Please help me choose new toilets... I'm dying over here.

[Andy LaBella]

I've been toiling over this for weeks. I've been in my house for 7 years and have finally decided it's time to upgrade my old kohler wellworth 2 piece toilets. They don't flush great anymore, toilets always with skid marks, harder to keep clean overall. That said, I am married and our house is myself, my wife, 2 daughters 9 and 16. The 16 year old has ulcerative colitis so needless to say she puts our toilets to task. So... it's time to get some powerful toilets that flush well and scrub the bowl when they do. I've been doing a lot of reading of reviews and if I let the bad reviews dictate, there are NO good toilets out there, lol. I'm a DIY'er and do most of the handiwork around the house. This will my first go at replacing toilets, but i come from a family of plumbers, learn fast by watching videos, have replaced pipes, put in sinks, ran a water line to my fridge, put in new ceiling fans, did some electrical work, etc. I should be up to the task. So... help me decide!

Has to be elongated, soft close seat, flush well, etc. I like the looks of both 1 and 2 piece (as long as the part the tank sits on is transitional). The guest bathroom which my daughter uses the most has 32" of clearance as the tank sits under the countertop. Master bath has no restrictions. I believe they both have standard 12" rough ins. Not sure about the whole comfort height vs regular height. I'm thinking regular for guest and comfort for master. I live in NY so now conservation rebates that i know of so GPF doesn't not matter.

American Standard Champion 4 MAX - have a local guy offering me 1 for $140 or 2 for $270

American Standard Cadet 3 - same guy has one for $110

Kohler Santa Rosa

Winzo WZ5048

These two look amazing but are so goddamn expensive...

Toto Ultramax I or II

Toto Drake I or II

I think like the totos the most. There are so many damn options and prices are all over the place.

I'll take any other recommendations too.

 

[Terry]

Ulcerative Colitis, so maybe if I'm correct on this, something that rinses well, not necessarily large stools.

Those mentioned above will work for you. I prefer the TOTO Drake II and the Ultramax II, but yes, the cost is more.
Of the A/S products, I lean toward the Cadet 3 series. I'm not a fan of the Champion, though it would work for you.

The newer toilets have come a long, long way since the mid 90's.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Andy LaBella]

Ulcerative Colitis, so maybe if I'm correct on this, something that rinses well, not necessarily large stools.

Those mentioned above will work for you. I prefer the TOTO Drake II and the Ultramax II, but yes, the cost is more.
Of the A/S products, I lean toward the Cadet 3 series. I'm not a fan of the Champion, though it would work for you.

The newer toilets have come a long, long way since the mid 90's.

Thanks so much Terry. I actually found an awesome price on a Drake - CST746CSMG#01 - $200 total (just need to get a seat), thinking of putting that in the guest bathroom and with the money I am saving, well, maybe I can splurge on a Drake II for my master bath. What do you think of the CST746CSMG#01 for the guest bath? Seems to be the original Drake but with the updated Tornado Flush. And yes, as for the colitis it's not big, but man does she stain the hell out of the toilets. Scrubbing daily!! I've heard about issues with the Drakes being too shallow and not enough water in there, skidmarks being left on the bowl, etc. Oh and last question about the Drakes, dual flushe or single flush models better?

 

[Andy LaBella]

Ulcerative Colitis, so maybe if I'm correct on this, something that rinses well, not necessarily large stools.

Those mentioned above will work for you. I prefer the TOTO Drake II and the Ultramax II, but yes, the cost is more.
Of the A/S products, I lean toward the Cadet 3 series. I'm not a fan of the Champion, though it would work for you.

The newer toilets have come a long, long way since the mid 90's.

I just found a guy selling a Drake for $60!! I don't think he has any idea what he has. He sent me pix. The Tank is definitely a ST743S which is great and the bowl looks elongate by the pix. I just don't know how to tell if it has the CEFIONTECT or not. Either way, seems like a sweet as deal that I probably should jump on right?

 

[Jadnashua]

Depending on the age, and the hardness of the water, some of the internal water passages on any toilet can get clogged up with some mineral deposits. That will compromise the performance of any toilet, no matter how well it may have initially performed. Muriatic acid can clean those out, but the fumes are downright nasty, and you need protection, and must do it outside with good ventilation.

 

[Andy LaBella]

I tried to upload the pix, looks clean, but that said... I slept on it and maybe a used toilet is not a great idea.

I found another guy selling a new in box CST454CEFG#01 Drake II for $330... with a SS114 seat as well. So I'm going to likely grab the Drake II for the master bath and the guest bathroom I found a NIB - CST746CSMG#01 for $200.

A Drake I and a Drake II for $530, both NIB and both with tornado flush. Seems like I did good here, no?

 

[Andy LaBella]

This is just not my day, honestly. So I got the drake ii and all was well. Went to home depot for wax ring kits and hoses. I got home and began carrying everything inside. On my way in one of the handles on the tank box ripped. I tried not to let the box hit the ground too hard as i kind of eased it down, but it wasn't enough. I opened the box to find it had hit handle side down and cracked the tank. I'm such a bonehead. So I have a new tank on order. That tank had very little as far as packing in the box, it was just bouncing around in there (Thanks Toto). I then later get an email from the person I ordered the other toilet from ($200) who told me it's just the tank which is puzzling because the pictures clearly show the bowl and nothing in the listing say tank or bowl only (which neither piece alone is worth $200). It only says no seat which of course is the srtandard. I'm trying to now cancel that order. I was so excited about installing my Drake II today, but I'll be just waiting for the new tank to arrive now so I can get going on that.

 

[Andy LaBella]

Well, my Drake II is installed in my master bath and I'm loving it. Could not have done it without this forum. Terry, your guides and videos and tips really helped me get it done, and done right! I ended up getting a flange kit to raise it up above the tile floor. It took me 3 tries/wax rings but i finally got it done. The toilet looks great, works great, I only wish I had enough cash for 2 of em so I could put another in the guest bath. I got the CST746CSMG#01 and I'm kinda regretting it after opening the box. The bowl is so much more shallow and I can see it's going to hold less water. I see where all the negative reviews could be coming from and potential future issues. I'm definitely thinking about sending it back and getting an original GMax Drake 1.6 or maybe just sucking it up and getting another Drake II.

 

[Terry]

Thanks for the update Andy, the Drake II is also one of my favorites.

 

[Andy LaBella]

This wasn't easy. I think the guy who owned this house before me was a hack. The rough in was like 14. I did my best to shorten it, but there wasn't much I could do. The flange was a mess, but the extender kit cleaned that up a bit and of course... the wobble. Thank goodness I read your post about the plastic shims which worked like a charm and I used the Loc-Tite to seal the bottom when I was done. I think I may have found a place to get another Drake II for $365 and I might just jump all over that!