A close look at the Mansfield Cascade rimless toilet -PICS-

Users who are viewing this thread

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
I just bought this toilet and I thought people here might be interested in seeing it, as it’s a unique design.

Background

My girlfriend and I just bought our first house, and replacing both toilets was one of the first tasks. I went with a Toto Drake II for the upstairs bathroom, but I wanted something cheaper for the terrible bathroom in our unfinished basement. A full revamp of this bathroom is one of our future projects, but for now I just wanted a new toilet in there.

I also needed a toilet that would fit in the space. It’s a 12” rough, but the foundation juts out several inches at the bottom of the wall. This means many toilets, like my Drake II, wouldn’t fit.

The Mansfield Cascade is a model I’d researched a little, and the spec sheet showed it would fit. The MSRP is $186. I paid $122 from a local plumbing supply house. This is the elongated bowl, ADA height version.

Here are a few of the specs:
- 1.28 gpf
- Bowl 4817, tank 3816
- made in Colombia
- 3” flush valve
- 2” trapway
- 800g map rating

Link to the Cascade on the Mansfield website:
http://www.mansfieldplumbing.com/Product-Catalog/Toilets/Two-Piece-Toilets/4817-3816-(1).aspx

Here’s what I started with. This is an ancient Douglas Leader that was cracked and overall in terrible shape. It still worked, though.
 

Attachments

  • T1.jpg
    T1.jpg
    43.8 KB · Views: 3,288
Last edited:

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
The bowl

The build quality overall seems pretty good. It’s actually a little better than I expected at this cheap price point, but it isn’t quite as nice as my Drake II. There are a few minor speckles in the porcelain I found by really studying it up close. The casting appears even and the glazing overall appears well applied and looks good.

This is a rimless toilet. The water for the bowl wash comes out of a series of angled holes along the inside of the bowl.

The trapway has a sharp turn at the end. We shall see if I have any clogging issues. This toilet does have an 800g map rating, so I'm not too worried.
 

Attachments

  • T2.jpg
    T2.jpg
    30.5 KB · Views: 4,652
  • T3.jpg
    T3.jpg
    30.1 KB · Views: 2,453
  • T4.jpg
    T4.jpg
    15.3 KB · Views: 2,522
  • T5.jpg
    T5.jpg
    31.8 KB · Views: 2,530
  • T6.jpg
    T6.jpg
    29.2 KB · Views: 2,286
Last edited:

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
The tank

Nothing unusual here that I can see.
 

Attachments

  • T7.jpg
    T7.jpg
    22.8 KB · Views: 2,410
  • T8.jpg
    T8.jpg
    37 KB · Views: 2,737
  • T9.jpg
    T9.jpg
    23.6 KB · Views: 2,259
Last edited:

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
Initial impressions

Since this toilet has only been installed a few days, I’m not going to pass judgement. I’ll give an honest review of the performance after it gets some miles on it, so to speak.

The white used on this Mansfield toilet is a little different from Toto’s Cotton White. It’s actually a little off white, so it looks like it may be closer to Toto’s Colonial White.

Installation was quite easy. The Mansfield came with steel tank-to-bowl hardware. I upgraded to a set of brass bolts. I went with a $20 Bemis slow-close seat from Home Depot. It’s almost a perfect color match and fits the toilet well.

I’ve been heading down to the basement for my bathroom breaks to use the Cascade. The toilet flushes well and has been working fine so far.
 

Attachments

  • T10.jpg
    T10.jpg
    36.8 KB · Views: 2,538
Last edited:

Hannah79

New Member
Messages
1
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Texas
Mansfield Cascade

We are building a house and I would LOVE to hear more about the Mansfield cascade rimless toilet. This is the only review I was able to find. What are your thoughts after the last 6 months of use? Have you had any problems so far?
 

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
Well, I've been meaning to update this, but I've been forgetting.

I've now been using this toilet for more than six months. Overall, it works pretty well, especially considering the price.

One note - this is installed in the basement of our 90-year-old house. The basement toilet plumbing has literally no venting of any kind, so I suspect that may affect the flushing performance. I occasionally get slow or inconsistent flushes.

Even with that caveat, I'm still pretty darn happy with it for the price I paid. I have had one or two minor clogs in six months, but a second flush took care of them. The Cascade doesn't flush as strongly as our Drake II, but the Mansfield was also 1/3 the price of the Toto. And again, I don't know how much judgement I can pass on the flushing performance, since it lacks proper venting.
 
