2 bath was used as a closet. The sink worked (if you took all the junk out of it) and there was water in the tank & bowl, but if you moved more junk and flushed it water would come shooting out all over the room from the broken bowl.
Flash forward 35+ years: my mom recently spent a few weeks in the hospital and is currently unable to make it up the stairs to the (functional) bathroom. I've done a fair bit of renovation & replaced a half dozen toilets over the years, so I volunteered to come over and replace the ol' commode. My dad did some poking about and preparation and called to abort the mission-- apparently the drain for this thing is located several inches forward of "modern" (no pun on the modernus intended) drain placement? Replacing with a $99.99 "toilet in a box", if this is in fact the case, would put the front of the seat up against the sink in this teeny bathroom.
Can anyone confirm this difference in drain placement, and if anyone has alternative ideas (cheap ones, we're not rich folk) I'd love to hear them. Obviously, I'd really prefer not to try moving the 75+ year old drain's location in the floor if possible! Or if I could find a bowl which would match up with the Modernus tank, along with the L, gaskets, flange, etc. to attach to the existing (functional) tank, I'd do that rather than a complete tear-out, floor replacement, etc. Our budget is in the $250 and under category!
Thanks for any wisdom you might bestow!
--Jim

 

[Cookie]

If the sink has a vanity, would it leave more room if you could replace the sink with one smaller and without the cabinet under it.

Or, if the toilet is really what is needed most there, instead of moving the 75 year old drain, could you do without the sink completely?

 

[jimmyangst]

Cookie,
Good idears-- but the room itself is so small, and the door situated so that I'm not sure it'd be easy to get in and out of the place with a forward-mounted toilet even with the sink removed. As I recall it's a pedestal sink. "Cramped" is an understatement. In any event, I'm not looking forward to whatever it is we have to do. To make matters worse, there's no shutoff to the commode supply line. It "t"s off before the main shutoff inside the house. So... at the least I'll have to crawl around in the snow and turn off the main outside, plus hope and pray I can break a connection loose to install a proper valve. With luck I won't have to muck around in the crawlspace and replace a bunch of old iron pipe! Small room, big headache!
I'll give my dad a call in the AM and have him measure the distances from current bowl front to sink, and from bowl front to wall (just to see if it'd open the place up... what I recall of the space is... well... claustrophobic...) as well as where the door opening hits the room.
Thanks for the idea! Investigation to follow...

--Jim

 

[Cookie]

Jim, check this out. Can you change the door?
http://www.gharexpert.com/articles/Life-Style-1748/Utilization-Space-Under-Stairs_0.aspx

 

[jimmyangst]

Cookie,

That is a slick arrangement! I don't know which would be more gruesome though, cutting out the wall & building the doors or cutting the pipe, moving the drain flange & replacing the flooring. On the brighter side, with the whole outfit being less than 36Wx 60D, there's not a lot of floor to replace! The sink in that pic is a great space saver. Plus it's kinda cool- looking. For this gig, though, it couldn't be used-- the wall is brick, load-bearing. What I probably need to do is drive out to the house, take a bunch of pics & measurements. Forums love pics, right?!?

Thanks-- and keep the ideas comin'! Now that I've promised to help I will be nagged until I solve this mess!

Jim, check this out. Can you change the door?
http://www.gharexpert.com/articles/Life-Style-1748/Utilization-Space-Under-Stairs_0.aspx

 

[Goodbar]

Was glad to find this thread. My 1935 house has an original Modernus in the basement. One of the closet bolts broke and the bowl started rocking, revealing that the flush valve shank washer was falling apart... by leaking on the floor, of course. I was able to remove the bowl and reseat it without causing the spud or flush elbow to leak, though I did buy a new spud and slip joint gaskets on the assumption that they will some day. (Might also get a new elbow).

I was able to reduce water use to 1.75 GPF by using an adjustable flapper and one of those plastic bags of water to reduce the tank capacity. It seems like the height of the tank gives good flushing power. The float is set to the original fill line, but the flapper keeps it from fully draining. It's not as good with water use as a modern toilet, of course, though it's no longer 2x or more. This old beast will be retired when we finish the basement, but it's nice to have a quality original piece from an era when things were built to last 100 years.