Whether your abode is brand new or decades old, the bathroom is often one of the first areas to cause issues at home. You’d be surprised how much a simple bathroom upgrade can fix, whether you’re struggling with lingering odours, high water bills or even just an unsightly setup. We spoke with experts at Geberit to dig up their top solutions—read on to find out more.

Problem: You’d like to replace your existing WC, but you’re worried that renovations may be inconvenient, lengthy and messy.

Solution: Toilets with exposed cisterns are commonplace, but they’re not particularly pleasing to look at. Additionally, they often have many nooks and crannies that tend to trap dust and bacteria. No wonder then that you’d want to replace them. That said, we understand that the thought of renovating can be daunting with all the time and effort that often goes into these projects.

As an alternative, the award-winning Geberit Monolith Puro is a sleek and modern option that will give your toilet an instant facelift with its elegant appeal. Available in white, black and red to suit your style, the sanitary module’s slim design is a smart way to free up space, which is especially helpful in tight bathrooms.

Conveniently, the Geberit Monolith Puro will work with floor standing units from most ceramic brands and installation is simple, quick and clean as walls do not need to be hacked. The unit is also compatible with most existing water and drainage connections, taking any guesswork out of the equation.

Tip! For sanitary reasons, avoid the urge to clutter your toilet with decorative items and keep to just the essentials like toilet paper, cotton buds and towels which should be tucked away in jars and behind cabinet doors if possible.

Problem: Your water bills are rising with more people working and schooling from home.

Solution: Did you know that flushing your toilet contributes to an estimated 18% of your total water bill? With this being the case, it’s easy to see how weak, inefficient flushes that require you to make multiple presses can quickly drive up your cost—not to mention it’s downright annoying and a strain on Earth’s resources to boot.

Getting a water-efficient WC with a powerful flush is a good way to mitigate this problem, and Geberit offers dual-flush options that let you determine the amount of water needed for each use. With one of these installed, you can save up to five litres of water per flush, amounting to about 10% of savings for your monthly water bills.

Installation of Geberit’s Flush and Fill valves is easy. In fact, you can even do it yourself—here’s a video showing how to. These valves will fit almost all exposed cisterns in the market, nixing the need for engaging a plumber or a costly replacement of your existing system.

If you’d like more flexibility, the new Typ 202 Dual Flush Valve offers different configurations for one- and two-piece toilets and lets you position the buttons anywhere on the WC for top or side operation. You can even choose from different button sizes (standard 38mm, 48mm or 58mm) to suit your needs.

Tip! To save more water at home, install flow restrictors on your taps to slow the volume of water released by half or more. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to tell the difference!

Problem: Odours and stains seem to linger in the WC even after cleaning.

Solution: Your toilet is one of the most visited areas in the house, which means it can get gross, fast. To help you cut down on cleaning while creating a beautiful appearance, you might want to look into Geberit’s Concealed Cisterns. With one of these installed, you no longer have to see or deal with bulky cisterns that trap dust and germs—fewer edges, joints and corners mean fewer grooves to wipe down.

Further, a wall-hung WC frees up floor space so the unit and floor can be easily cleaned for improved hygiene. Another upside, these were designed to help you save water as well with a Geberit dual flush actuation for the WC.

Aesthetically, you get a lot more design options by hiding the cistern behind a wall. Geberit actuator plates come in different styles, so you can go with one that blends in or stands out. Hiding the sanitary fixtures also creates a more spacious appearance, and since the concealed cisterns can support up to 400kg, going with a wall-hung WC will make your bathroom look even bigger.

The award-winning iCon wall-hung WC, one of Geberit’s several rim-free offerings, is a good option with its minimalistic appearance. Since flush rims tend to accumulate dirt, germs and deposits, eliminating these hidden, hard-to-reach spots is a smart idea. Instead, these innovative designs feature a special flush system that is targeted and powerful yet quiet, removing deposits efficiently without alerting the whole house.

Available in several styles and price points, many of these rim-free designs also come with QuickRelease seat covers, making the entire unit even easier to clean for optimum hygiene.

Tip! Most experts recommend cleaning your WC at least once a week to minimise stains, spreading of germs and dreaded deep-cleaning sessions. If you have kids, a busy household or someone who is sick, you may want to step up the frequency to once every few days.

The opening image features the Geberit Citterio bathroom series. This post was adapted from an article originally published in the November 2021 issue of SquareRooms.