Toilet Replacement Suggestions

[povictory]

Hi all...first post here. I've been exploring this amazing forum quite a bit but am still a bit overwhelmed by all of info here so I thought I'd just submit a post to explain my own situation...

My wife and I moved into our house about a year ago and we've continually had pretty significant clogging/flooding issues with 3 of the 4 toilets in the house. They are Gerber Aqua Saver toilets (model 28-790) and I'm pretty sure they were installed when the house was built (about 15 years ago).

We had a plumber come out and take a look and he said that the 3 problem toilets probably all need to be replaced probably sooner rather than later.

At this point, I guess I'm just looking for some advice on what I should be looking for (features or specific models would be really helpful). In order of importance, we are looking for the following:

- DOESN'T clog! (I know this is unrealistic and that all toilets are prone to clogging but it's gotten so bad
with ours that I instinctively grab the plunger after each flush...we want to have something much better
than that...haha)
- Efficient use of water
- Those are the two main things, but is there anything else I should look for in a new toilet?

As far as price, I'd really like to keep it under $225 per toilet. However, if the quality that I'm getting at that price point is going to put us in the same situation in a few years, I'd probably pay a little more.

Any advice/recommendations you could offer would be MUCH appreciated!

 

[Gary Swart]

The toilets you have now are first generation low flow. Many manufacturers tried to make their old designs work just by using less water. Not only didn't work but gave low flow toilets a bad reputation. Toto realized this problem early on and developed low flow toilets that really did work. Well, they had a dud or two, but dropped them quickly. Today, other manufacturers are coming around to designs that work, but Toto is still the leader in the field. They have several models that will meet or at least come close to your requirements. In the modest price area, the Toto Drake has been a very popular model for years, and their new Entrada appears to be a winner as well. You need to be aware that discount house carry very cheap toilets, referred to by professionals as "builder grade". Builders use these in their spec houses to keep their costs as low as possible, but these are often so troublesome that they are replaces soon after the houses are sold.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[povictory]

Thank you so much...this is incredibly helpful! Just a follow up question - Does the GPF significantly impact the clog resistance or is that strictly just for more efficient use of water? The 1.28 Estrada and the 1.6 Drake seem to be pretty close in price. It would be nice to save water obviously, but I just hope the 1.28 GPF wouldn't be a lot more prone to clogging.

Yeah, the guy that inspected our house mentioned the builder grade toilets and that they may need to be replaced eventually but I had no idea how bad they really were! Hard to believe the previous owner didn't do anything about them.

 

[Gary Swart]

There are Toto toilets that use as little as 0.8 GPF and work just fine. It is difficult to believe that a toilet can work with such limited amounts of water, but it's true. My Toto Drake and Toto Dartmouth are both 1.6, when I got them, they were the cutting edge on water use, but that's be several years. You may find the bowl wash isn't like we used to get with the 3.5 or greater GPF, but an occasional quick brush takes care of that.

 

[Jadnashua]

In a quality, modern toilet, the differences in the gpm is more about the size of the water spot and how much water can be used to wash the sides of the bowl...not, how well it evacuates the waste.

Two things can help with bowl wash, many companies have their own version of a super smooth (think just waxed car) glaze that helps prevent things from sticking and easier to wash off, and a bowl that uses a circular wash verses a wash down. There's only so much you can do with low flow, but a good one doesn't clog unless you seriously abuse it with huge amounts of paper or you have a medical condition that makes things very long and hard. Toto has toilets that flush at 1.6, 1.28, and 1gallon, they all work well within the constraints discussed above. Toto calls their special glaze CEFIONTECT, and their circular bowl wash cyclone and is in any of their toilets with the "II" designation.

 

[WJcandee]

The Entrada (as in "enter", not like the guy on CHIPs, a mistake I was making for a while) has a 1000g MAP rating, which is as good as it gets. It constantly gets compliments on the flush. You are correct to phrase the question the way you do, because looking at it as one of resistence, it would make sense that more water = better. However, when you look at how a gravit toilet actually works, the flush initiates with a rush of water into the bowl which starts a siphon in the trapway, which then sucks the contents of the bowl out until it is empty and the siphon is broken by air (which causes the gurgle), and then the bowl is refilled with fresh water as the tank is refilled. In modern toilets, it isn't the weight of the water in the bowl that starts the siphon, it's a little jet at the bottom of the bowl, so a great trapway design, one that maximizes the siphon effect while still being big enough to accomodate the essential waste, is what's at issue, and so the extra quart of water in the 1.6 really makes no difference. As Jim says, it's more an issue of water spot size than anything to do with function, assuming that we're talking about a good toilet like a Toto.

 

[TheUniversalDave1]

I'd recommend getting a Kohler Wellworth. The new ones have the Class 5 flush system, which is one of the best. And it's well within your price range.