Recs for new Totos

[Runs with Bison]

I'm looking at some newer homes with poor Sterling or Koehler toilets (I'm dealing with some 2005/6 vintage ones now in a rental and they are some of the worst flushing toilets I've ever had...takes two flushes, holding down the handle on the first for about 4+ gals total to do the trick.) One of my first punchlist items in a new home is to replace with Totos as I did before in my previous home. Six years ago I went with eco-Drake elongated, standard height with CEFIONTECT. I was happy with them, forgot I owned any plungers. Didn't hurt when I had to sell the home either...

I have thought about using HET (eco) versions of the Drake II with double cyclone for better bowl cleaning on flush, but the recently/former Toto showroom here didn't seem as keen on them. They suggested I go with the standard Drake elongated (HET/eco) like I had before. Their price sounded very good (and they were going to order, it wasn't stock closeout.)

What is the opinion here? I liked the basic design of the eco-Drakes and One of the houses I'm considering already has what looks like a single Ultramax (or similar) 1.6 single piece installed in the MBR bath. I would move it to my son's bath where it would be the best fit, but it looks like a unifit and I don't want to have to try cutting tiles in another bath to install it. I'm going to need 3 toilets, regardless, because the Sterlings and Koehler's aren't going to last a month.

 

[Reach4]

Ultramax 1.6 https://terrylove.com/pdf/MS854114S MS853113S.pdf is not Unifit.

If you do need to move a Unifit, note that it is held in place by screws in the rear only. The screws are accessed by little panels, held by Velcro, on the side of the skirt. The toilet is held otherwise by the sealer around the base. You will have to cut that sealer somehow before lifting, so that you do not lift floor tiles. I have never tried that, but I did lift floor tiles when lifting a conventional toilet. Had I cut the seal with a single edge razor blade, maybe that would not have happened.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Wallijonn]

One of the houses I'm considering already has what looks like a single Ultramax (or similar) 1.6 single piece installed in the MBR bath.

Best to remove the tank cover and write down the model number to be sure.

You may want to consider an ADA height for the MBR and a regular height for the rest of the house. The Drake 1.28gpf ADA Elongated is probably the best bang for the buck, although you may need to clean the bowl once a week to once a month, on average.

Why didn't you bother asking the salesman why he wasn't keen on the Dual Cyclone Totos?

 

[WJcandee]

The Drake II is wildly-popular. I wouldn't worry for a second about it. That some guys in a showroom, who get limited feedback, aren't a good source, good or bad. The stupidest toilet stuff I have heard has come from salesmen in Toto showrooms. Don't know why.

If you like the Eco-Drake, consider one with the New Tank Option.

 

[Runs with Bison]

Ultramax 1.6 is not Unifit.

If you do need to move a Unifit, note that it is held in place by screws in the rear only. The screws are accessed by little panels, held by Velcro, on the side of the skirt. The toilet is held otherwise by the sealer around the base. You will have to cut that sealer somehow before lifting, so that you do not lift floor tiles. I have never tried that, but I did lift floor tiles when lifting a conventional toilet. Had I cut the seal with a single edge razor blade, maybe that would not have happened.

Best to remove the tank cover and write down the model number to be sure.
You may want to consider an ADA height for the MBR and a regular height for the rest of the house. The Drake 1.28gpf ADA Elongated is probably the best bang for the buck, although you may need to clean the bowl once a week to once a month, on average.
Why didn't you bother asking the salesman why he wasn't keen on the Dual Cyclone Totos?

The Drake II is wildly-popular. I wouldn't worry for a second about it. That some guys in a showroom, who get limited feedback, aren't a good source, good or bad. The stupidest toilet stuff I have heard has come from salesmen in Toto showrooms. Don't know why.
If you like the Eco-Drake, consider one with the New Tank Option.

I didn't try to pull numbers on first look, but did notice the panels and skirt which I've not dealt with before. I noticed it was a 1.6 and CEFIONTECT in a one piece, elongated, appeared to be standard height. While I would prefer a lower volume toilet in the master since it gets twice the usage, I'm not going to lose much sleep over the small difference. I was glad to see it was one toilet I wouldn't have to buy!

I've had showroom salesmen tell me all sorts of stupid things, but I will credit these for mentioning the unifit before I even said the toilet had the panels on the skirt. They weren't happy about their company transitioning to another brand either. I was thinking about giving a Drake II a try in one bath and if I liked it go from there...that's what happened when I rolled the dice with the eco-Drakes.

When I removed other toilets I scraped the caulk around the base so that they pulled up smoothly. This worked well with large tile that had been installed in the previous year. Might not work well with tile that had deteriorating grout/hard use.

I'm planning on an ADA toilet for the first floor for guests. My kids are old enough now that it doesn't matter, but from experience at the grand parents I know they don't work well for younger kids, and I didn't care for the higher ones myself. Some older adults do need them though.

 

[Wallijonn]

I'm planning on an ADA toilet for the first floor for guests. ... from experience at the grand parents' I know they don't work well for younger kids, and I didn't care for the higher ones myself.

The Toto ADAs are some of the shorter ADA toilets made, with AS and Kloher being even higher at 16.5" and 17.0". Which means that you may end up with a seat that is at least 17.0" in height, which is probably too tall for most people. I would prefer a toilet that is 15.0" - 15.5" tall, without seat, but I don't like the look of the AS or Kohler toilets. The standard height Toto Drake with a Kohler slim seat should be real close to 15.0" high, which should be fine for children. But I definitely wouldn't want a Toto ADA and a Toto seat. Besides being too tall, you may feel like you're falling in, too, depending on Toto seat model. With ADAs I have yet to find a really, really, slim toilet seat model. The one pictured in Google pics is an import.