Any feedback on Danze toilets?

[KiterTodd]

I recently moved into a house that has these AWFUL Mancesa toilets that the builder put in. They have a ridiculously small dump hole (?) connecting the tank to the bowl and the pipe trap in the back of the toilet (again, don't know what it is called) is very tight and condensced. Leaves a combination of almost right angles in the pipes coupled with the low flow and these things will clog on a tissue. Really bad.

We replaced one toilet with an American Standard Champion 4 and have no complaints. Seems to be doing the job much better than those Mancesas. For a downstairs bathroom I was going to get the same toilet, or maybe something a little more stylish. I browsed around and the Danze Orrington 2 Piece toilet seemed to have a nice style and looked to be good quality.

It has a very simple tank with a large 3 inch dump hole, and simple large flapper connected to a standard fluidmaster fill valve. Toilet looks like it should do the job, seemed pretty simple on the inside, but I can't find any reviews of them.

I did see the MaP listing here;
https://www.map-testing.com/

And another thread on this site which seemed to indicate that Danze is actually manufactured/owned by the Globe Union Industrial Chinese Faucet Company. And to be honest, I'm not crazy about buying from a Chinese conglomerate. I'd rather get another AS, Kohler or the much acclaimed Totos;
https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?32740-Question-about-Danze-toilet-please

...but, that Danze is a nice looking bowl and was wondering how folks like it or what you know about the quality.

I'd lean towards getting a more stylish set for the main guest bath, and will probably replace the remaining two with Champion 4s because they are cheaper and appear to be working just fine. And, I don't want a $1000 toilet anywhere. $300ish seems about right...maybe I'd go to $400 for the stylish one.

THANKS in advance for any advice.

 

[Jadnashua]

Style is in the eyes of the beholder...I'd take the Drake over a Cadet. A 3" flush valve has a better chance of working well than a 2" one, and you're right, engineering the pathway to smooth out the flow is much less prone to clogging than trying to turn sharp angles. The prices on the Toto website are suggested retail, but few places sell them for that. Totos are not sold at big box stores, but most places (even if not listed as a dealer) can order them, if they don't already stock them. No personal experience with Danze, so can't comment on its quality or performance. Toto makes some of its toilets in their plant in Georgia...thus you may have a greater chance of an American made toilet buying from them than AS, or Kohler. Most of the US brands out-source manufacturering outside of the US.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Gary Swart]

Kohler is not US made anymore. They are made in Mexico and are really not a good choice. AS has many quality issues. Some seem to work OK, others have issues. Globe has a bad quality record. Why risk investing in a toilet that may be poor quality and a poor performer just because it looks pretty. Toto toilets just don't have problems, regardless of the model, and they have enough models that surely you can find one that will meet your standards for appearance.

 

[KiterTodd]

Wow! You folks *really* like your Totos on this forum! I'll look around my area and see what I find.

Appreciate any more experience folks have with Danze. Yeah, I'll probably skip the Globe brand, though. I do agree with some other feedback on here though regarding the number of well-performing AS toilets in the market and they've always worked fine for me. I'm up for trying something new, though.

 

[hj]

I doubt that Danze "makes" the toilet. They are a faucet company, so their toilets are likely a rebrand of some other manufacturer's toilet. Plumbers "like" whatever doesn't give them problems. I have only installed about a half dozen Totos, but do not have any problems with the others which I use regularly.

 

[TWEAK]

I wanted a skirted one piece, and the Danze Orrington one piece version was the best looking one (fit the style of the room best) by far and had good MAP ratings. But when I found out that it was a Chinese-made item, I decided to go with a Toto Guinevere. I was concerned about three things. The first is that there are relatively few places that sell the Danze, so parts might be hard to get. Second, I couldn't get any feedback anywhere on Danze toilets. And third, I very strongly try to avoid sending my dollars to China whenever I can. Even if the Chinese stuff is less. In this case, the Chinese toilet was actually more money.

With the Toto you get a known quality item. I was quite disappointed in the styling though - no one local had a Guinevere so I bought it sight unseen on the Internet. There is a very odd flat section between the tank and bowl area - the skirt isn't smooth. This isn't highlighted on any of the photos I saw online. An advantage of skirted designs is that they are supposed to be easy to clean. This flat area is a dust trap, in addition to being ugly. Too bad.

But, I would probably still not get the Danze. All I can suggest is, don't buy anything sight unseen - even a Toto.

The Soiree and the Guinevere are made in the USA

TOTO Guinevere with seat.

 

[Terry]

The flat are of the toilet collecting dust?
All toilets are flat on top.
Where do you find a toilet that is rounded and then you put a seat on it?
It's impossible.