Last edited:

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,771
Reaction score
1,191
Points
113
Location
New England
FWIW, a toilet will flush just fine without any venting...it may cause problems with other things, but it should flush just fine UNLESS, it's bowl water content was affected before you used it (i.e., it lost some of its water and was not at the design depth). Note, this can also happen when the thing isn't used much - evaporation can lower the level, and affect the flush which may be what you are experiencing if it is seldom used. I notice this if I'm away for a few weeks - the bowl level is low when I get home from evaporation.
 

ubersanger

New Member
Messages
11
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Location
Indiana
I just put one of these in to a bathroom (different one than I put the Kohler in). I got the round front model which is standard height. Street price is about $100 so just a few bucks more than the builders grade Mansfield Alto. For $100, I am impressed. If enough people knew about this one, it would probably kill Mansfield's alto sales. Fast and powerful flush. Seems to be slightly more powerful than the Kohler Wellworth/Highline but we'll see for sure once we get more use out of it. The trapway design, while not perfect, is notably better than that used on the Alto. The round front model is very compact and will fit in about as small as space as you can fit a toilet in. On 12" rough in, it is barely over 27" long from the finished wall. The tank, same one as the elongated model, is on the small side and the overall package is definitely on the narrower side, though bowl is still standard size for round front.

All the cascades are made in Columbia vs US. Most other Mansfield's are produced in the US. Build quality was very high on my sample. Blew Kohler out of the water. The cost-cutting for the low price is evident in the cheap plastic handle/lever, which I expect to break at some point and the use of steel bolts vs brass for the tank to bowl connection, but those were really my only two complaints. This model uses a conventional fill valve and flapper in a 3" size.

One observation on the flapper. The flush valve base is very tall. So tall that the flapper actually sits a full 3 inches above the base of the tank. The standard flush lets the water go all the way down to the level of the flapper, so no matter how long you hold the handle down, you will never get much more than the 1.28 gallon flush spec. You give up the gain in water pressure from having the flapper close early on tanks with the flapper mounted towards the bottom, but gain some pressure from gravity because the water is flowing from a three inch higher level. In any case the pressure of the flush is good so whose to say which is better. The one disadvantage is that you've got three inches of water to empty out of the tank by hand when it comes time for servicing the fill valve.
 

davfel01

New Member
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Location
New York
Hi,
new to your forum, but I had to sign up to post a reply for this toilet.I just bought 3 toilets for my bathrooms, and sorry Terry, but not toto. I could not justify the cost. I bought 1 mansfield cascade 4817-3816 1.28 gpf (toilet shown above) for $159.00 with a map rating of 800. It is an awesome toilet. It flushes very well every time and cleans the bowl streaks nearly every time. I've had no plugs, and it refills in 37 seconds. The other toilets that I bought were aquasource HET at $99.00 from lowes. Those toilets also have a great flush and clean the bowl nearly every time also. They refill in 39 secs and are also a 1.28 gallon flush. The lowes toilet comes with a seat, some people claim it is flimsy, but I find it to be very comfortable. Aquasource toilet has a map rating of 1000. Both toilets, the mansfield and the aquasource I have found to be of very high quality and they both sport 3 inch flush valves. Finish on both are very smooth and free of defects. I enjoy the fact that the cascade is rimless and a simple swipe with a sponge with a cleaner and you are germ free. I have used toto toilets before and I see they are nice but is it worth the extra 300.00 dollars, not in my opinion. It was actually this post that made me look into the cascade toilet and I am extremely glad that I did. Both of these toilets easily compete with any of the higher end, higher priced toilets that i have used, seen and tested.

Thanks for your informative site.

Dave
 

stephenk

Member
Messages
53
Reaction score
7
Points
8
Location
Plains
Long-term review:

In a few months I'll have had this Cascade for four years. It's still working really well. I haven't ever had to use a plunger. There have been some times it's needed an additional flush to clear a minor clog.

The cascade is also still using all its original parts. I've haven't replaced a single part. The Toto Drake II in our other bathroom needed a new flush valve in less than a year. Strangely, the replacement Toto branded valve purchased at Menards has lasted way longer than the original.

All-in-all I've been really happy with the Cascade, especially for the price. Its's not quite as nice as my Drake II in some ways, but it also cost far less than the Toto.
 
Last edited:
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks