Soiree question

[Yersmay]

I helped a friend install a Toto Soiree. Terrific toilet! It wasn't hard to install, either. I'm asking out of sheer curiosity -- why is this toilet designed with the 'unifit' drain set up? What is it about this toilet that kept Toto from simply having a conventional trap? Is it something about the skirt? I'm guessing but could it be because Toto didn't want to spring for a porcelain trap if it would be hidden by the skirt? I'm sure the answer will be obvious, but I can't figure this out. Thanks in advance.

 

[Terry]

TOTO toilets that use the Unifit adapter can be installed on
10"
12"
14"
https://terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Yersmay]

So the reason for the unifit isn't so much that it is specific to the design demands of the Soiree, it's more that Toto is targeting the Soiree as a toilet you'd choose if there are rough in problems? While the unifit is pretty ingenious in that respect, are rough in problems that common that Toto would design a toilet to address it? Do all skirted toilets take advantage of this capability? Before the unifit, was there any other way to solve a rough in problem other than re-configuring the closet bend?

 

[JohnjH2o1]

Not all but some toilets are available in 10" 12" & 14" rough. My opinion the unifit is it's Toto's way to have the plumber install the water way for there toilet. It has to be the most expensive part in building a toilet.

John

 

[Peanut9199]

Mostly all of Toto's skirted toilets have the uni-fit rough-in that is available in different lenghts 10, 12 & 14 (12 coming with the toilet).

If you needed different rough-in's in the past you would either buy a 10" toilet bowl or a 14" toilet tank that would look like a box or you would have to modify the wall or floor drain.

The skirted toilet gave them a option to hide a rough-in that was available in different lenghts thus eliminating the need for different bowls or tanks.

Like the Aquia toilet that was available with a unifit that was only available in 12" they redesigned it with a china trapway and are now coming out with a 10" bowl.

Toto's skirted toilets need the water supply to be 2" wider than normal toilets because of the skirt.

I have installed 6 Soiree's so far and had to move one water line and add two Dahl skirted angle stops to shut the water off.

The Soriee and the Guinevere can have the water supply 5.5" to the left of center
The Vepin and Carlyle need 7" to the left of center

 

[dinkledoodle]

Adding a strong "YES," there are enough rough-ins that are not 12" to warrant the modular approach. I have a 10" and am glad to have found the option. There are many toilets in older houses that do not have the commonly used 12" rough-in that has become the standard today. Also, Toto wisely the international market where alternative rough-ins are standard.

Another really good reasons has to do with design of the flush (where Toto excels) but one of our engineer buddies would have to explain that to you. One of mine did for me, but it was waaaay over my head.

Another is the whole wax ring sealing step. With a conventional installation, I've never been sure the wax ring had a good seal. The pros don't have a problem with this, but I just had to take it on faith. With the Unifit, you know because making the wax seal and setting the toilet are completed different steps.

No Yesrmay, the design is not to save costs. It is a true engineering advance.

p.s. Thanks for letting me know the installation went so smoothly. I'm planning to install my Eco Soiree today.... Fingers crossed....

 

[SteveW]

Another advantage to the UniFit system (probably not the reason Toto came up with it) is that taking up a toilet to paint or paper behind it becomes easier since you don't have to mess with a wax seal. The rubber gasket on the UniFit mates with the horn on the toilet and can be taken apart and put together multiple times.

As said above, the UniFit idea was really designed so one bowl/tank could be used for a variety of rough-in dimensions. Great idea!

 

[Craig99]

The shorter trapway on the unifits make it easier to unclog large objects if you remove the toilet. With the toilet on it's side, you can see straight up the trap from the bottom and shove a rag from the bowl side and see it from the bottom and grab it with hook or long tongs. The unifit can also be taken off and checked easily because it's short. I had a toilet I couldn't unplug with an auger, but it would drain when I put a garden hose in the bowl with high pressure. I had to take the toilet off and broke it up with sledge hammer and found a rubber duck my son had flushed. I think with the unifit design I could have pushed it out and saved the toilet.

 

[Terry]

found a rubber duck my son had flushed.

When the EPA came to Seattle, we had television crews from local channels.
One of the guys putting the publicity together grabbed a rubber ducky and tried flushing it down just before the camera crews showed up.
We had to pull one of the toilets that had been working the best,
I was ready to slug the guy.
You can't flush rubber ducky's, but as mentioned by the previous poster, with the Unifit, you could just pull the bowl and pull it out much easier then with the complete trapway bowls.
With the Unifit, we would be been ready for the TV crews.