Choosing a Toilet

[Luke Howett Fitzhugh]

You?

[Chirac]

If your fanny doesn't fit on the toilet seat don't buy the toilet.

[Deke]

Ebay is your friend.

The seller there ship the newer toilets at a cost less than you buy it for at home depot.

Myself wants a tall model with a pressurized tank and huge pipes and oversize seat.

[Deke]

yeah, I was telling the young pilot of a commuter jet that I was wearing underwear older than he is.

[CM]

You can buy a Toto Drake for $200 they are rated at 900 out of 1000 points by the US and Canadian government flush tests. 900 is likely much higher than any Home depot toilet is rated.

cm

[Michael B]

[Michael B]

[Michael B]

Forget the pressurized tank stuff. There was a bunch of them put in for water conservation, but there was a distressing failure rate. You want an excellent flush, do what I did. I've got my tank on a shelf over 2 feet above the commode. That's a

2" pipe fitt> Ebay is your friend.

[Don Wiss]

Hey Luke,

Many people, if they didn't spend it now would save the money. From what you are writing, if you didn't spend it now on the toilet you'd fritter it away on some non-asset expenditure.

Don (e-mail link at home page bottom).

[Harry K]

Looks like it to me. You explained very well _why_ you couldn't go with teh expensive item. Just why that should draw assholish responses is beyond me.

Harry K

[Harry]

A brown toilet will save water. You won't have to flush as much :-)

[mm]

I'm a neutral observer.

Except that I've been in your shoes, where I don't like the advice.

There can be two competing forces, a) the desire and the worthy goal to keep the record straight by giving the disadvantages of the advice one doesn't like, and b) the worthy goal of replying nicely to someone who went to the trouble to gave advice in reply to one's request.

If there is no way meet a and b at the same time, one should settle for b, and just say "Thank you".

Instead you gave short shrift to b, and you seem to add c, a gratuitous insult: ">That is one of those snappy sayings that I never believed. If anyone believes that statement, then I have a $200 Thousand Ford Escort to sell you." You say you don't believe him, and that anyone who does is a fool, and that clearly means that the person who gave the advice is a fool or a liar or stupid or mentally ill. The least bad of these is that he's a fool.

I can understand not wanting to retract or anything, but I can't understand complaining about his mild reply:

"No problem; buy the "Acme Deluxe Toilet" and plunge it three times a week.

Sorry I wasted my time trying to help...."

He feels he wasted his time, and he's keeping the record straight, sort of like you kept the record straight that you thought his idea wouldn't work. But he doesn't insult you.

Harry F hasn't posted much afaik and I don't know why he writes what he does.

[Chris]

I saw that article in consumer reports last year. The Eljer was rated much higher than the Toto. A higher price never guarantees a better product. We're buying an Eljer this summer. -Chris

[John Weiss]

Unfortunately, testing a single model in a large brand is totally inadequate. There are too many differences within the brands.

The CWWA site cited earlier has a substantially larger database, and should make a better basis for shopping. Once you weed out the low performers, shop elsewhere to find info on specific models. I found the mfgrs' web sites to be informative as well, and the plumber's and customers' perspectives at

invaluable.

[John Weiss]

From Terry Love's site:

Eljer Titan:

Good flushing toilet. Could use a little better bowl wash, but better than some others. Noise level consistent with other 3" flush valve toilets.

Toto Drake:

An industry standard for performance with what some consider the best flush performance. Has perhaps the most thorough flush, leaving nothing in the bowl. Fairly compact at 28" in length for the elongated version and

26-1/2" for the regular bowl. Easy to assembly with common tools. If you have pliers and a flat blade screwdriver, you're in business.

I have to second the "compact" and "easy to assembl[e]" comments. One of my bathrooms is small, and I wasn't sure if an elongated bowl would fit. Turns out that the Drake was less than an inch longer from the wall overall than my old round-bowl toilet. The tank is more compact, and it fits in the standard roughout.

[John Weiss]

"Perpetually hawk"?!? Let's see...

I found it when I was shopping for toilets about 2-3 years ago. I found it valuable in my search.

I have mentioned it a couple times before, always in response to someone's query for info.

For the record, I don't know the guy and have never bought anything from him, and have NEVER recommended anyone buy anything from him.

Unprofessional?!? Dunno how you came to that...

He's a plumbing contractor, and states that very clearly on his site. He's licensed, bonded, & insured, and has no complaints listed on the state of WA licensing or the BBB sites.

He lists references to other plumbers on the web.

More prominent than the ratings on the "toilet reports" page is an alphabetical list of all major toilet mfgrs and their web links, as well as a number of other useful links.

He clearly explains the basis of his subjective and objective (e.g., MaP testing) ratings.

Biased? Probably -- no, DEFINITELY true! He is very apparently biased toward toilets that work.

Here your own bias is showing. There are several negative comments in the customer reviews of the Toto Drake, Ultramax, and Aquia. He has good comments and no negatives on the Gerber Ultraflush and Caroma Caravell.

There is a combination of objectivity and subjectivity on the site.

Hmmm... I would be very wary of a vendor that did NOT sell the products he recommends!

He sells a multitude of brands and models. Since it is unlikely that anyone will order from him via the web unless they live between Bothell and Bellevue, WA, and since he provided the reviews to ANYONE -- not just [potential] customers, there is NO conflict of interest here. To the contrary, it is provided as an educated, expert opinion from someone who sells and services a wide variety of toilets.

Yep!

There is nothing phony or shillish about this one, though. Besides, you can take his advice or leave it -- no pressure!

Consumer Reports also has an increasing trend toward evaluations that are less scientific and more error-prone. This trend is accompanied by a trend toward marketing tactics that approach the "sleaze" they decry in other companies. CR is a good organization, but they are not perfect, infallible, or omniscient.

[mm]

I was hoping for 120, but I'll settle for 90.

[Chris]

Isn't it funny how you are the only one who suggested they were. Their continuing saving grace is how their detractors can never name any widely-available source of information that comes close to their good track record. They are simply the best source of consumer information that is available to the general public. Nobody else goes to such detail. Nobody else refuses all advertisements from the companies whose products are being evaluated. Nobody else covers such a wide range of consumer products.

You stick to supporting your shill site. Any company who needs that kind of support isn't worth considering for my purchases. There will always be a ready supply of stupid customers who will fall for it, but there are plenty of intelligent consumers who can immediately see the lack of value in Mr. Love's recommendations.

Chris

[Chris]

Sure ya did. And I'll bet that none of the products CR didn't like ever showed up in the shop. Ain't lyin' amazingly convenient.

Which is about as smart as using the online sexual offender list for finding a babysitter. Good luck with that.

Chris

[REMOVE]

Larry the Cable Guy had no problem with it.