WANTED! tiny toilet monsters

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shook

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hi there!
i've been searching & searching for clues to help me find a proper toilet for a not-yet-built & quite small free-standing structure.
my first idea was the toto aquia wall-hung, but with no reviews & a youtube of one that doesn't work well... well i guess i'm still lookin'!
(mr. love, did you ever install that one in your house?)
& the neorest (wow!) sounds amazing & expen$ive.
the nameeks are lovely, & some seem to sit on the floor & still have the in-wall tank, & that's lovely too.
i know nothing more about them or where to find them.
also duravit, but are parts are hard to manage?
i'm just in dire need of resources that will lead me to a toilet that uses a very small amount of room,
will work like rocky balboa & won't give me a stitch of buyers remorse.
is there such a monster?
thanks for you time & awesome knowledge...
 

Jadnashua

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The Aquia works quite well if it is installed properly! FWIW, Toto is the largest toilet manufacturer in the world with factories in many places ans sales all over the place (including a factory in Georgia). This wouldn't be true if their products didn't work well.
 

WJcandee

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The Aquia works quite well if it is installed properly! FWIW, Toto is the largest toilet manufacturer in the world with factories in many places ans sales all over the place (including a factory in Georgia). This wouldn't be true if their products didn't work well.

We have four wall-hungs in our community beach house; just remodeled last year. It's the Geberit dual-flush in-wall tank and valve connected to Duravit wall-hung bowls. The selling point was that the wall-hungs allowed us to relocate the toilets and thus rearrange the Men's and Women's rooms without having to cut the slab. Secondary selling point was that they allegedly look cool and allow for easier cleaning underneath.

I guess. I was reading Terry's forum back then and was all for just replacing the existing toilets in their existing locations with Toto Drakes.

After a year of experience with the Geberit/Duravit combos, I don't hate them but I can't say I am a big fan. The flush is sort-of effective enough, but seems to involve a lot of splashy drama for a moderate result. Example: I just went down there and, being a beach house, there were dead flies floating on top of the water spot. Flush. Big dramatic avalanche of water (but no gurgle). Flies still there. Wait forever for refill. Flush again. Still there. Wait. Put a little paper on top. Flush. Flies gone, little wisp of paper visible just beyond bowl. Man, with the Toto it would have been one flush and all flies gone on a dramatic ride to their final rest. The Toto wall-hung doesn't seem to care whose valve/tank you use. I wonder if swapping these for Toto fixtures would improve the effectiveness of the flush.

The bigger problem, however, is that the toilets in the Women's rooms get clogged every time we have an event and they get substantial use. Invariably someone uses and flushes a bunch of paper, and then flushes again before the tank refills. Then they clog. Then all the women have to start using the Men's Room. The clog doesn't occur at the toilet site, mind you, but down the wall at the bend into the main pipe. By relocating them as he did along a wall perpendicular to the old drain pipe, the contractor eliminated the old run into the main sewer line and replaced it basically with a right angle. Out of the back of the toilet, immediately left along the wall to a T at the old sewer line and hard-right and out of the building. When the clog hits, you apparently can't get to it from the cleanout immediately outside the building, because it's up the line a bit and then a 90 to the left while the rest of the line runs straight ahead to the other side of the beach house where the Men's Room is. Three times now, a toilet has had to be unmounted, and several hours spent with the Big Snake. The first time, the very-experienced local plumber I like couldn't get to it, and had to call in his go-to sewer company - $400+. The other times, $49.99 Sewer and Drain came and charged almost $200 with their big snake. I don't blame the toilet per se for this Bad Situation, but I think that it provides a cautionary tale that the perceived flexibility of installing these things shouldn't lead to Big Ideas that ignore what I assume are basic principles of smart plumbing installation. I'm not sure whether I'm exactly right about the precise cause of the problem, or what the fix is going to be, but I'm pretty sure that the contractor is going to have to answer for this relatively soon, and I'm guessing that we're going to find out that no master plumber recommended that these things be installed as they are, and I'm not sure whether we're going to find a simple solution to this problem. (BTW, if anyone has any great ideas about this, please spill...)

In the application that the original poster mentions, it seems to me that he's only saving about 8-9 inches of space in the room. Maybe that's super-important, but if super-reliable is the real desire, than my money is on the Drake or Drake II, particularly as I gain more and more experience with the ones we installed at home. Love 'Em (and the Carlyle II)! Thanks, Terry!
 
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Gary Swart

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If it's not yet built, why not expand the room enough to handle a normal sized toilet? We get frequent questions from people with existing homes with tiny bathrooms that are trying to fit a toilet into it. You have the luxury of making the room large enough. I'm not talking about a king size room with space for a whirlpool, double sinks, bidet, and toilet, just big enough for the basics. Save a couple of bucks on material today and regret not doing it right forever.
 

hj

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The problem with any "non standard" toilet is what happens a few years from now when it has to be replaced, for whatever reason, and it is no longer made and there is no replacement for it.
 

shook

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thank you jim, wjcandee, gary, hj, & monster loving smooky
i knew i had stumbled upon greatness!
though i am still in the throes of indecision...
shall i throw caution to the wind
or just start from the drawing board
& re-plan around a "normal" toilet
i must say though
i'm feeling a bit european!
if i do this crazy thing
will you fine folks assist me in my journey?
there was to be a youtube
of a gentleman installing one of these lil' monsters
but alas it is no longer
any other assists
that could ease this passing?
 
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Gary Swart

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Are you really serious? Why on earth would you even consider building a bathroom from scratch that would require a toilet that would perhaps be difficult or impossible to replace because of the size of the room! Certainly I would recommend a Toto, but even if you went with another brand, a 12" rough-in will accept a replacement of any brand if a change is ever desired. A simple remove, replace operation.
 

Jadnashua

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I've nothing against wall-hung toilets, they work, and can work quite well if installed properly. As with anything, though, some designs are better than others. Having an easily cleaned floor underneath the tiolet can be a big plus and it is a style statement. If you want a wall-hung, go for it. But, still, I'd allow enough knee room to meet code and clear doors, etc.

If you decide on a normal floor-mount, make sure you have a true 12" rough-in, then your choices are practically unlimited. The only 'gotcha' is potentially if you go with a skirted model, the placement of the shutoff valve can be critical.
 

WJcandee

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Shook, I can point you to a number of videos of these things being installed on youtube. And the whole Toto kit (tank, bowl, and push plate) can be had for under $600. If I were you, I would look at the instructions online to see what you are getting into at the totousa.com web site...
 

shook

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ok.
sorry for the delay
but i've gone & done it
as we speak
a toto aquia wall-hung
& geberit in-wall tank
are rushing to my address
(ok, maybe not rushing)
so wjcandee
any direction you want to point me in
to make this as sweet & painless as possible
would be greatly appreciated
thank you all for your great knowledge & expertise
& i'll keep you posted on how it all goes down
(& post any questions along the way!)
oh, & gary
it's because of you
that i am embarking on this awesome journey
thanks again!
 

MikeQ

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How's it going with the Aquia?

ok.
sorry for the delay
but i've gone & done it
as we speak
a toto aquia wall-hung
& geberit in-wall tank
are rushing to my address
(ok, maybe not rushing)

Any updates?
 
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