Best. Toilet. EVER
March 23, 2013 9:48 AM Subscribe
I would like to buy an amazing toilet for our home. What should I get?
We live in Utah, have access to places like Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace, and some plumbing supply stores. Price is not an issue, especially if it comes highly recommended. We are in a home with three adults and two sub-5-year-olds. We have two bathrooms...needless to say the toilets see a lot of use.
Useful criteria:
1. Easy to clean
2. Easy to repair
3. Pleasurable to use
Nobody in our home has any special accessibility needs (well, the kids are of course a little small for the toilet), we just want some kickass toilets. Thanks in advance!
We live in Utah, have access to places like Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace, and some plumbing supply stores. Price is not an issue, especially if it comes highly recommended. We are in a home with three adults and two sub-5-year-olds. We have two bathrooms...needless to say the toilets see a lot of use.
Useful criteria:
1. Easy to clean
2. Easy to repair
3. Pleasurable to use
Nobody in our home has any special accessibility needs (well, the kids are of course a little small for the toilet), we just want some kickass toilets. Thanks in advance!
Japanese toilets have lots of buttons for vibrators, bun-warmers, and gadgets that squirt in various directions (as in the paperless toilet fixture for the adventuresome).
Don't forget a urinal for the lads.
posted by mule98J at 9:59 AM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Don't forget a urinal for the lads.
posted by mule98J at 9:59 AM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Another recommendation for Toto. We installed the Gwyneth One-Piece with Sanigloss finish and soft-close seat. Couldn't be happier.
posted by peakcomm at 10:00 AM on March 23, 2013
posted by peakcomm at 10:00 AM on March 23, 2013
I just installed this toilet and love it. It's not special but I'm posting anyway so you consider a full skirt. It's CLEAN, I truly dislike the pointlessly designed lines (crud-nooks) on most toilets, esp. w/kids. It was also a change from the "elongated" seat we had before (whose butt is that big?).
posted by headnsouth at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2013
posted by headnsouth at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2013
Best answer: I take care of a house with a bunch of the Toto low-water flush toilets (and I clean them all) and I am a huge fan. They have standard parts that are easy to find, they use very little water, they look nice. The only thing I would do differently is get a dual-flush one if I could.
Additionally, the pro-tip I didn't really know about until I started taking care of these is that you can set them up to have a bit of warm water in the bowl which can cut down on condensation and other related drippy water rotten bathroom floor problems. This is only really a thing if you live someplace really humid, but it's sort of a nifty thing to know about if it affects you.
posted by jessamyn at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Additionally, the pro-tip I didn't really know about until I started taking care of these is that you can set them up to have a bit of warm water in the bowl which can cut down on condensation and other related drippy water rotten bathroom floor problems. This is only really a thing if you live someplace really humid, but it's sort of a nifty thing to know about if it affects you.
posted by jessamyn at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We have both a Toto and American Standard low-flush toilets and they're both good. Make sure you get single piece toilets (avoid future leaks!) and the full skirt is great for cleaning. Both of these meet your requirements for 1. and 2. (note: I'd stay away from dual flush. We inherited one when we bought our house. They often result in multiple flushes, so no real savings there.)
As for 3., be sure to sit on many different models in the showroom. And if you're 'we' be sure both of you do. Males and females sit different, or so I found out, and finding a model that you both like may be a challenge.
posted by mazola at 10:38 AM on March 23, 2013
As for 3., be sure to sit on many different models in the showroom. And if you're 'we' be sure both of you do. Males and females sit different, or so I found out, and finding a model that you both like may be a challenge.
posted by mazola at 10:38 AM on March 23, 2013
And don't underestimate the little ones when making a toilet buy.... our five year old clogs up the pipes EVERY SINGLE TIME he goes. It's become a huge joke around here. We think it is our 1928 pipes and the firmness of his....uh....BM's.. It's a pain but funny as hell. We had the toilet that could flush golf balls at our previous house.... don't remember the brand but it was great!
posted by pearlybob at 11:30 AM on March 23, 2013
posted by pearlybob at 11:30 AM on March 23, 2013
Best answer: Toto all the way though plumbers will try to sell you Gerbers if you are in immediate need. Thankfully, I just happened to hava a spare, new Toto Drake in the in the garage. This is one of the more respectable toilet and plumbing forums here.
Yeah, get full skirt and get it with all the works. A Toto washlet will do things that it takes years to train people to do.
posted by jadepearl at 12:10 PM on March 23, 2013
Yeah, get full skirt and get it with all the works. A Toto washlet will do things that it takes years to train people to do.
posted by jadepearl at 12:10 PM on March 23, 2013
I can't vouch for it personally, but the marketing video for the Quattro by St. Thomas Creations certainly looks like it might fit the bill of best toilet ever. 3.5 pounds of dog food...be gone! 18 hot dogs...away!
posted by wondercow at 12:39 PM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by wondercow at 12:39 PM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anything with a soft close lid. Why did this idea take so long to appear?
posted by scruss at 1:07 PM on March 23, 2013
posted by scruss at 1:07 PM on March 23, 2013
Here's my suggestion, as a short person: do not buy a comfort height toilet.
(TMI incoming)
I'm 5'3" with fairly short legs and I've discovered that it is nearly impossible for me to, erm, do certain things at my brother-in-law's house because his toilet is so high. "Comfort height" toilets are made to accommodate the elderly--to make it easier for them to get up after sitting--and I know some tall people prefer them because they're easier on the knees. But proper position for defecation is squatting, and on a comfort height toilet my legs dangle, instead, like I'm a wee little kid. I can't get the right position for, uh, intestinal motility. For the sake of us short people (and your children), if you choose a very high toilet seat, please also provide something like a squatty potty so that we can do our business and get out of there.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:07 PM on March 23, 2013
(TMI incoming)
I'm 5'3" with fairly short legs and I've discovered that it is nearly impossible for me to, erm, do certain things at my brother-in-law's house because his toilet is so high. "Comfort height" toilets are made to accommodate the elderly--to make it easier for them to get up after sitting--and I know some tall people prefer them because they're easier on the knees. But proper position for defecation is squatting, and on a comfort height toilet my legs dangle, instead, like I'm a wee little kid. I can't get the right position for, uh, intestinal motility. For the sake of us short people (and your children), if you choose a very high toilet seat, please also provide something like a squatty potty so that we can do our business and get out of there.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:07 PM on March 23, 2013
Best answer: Another vote for Toto. I got the Toto UltraMax (1 piece) but I also seriously considered the Drake (2 piece).
posted by jeri at 5:53 PM on March 23, 2013
posted by jeri at 5:53 PM on March 23, 2013
When you say price isn't an issue, how much isn't an issue. Because the finest toilet on the American market is the Kohler Numi. $6k, but its sharp. And it has a remote control with 3 memory settings.
posted by hwyengr at 5:55 PM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by hwyengr at 5:55 PM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Kohler Numi is what I'd get if price were no object.
posted by ferdinandcc at 9:49 PM on March 23, 2013
posted by ferdinandcc at 9:49 PM on March 23, 2013
Not a high/tall one. They say you can get hemroids from using them bc you sit too upright.
posted by Neekee at 7:56 AM on March 24, 2013
posted by Neekee at 7:56 AM on March 24, 2013
> I just installed this toilet and love it. It's not special but I'm posting anyway so you consider a full skirt
I wonder how compatible toilets like that are with kids, esp. if the kids are boys. I know when mine were young there was a problem with urine going through the holes where the bolts hold the toilet seat on. With a standard toilet the urine then drips down to the base. Which is gross, yes, and I am filled with resentment and misery over all the times I've cleaned it, but at least it can be cleaned. With the full-skirt ones, it looks like any urine that went to those holes would trip inside the skirt and just stay there, stinking.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:03 PM on March 25, 2013
I wonder how compatible toilets like that are with kids, esp. if the kids are boys. I know when mine were young there was a problem with urine going through the holes where the bolts hold the toilet seat on. With a standard toilet the urine then drips down to the base. Which is gross, yes, and I am filled with resentment and misery over all the times I've cleaned it, but at least it can be cleaned. With the full-skirt ones, it looks like any urine that went to those holes would trip inside the skirt and just stay there, stinking.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:03 PM on March 25, 2013
Response by poster: We ended up getting the Toto Drake, just installed it this weekend. It really is a fantastic toilet. Thanks all for the recommendations and advice.
posted by Doleful Creature at 12:39 PM on April 22, 2013
posted by Doleful Creature at 12:39 PM on April 22, 2013
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posted by dfriedman at 9:50 AM on March 23, 2013 [2 favorites]