Quick! Recommend me a toilet

Guys and gals I am a new homeowner (condo) and life on the homefront is off to a rocky start. I need to buy a toilet like tomorrow. I am going to Home Depot to see what they have. Any recommendations? I know you can buy one for less then a hundred dollars but am willing to spend up to two hundred or so if it will get me something better. I will probably be here for a number of years so am willing to get something semi-decent if such a thing can be had for $200 or less. Also, I have Walmart and other typical urban retail stores if something there can be had that is cheaper/better then home depot.

This should be right up Craig's alley and no I will not attempt to flush flashlights down the toilet!

CR did a big write up on commodes recently. There was one that really stood out as a "Best Buy", but I don't recall which one it was, and I don't have the mags handy. I do recall that is was only available at independent type dealers, not at the big box stores. Hopefully someone will chime in who can help more.

Peter

I read the topic line and thought someone may be standing around with their legs crossed.. LOL

We bought (last summer) a Kohler Devonshire K-3457 regular height with the elongated seat and quiet flush. They come in two heights, regular and what they call a comfort one that's just an inch or so taller. I like the elongated seat, nice and comfy and it is pretty quiet as far as flushing goes and does seem to flush fine.

Anyhow, it wasn't too terribly expensive (under $200.00 I think) and I think we got it at either Lowes or Home Depot.


Kohler Devonshire

Just confirmed with my wife, it was Home Depot and was right around $130.00.

Briggs! I believe it was Consumer Report's best buy.

All of the toilets in my house are Briggs. They create a vacuum in the tank, which generates lots of flushing power. They use very little water, but are still powerful. I highly recommend them.

They might be hard to locate though. IIRC, ours were special orders.

I bought an American Standard at Lowe's 8-10 months ago that claimed it could flush about 24 golf balls. It has a picture of golf balls on the display. It is a tall and elongated bowl. I am very impressed and I want to say it was in the $200+ range. FWIW it also didn't mind being submerged in salt water. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

flush golf balls? EEEK!.. that would be a golfers nightmare.
Just think if the wife got mad at you and flushed those brand new uber brand golf balls the day before you are scheduled to tee off..... ARGH!

I was looking at that American Standard Champion golf ball/rubber hose flusher too, but ended up going for a lower cost option, a Kohler Wellworth, for about $120.
It works well, but I had some problems with the tank outlet not being cast perfectly round, and had to exchange it for another tank, which had the same problem, but to a lesser degree. I put in an additional sealing gasket to stop the slow drip going from the tank into the bowl. Seemed very odd that something like that would be a problem, but maybe it was just bad luck.
Whatever you get, be sure to check the spacing from the outlet to the back wall, because there are different sizes, and if you get one that's spaced too far, you won't be able to install it properly.

I was on a first-name basis with the RotoRooter guy, thanks to our family of four trying to clog up our standard toilet.
I got a Gerber UltraFlush toilet. It is not a gravity flush toilet, but a pressurized one. Much stronger flush than ordinary toilets. It is louder, but I consider this a reasonable tradeoff.
The workings are Sloan Flushmate and are available in many well-known brands, including Kohler and American Standard.

I prefer the recommendation of Al Bundy.

He prefers the Ferguson. Made in England where they know thier crappers. As to the sound it goes something like: BAWOOOOSH

Leadfoot

I bought the Kohler Wellworth. Seems like a good value for the money and rated ok by Consumer reports. I do like the looks of the Devonshire and may get that for the upstairs bathroom when I repair the rotted floor.

What a disgusting experience replacing the toilet. The flange had seen better days but was still usable. This was a good thing as it is cast iron and permanently attached to the pipe. Also you know the saying if they build a better mouse trap? Well surely someone can come up with a better way of mating the toilet to the drain pipe then a messy, finicky wax ring.

I just installed 2 Kohler Wellworths in the last year. They seem to work very well. Kohler has the entire flushing channel coated with glaze which helps *things* move along.

[ QUOTE ]
geepondy said:surely someone can come up with a better way of mating the toilet to the drain pipe then a messy, finicky wax ring.

[/ QUOTE ]

First time I ever did this was a couple of years ago.. one toilet came loose, one of the bolts holding it to the flange rusted all the way through. Inspection showed another was on the way. Joys of home ownership.

Since I had taken the tanks off before (previous owner had used one steel bolt and one brass to hold down the tank- guess what), I disassembled the things to make handling easier. Based on a tip from a friend, I put a thin bead of plumber's putty on the bottom of each wax ring to help hold it in place on the flange, and a thick bead on the top edge to help seal it. Had no problems at all, either doing it, or since.

The wax makes a good seal. The problem is movement. If the toilet's not secure, you'll get movement and that will allow leakage past the wax as it is a one-time type seal. It will not rebound during movement like a rubber seal will.

I can say that I vote for the kohler. The full glaze is nice. Our are brand-new 1.6 gpf models with elongated bowls.

I have yet to stop one up. Very quiet. Very quick flush. Refill is quiet also.

Turbo your quote "I have yet to stop one up" concerns me as to your health. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick2.gif

Leadfoot