But to be fair, lets count all the flat areas in the bathroom

1) Floor, yes the floor seems to be flat, Damn, I suppose someone is going to want me to sweep it.

2) Bathroom counter, Jeeze, why don't the make the counter rounded too. Now water will stand in puddles on the counter instead of rolling off the counter onto the floor where I can sweep it up.

3) The seat, why don't they angle the seat so I can slide off when done, Instead they put if level. It it was angled at a 45 degree, it would never need dusting.

4) Should have picked the Soiree if you don't like the French Provincial styling. Though I did sell and install two of these in the Seattle area yesterday.

I did see the Danze toilet at the supplier yesterday, the bowl looks like it's going to be shallow with water in it.

 

[TWEAK]

The flat are of the toilet collecting dust?
All toilets are flat on top.
Where do you find a toilet that is rounded and then you put a seat on it?
It's impossible.

But to be fair, lets count all the flat areas in the bathroom

1) Floor, yes the floor seems to be flat, Damn, I suppose someone is going to want me to sweep it.

2) Bathroom counter, Jeeze, why don't the make the counter rounded too. Now water will stand in puddles on the counter instead of rolling off the counter onto the floor where I can sweep it up.

3) The seat, why don't they angle the seat so I can slide off when done, Instead they put if level. It it was angled at a 45 degree, it would never need dusting.

4) Should have picked the Soiree if you don't like the French Provincial styling. Though I did sell and install two of these in the Seattle area yesterday.

Very humorous post, thanks for the laugh!

But that's not the surface I was referring to. The surface where the seat mounts is actually very good... there's enough room to get in there between the seat and tank and clean it easily. But look at the SIDE view of the Guinevere, not the picture you added to my post.

There's an odd looking (to me) recess UNDER the tank, near the back, BELOW the level of the surface that the seat fits on. Terry, humor aside, you know exactly what I'm talking about - if you're going to add a photo, why not show a picture that shows it so people can see?

Now look at the Danze Orrington one piece. No such cavity. Just a smooth, clean skirt with no traps to collect stuff.

As I said, I didn't (and wouldn't) pick the Danze for the reasons I gave, and the Boss didn't like the Soiree. General styling of the Guinevere is fine. But the skirt detail - NOT shown in your photo, wasn't expected and just isn't that attractive to me. Others may like it fine.... but they should see it before dropping $600.

Thank you for pointing out that the Guinevere is USA-made. I didn't mention this, but it is an important issue to me and I was surprised and pleased to see "MADE IN USA" on the box when it arrived!

 

[Terry]

I don't see that many people are going to be dusting this, but then some people have house cleaners every week, and they do clean everything in the bathroom.
Then I've seen some bathrooms, where dusting and bowl cleaning is never an issue. Yep, seen those.

The Guinevere

How most toilets are looking.

MS854114E-01 TOTO Ultramax

Most toilets have plenty of flat areas for dusting.
Don't forget to dust the top of the tank, the seat, and the light fixtures in the bathroom.
Some people pull the light bulbs out and clean them in the dishwasher.

 

[TWEAK]

Thanks for the photo. It does show the area I'm referring to, although I don't think this particular photo gives the full effect of how bad it looks. Once again, I only suggest that folks take a good look before shelling out for a $600 toilet. If that's unreasonable in your or someone's view, well ok.

As for cleaning it... hmmmm.... can't really worry about people that don't clean their bathroom. I was always taught that due to the nature of what goes in on there, the bathroom and especially the toilet needs to be spic and span. I've never put a light bulb in the dishwasher or even heard of that but a couple times a year I DO take the shades off, clean 'em, and wipe off the bulbs. Sometimes the bulb goes bad from being disturbed. Oh well. Looks much better. Details, man.... it's all about the details.

 

[Terry]

I'm more concerned with the inside of the bowl. That's the part that I want to stay clean.

 

[KiterTodd]

Terry, what's the second toilet you pictures with the comment "How most toilets are looking."

That's a nice looking bowl. That didn't come up in my searches but might be because I only looked at 1.6gpf bowls. I just don't want to get a 1.28gpf if I don't have to. I know they find ways to do more with less, but I'd like that extra half gallon to swish and clean and do its thing.

Anyway, nice bowl.

 

[Terry]

That is the Toto Ultramax, comes in either the 1.6 or the 1.28

 

[KiterTodd]

Thanks for the tips on this thread. You all wore me down, I bought a Drake.

That'll be the 2nd new elongated bowl in the house and then I have to replace to round toilets (smaller areas). I'll see if I like the Toto or American Standard better and will by the other two to match. Took the advice, though, and did find it in a plumbing store and it says MADE IN THE USA on the box, which is nice.