Selection - Exhaust Fan And Light Combo

Standard electrical plan, showing the separate exhaust fan and light.

 Vent Air Levin 200 exhaust fan and light combo. 

It is rare to see separate heating units and light fixtures in bathrooms today. The days of the ceramic heater attached to the wall are gone. These separate units were replaced with a single space saving appliance that combines the heating and light elements (and in most cases, an exhaust fan is included to replace the traditional ceiling vents).

Bathroom ceiling space does not come at a premium, yet for aesthetic reasons, the before mentioned components were combined. I wonder why this does not carry through to WC and powder room design.

WC and powder rooms have significantly less ceiling space than bathrooms, yet we continue to install separate light fittings and exhaust fans.
Surely, the price to install an exhaust fan and light combo must be comparable to the cost of installing separate cabling and switching required for the each component.


Irrespective of cost, I believe an all-in-one-unit looks better than having a separate exhaust fan and a separate light. From the small amount of research I have done, there appears to be three companies that make a unit suitable for installation into a WC and/or powder room: Hellar, Martec and Vent Air.

We have decided to install a square silver unit by Vent Air. Fingers crossed, having a silver unit on the ceiling will not be too overpowering for such a small room, and the light will be sufficient.


Do you have an all-in-one-unit like this? If so, was the amount light sufficient? Which unit did you buy?

Selection - Floor Wastes

Bounty Bermuda floor grate from
Bounty Brassware as seen in a
Ventura display home.

Floor wastes are another one of those items that are commonly overlooked when making your selections. I am surprised that builders do not offer an upgrade when you do your Pre-Start meeting.

I remember a friend telling me that when he was building his house the tiler suggested that he go to Bunnings to purchase some metal floor wastes to replace the standard white plastic ones that his builder was supplying.

Tip: It is worth making a point to check with your builder whether they are supplying metal floor wastes. Plastic floor wastes may discolour or crack over time. For $5-10 extra it will cost to purchase metal ones, I think it is worthwhile.

As mentioned in a previous post, we decided to buy some fancy floor tiles. I do not know about you, but I am not a fan of floor wastes. I would rather not see my drainpipes and the associated fluff and hair that stick to the grate.

To overcome the negatives of slotted floor wastes, we have selected tile insert grates. I love the seamless look that these create. We will be installing these in the WC, Powder Room, bathroom and laundry.

Selection - Toilet Suite

Builder's standard:  
Caroma Profile 4 Connector Suite

The WC/Powder Room is one of the most important rooms in the house (you would be lost without it). Unfortunately, it appears to have the least amount of attention and budget allocated to it. I am guilty of this. One thing I did remember to do was upgrade the toilet suite.

The toilet suite that comes as standard with the Rendezvous is not terrible, but it is beautiful either. When you have paid so much attention to the fixtures and fittings in the other rooms, I felt that the standard toilet suite was disappointing.


Besides the look of the "hump" at the rear of the toilet, connector and close-coupled toilet suites have one major drawback: cleaning. When cleaning, this “hump” is easily forgotten, especially when you are in a rush.



The "hump" at the rear of the toilet is
easily forgotten when cleaning

 For these reasons, we decided to install a wall faced toilet suites in the WC and Powder room.


Whilst touring Perth’s bathroom stores, I was amazed at the wide selection of toilet suites. The humble loo can look quite attractive these days. Prices vary considerably, so it is worth shopping around. It is important to remember that even though the majority of toilets have 4 star water ratings, make sure you double check, especially with some of the cheaper models.


We nearly purchased an Axa Uno Close Coupled Toilet Suite from Reece. It is an attractive, water efficient toilet suite. However, having to go to Reece for spare parts was a negative, as was the price tag and additional cost to install a non-standard item.


Axa Uno Close Coupled Toilet Suite


In the end, we settled upon a Caroma Metro Wall Faced Toilet Suite. Style wise, the Metro is not as attractive as the Axa Uno. However, the cost to upgrade from a Caroma Profile 4 connector suite to the Metro wall faced suite was very reasonable. I could not have purchased and installed the toilet suites any cheaper than the price offered by Ventura.

Yet again, another WC/Powder room has had its budget slashed :/