Jamie's Drake installation Guide - comments

[Kstuart]

Hello,

I just finished installing a Toto Drake - this forum was an invaluable help ! Many thanks to Terry for the site.

I have a couple of comments about Jamie's installation guide at:

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=743

- First, a nitpick: he forgot to mention hooking up the water supply. I think that needs to come before the "opening a cold one" step.

- A picture of what the flange connection looks like without the toilet would be helpful to those who have never done this, so they know in advance what to expect. (I found such pictures in a different thread about flange problems.)

- And my major comment/question is: Why attach the tank before mounting the bowl ? Toto's instructions say to first mount the bowl and then attach the tank, and I think that makes sense mainly because it is then easier to carefully lower the bowl into position -- because it is lighter. Note the recent thread about the dropped toilet. I do regular weight training, and yet I still thought it would have been easier to mount the bowl first. Am I missing some other factor ?

 

[Terry]

I've been meaning to add to the instructions.
Some pictures of flanges would be good.

As far as putting the tank on first, and then dropping the toilet, Jamie is about 6'-5" and 225 pounds. He carries around a one-piece toilet with one arm.

It's the way I taught him. Some toilets are easier to assembly when you have them out in an open room.

Also, if the "rough-in" is too close to the wall, and you set the bowl first, you've mussed up the bowl with wax and you may need to return it for a different toilet.

With the tank mounted first, you know right away if the thing is going to fit.

We alway remove the toilets in one-piece, so I don't see the big deal about installing them as one-piece.
For those that can't do that, they will need to slow down and do things in stages.

I saw a television spot on how to install a toilet the other day and almost cried laughing. It looked like they had never seen a toilet before.