Desperate Housewife
New Member
Terry,
I've seen your posts about the Mansfield Alto 160. I have one manufactured in 2018 that has a different trap way than your illustration shows. It no longer has that little bend that looks like a knee halfway down the trap way. It now goes straight down and then takes one bend to the sewer. Do you have any info about whether this is an improved design that leads to fewer plugs? My reason for asking is this: I hired a plumber to replace the innards on my 1956-era American Standard--a toilet that never plugged up in all the years I've used it (30+). No plunger necessary ever for that tough, old soldier. I wanted to continue to use it despite the fact it's a water hog. I am in a 1956 built house. Sewer lines are old and terra cotta here. Maybe have become misaligned over the years. I don't want to have to dig up the sewer lines because the new 1.6 or 1.28 gallon toilets don't send much water down the line.
The plumber replaced the innards on my AS with brass fittings and a new brass flush valve to fix a slow leak we couldn't repair otherwise. At the very end of his repairs, he took a wrench to the flush lever, couldn't loosen the nut apparently (we hadn't asked him to replace the lever), and broke the heavy, 1/4 inch thick tank. Half of it cracked, came apart and fell to the floor. I have only one bathroom. The toilet has to stand away from the wall to accommodate the 3" baseboard heating element behind it. Nobody makes that kind of toilet--not AS, nor Kohler, nor Toto which is one reason why I wanted to keep the AS. The plumber somehow found the Mansfield as a hurried, temporary replacement since we had to have a functioning toilet. It stands away from the baseboard heater and fits. However, I've read mostly horrible reviews of it and would never have selected it for my bathroom. Consumer Reports rates it last in a list of 30+ toilets for removal of waste without plugging the sewer lines. I've had it for almost a week with no plugs, though, probably because I'm flushing often and holding down the flush lever for several seconds to add more water to the flush. What do you know about this toilet? Should I tell the plumber to take it back so I can order a Toto Drake II and get my heating element removed so the Toto fits? I don't want a crappy toilet that backs up my sewer line or starts leaking or fails a year down the road.
Also, you sell Totos on your website. Would you ship to me in Pennsylvania or would that be risky considering how shippers manhandle things? Would it arrive intact? Plumbers here are unfamiliar with Toto. Would they potentially screw up the installation and break it, or is that unlikely?
I'd appreciate your advice. Sorry for this overly long email.
I've seen your posts about the Mansfield Alto 160. I have one manufactured in 2018 that has a different trap way than your illustration shows. It no longer has that little bend that looks like a knee halfway down the trap way. It now goes straight down and then takes one bend to the sewer. Do you have any info about whether this is an improved design that leads to fewer plugs? My reason for asking is this: I hired a plumber to replace the innards on my 1956-era American Standard--a toilet that never plugged up in all the years I've used it (30+). No plunger necessary ever for that tough, old soldier. I wanted to continue to use it despite the fact it's a water hog. I am in a 1956 built house. Sewer lines are old and terra cotta here. Maybe have become misaligned over the years. I don't want to have to dig up the sewer lines because the new 1.6 or 1.28 gallon toilets don't send much water down the line.
The plumber replaced the innards on my AS with brass fittings and a new brass flush valve to fix a slow leak we couldn't repair otherwise. At the very end of his repairs, he took a wrench to the flush lever, couldn't loosen the nut apparently (we hadn't asked him to replace the lever), and broke the heavy, 1/4 inch thick tank. Half of it cracked, came apart and fell to the floor. I have only one bathroom. The toilet has to stand away from the wall to accommodate the 3" baseboard heating element behind it. Nobody makes that kind of toilet--not AS, nor Kohler, nor Toto which is one reason why I wanted to keep the AS. The plumber somehow found the Mansfield as a hurried, temporary replacement since we had to have a functioning toilet. It stands away from the baseboard heater and fits. However, I've read mostly horrible reviews of it and would never have selected it for my bathroom. Consumer Reports rates it last in a list of 30+ toilets for removal of waste without plugging the sewer lines. I've had it for almost a week with no plugs, though, probably because I'm flushing often and holding down the flush lever for several seconds to add more water to the flush. What do you know about this toilet? Should I tell the plumber to take it back so I can order a Toto Drake II and get my heating element removed so the Toto fits? I don't want a crappy toilet that backs up my sewer line or starts leaking or fails a year down the road.
Also, you sell Totos on your website. Would you ship to me in Pennsylvania or would that be risky considering how shippers manhandle things? Would it arrive intact? Plumbers here are unfamiliar with Toto. Would they potentially screw up the installation and break it, or is that unlikely?
I'd appreciate your advice. Sorry for this overly long email.
