Toilet replacement question

[Jack]

Hello, My house is 4 years old. I bought it new. Three bathrooms, 2 on second floor, 1 on first floor. . The toilet on the first floor doesn't flush that well. I don't know if the reason is because of venting, or if the reason is because its a 'builders' fixture (Mansfield is the brand). . Would replacing this fixture with a high-grade model from Toto make a big difference? . Here are the symptoms...Flushing the toilet seems to fill the bowl, which raises the water level in the bowl, there is a small delay, then a flush which is not very powerful. Water pressure in my area is not great. There is no clog in the pipe. . I can do the replacement, just not sure if I should. It would only be less than $300.00 to do the job. Thanks for your time.

[Lawrence]

If the stuff is going down the chute the don't bother. If it aint broke....

[mm]

It depends on why it flushes badly now.

Are these totos everyone talks about compressed-air powered, or just normal?

Have you taken off the lid to watch what goes on in the tank during all of this?

First guess, the tank isn't filling completely for some reason. First sub-guess, it's set not to fill very high. Second sub-guess, it sticks on something.

Second guess. The flapper doesn't open well. First sub- guess, the brick someone put in the toilet to save water eventually moved so that it obstructs the flapper from opening

Third guess Something else you will see.

It sounds like you haven't looked into repairing it. Why is the first thing people think of replacement and not repair?

The toilet in my powder room refills in less than half the time my other toilets do because it is so close to the water input to the house. Maybe something like this causes someone to do something to your toilet.

[Rick Blaine]

Fill a 5 gal bucket with water and pour it quickly into the bowl. If you get a sarisfactory "swoosh" as the bowl empties, you don't have a drain issue.

Water pressure is immaterial - the flush comes from the storage tank. Pressure just affects the refill time.

Builder special toilets are notorious for pour hydraulics. I have a couple of Sterling's (made by Kohler) left that are horrible. Replaced 2 of them with Kohler Wellworth Lights that work fine. If you want to replace it, pick up a copy of the latest Maximum Performance Test of low flow toilets here:

Look for the link that says "6 Litre Toilets" and then click on the 8th edition report.

[mm]

BTW, did it used to flush well?

Not if the problem is venting. :)

[Jack]

[mm]

Maybe it's lower, but 99% of them still flush fine, right?

What kind of toilets do you have in the other bathrooms?

And of course the other guy was right. Your house water pressure has nothing to do with how it flushes. As long as the toilet tank fills.

Does the toilet tank fill? Could you raise the level without going above the overflow tube that goes into the bowl?

Did you do as I asked and take the lid off the tank and watch what happens when you flush it?

Anything unusual?

How do you know it's not the vent? In my case and many, the downstairs toilet uses a different vent from the upstairs toilets.

[DebraG]

I just replaced two toilets with one piece Toto's. Was able to install them easily too (though the second one was easier to install than the first!) They are great, especially compared to the cheapo toilets that were like trying to sweep with 3 strands left on a broom.

Debra

[RicodJour]

I also like the Toto's a lot. Besides the efficient flush, the soft- close lid is such an improvement it's hard to understand why all of the other manufacturer's haven't followed suit.

R

[Jeff Wisnia]

I doubt if that is also true for "power flush" toilets which compress air above the water when refilling. I'd expect the initial flush strength and the amount of water released to be a function of supply pressure.

But since I don't own and haven't worked on one of those types of toilets yet, maybe I don't fully understand their operation.

Won't someone help me please?

Jeff

[avid_hiker]

Here's some tips..........

***Clogged holes underneath the rim of the bowl. Use a curved piece of wire to poke gently into each flush hole to clear out any debris. Coat- hanger wire works fine.You can also use wire to loosen debris that may be blocking the siphon jet in the bottom of the drain.***

Dean