Toilet question

May 6, 2024 10:42 AM

I bought a new-to-me condo and am sprucing it up a bit before I move in. The current toilets are probably from 2010 (when the condo was built). They are 1.6 GPF but you have to hold down the handle to completely flush even just toilet paper. All I'm seeing at big box hardware stores are 1.2 or 1.28 GPF toilets. Will these newer but lower GPF toilets give me the flush I crave?

I'm really just looking for a toilet I can flush once, without holding, and it will take the TP and poos away every time.

I have checked and the toilet supply lines are wide open and there's nothing weird going on in the toilet tank that I can see.

posted by misanthropicsarah to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

Best answer: Not a plumber, but in my experience having to hold the handle down to flush points to an incorrectly installed flapper valve. Toilets in general don't produce a larger flush the longer you hold the handle. They're designed such that pushing the handle opens the flapper valve and then it *stays open* until the tank is completely emptied.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:48 AM on May 6 [17 favorites]

Best answer: You might need to adjust the linkage between the handle and the flapper valve to ensure that it fully opens the flapper. Additionally, if the flapper valve has been replaced by a universal one, there are occasionally adjustments on that as well to ensure it has the right balance.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:51 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]

The supply lines could not be causing this. As long as they eventually fill the bowl, it won't have an impact on the flush. What happens when you pour 1.5 gallons (ish) of water from a bucket into the bowl? Does it flush vigorously? If it does, your drain is fine, and there's a problem with the toilet itself. If it doesn't your drain is blocked.

Do you have minerals in your water? Like, crusty showerheads eventually? There is an inlet at the front of the bowl that may be blocked, preventing the flush from working as designed. You can clean these out with a toilet auger or chemicals of appropriate pH (acidic for alkaline minerals like calcium carbonate, basic for acidic minerals). But it's also possible you just have a lousy toilet. Some of the low flow ones from that era still had poor flushes. Now I think it's pretty hard to find a toilet that doesn't flush well. A cheap 1.28 gallon American Standard Cadet from a big box store is the most chipper flusher in our household.
posted by wnissen at 11:02 AM on May 6

We put this American Standard Titan into our main bathroom & liked it so much that we put it in the second bath as well. It flushes pretty vigorously. We get occasional clogs in one bathroom, but I think that's related to the pipes.
posted by belladonna at 11:18 AM on May 6

This is a great opportunity to try out a plumber. It's probably a simple fix, less expensive (by far) than a new toilet, so it's relatively low risk. Also, there's not a great deal of urgency, so you can ask your neighbors and friends for recommendations. Then you can pick one or two, call them, find out their pricing structure (and look up their policies if you have an emergency on a Sunday morning in the future), and hire one.

If you love how they interact with your plumbing, problem, and self, congratulations! You'll know what to do three years from now when something starts flooding or leaking.

Truly, it's worth starting on that relationship now.

Toilets are environmentally expensive to produce and transport - definitely get it fixed.
posted by amtho at 11:22 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

There are toilets that show they can flush pool balls or the like, we've had good luck with those.
posted by drezdn at 11:28 AM on May 6

On the recommendation of our plumber, we got an American Standard 4, which is 1.6 gpf but claims to be "proven to flush a bucket of golf balls in a single flush" (and was about $200 when we got it, not the $400+ list price.) So far, it's worked quite well.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:36 AM on May 6

You can buy a "complete toilet repair kit" at a hardware store that will come with the flapper, the fill valve, the standpipe, the handle, the gasket and hardware. (You can sometimes even get kits that include plastic wrenches to remove the nuts around the mounting bolts and gaskets.) There is about a 95% chance that a standard 2" kit would work.

Using this, you can renew the entire guts of the toilet with a screwdriver, some pliers, a handsaw (although the standpipe you *might* have to cut is flimsy and doesn't take much; I once cut one with a serrated bread knife), and about 30 minutes of work. You will be able to set the water level and flush volume using simple dials. You can set the flush level from anything from a minimal environmentally-conscious level to a level I would describe as Sorry, earth! if you need a stronger flush.

I have a teenage son and was having to do three to five plunging sessions per week. I replaced the toilet guts to get a better flush and the problem is gone now.

This would set you back about $25, $40 including tools. If you feel you are up for it. (And there's no reason to guess. You can watch YouTube videos to get a stronger snese of what is required.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:37 AM on May 6 [6 favorites]

There were plenty of garbage low flow toilets sold in the past. We had one, it was rubbish from new. (To be fair, it was one of the cheaper models at home depot) A plumber can't fix a design issue with a toilet. I swapped it out for a Toto Drake (II?) and now our plunger gets tucked away rather than having to live next to the toilet. The new toilet is also low flow but works every time. Money well spent!
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 11:38 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]

I would follow folks instructions above to fix your issues, but wanted to chime in that there are well designed ultra low water toilets... We've had two Niagara Stealth 0.8 GPF toilets for two years now. The single flush power rivals any residential toilet I've seen!
posted by gregr at 12:23 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

For everything you never wanted to know about toilets, if you decide to replace it (and I agree with comments above saying you won't likely have to) check out a prospective purchase's MaP score. A toilet's efficacy is evaluated to see how well it flushes, and scores (reflecting the number of grams of soybean paste it'll flush) let you compare head to head, so to speak. Tl;dr you want a toilet with a MaP score of at least 800, 1000 is better.
posted by kate4914 at 12:26 PM on May 6 [7 favorites]

I spend a long time trying to solve this problem , even bringing in plumber who said to get a new toilet.
Then I learned that standard flappers restrict the amount of water used in a flush. An adjustable flapper (I got a fluidmaster) will let you get a more powerful flush
Video
For good messure also put in some Zep Acidic Toilet bowl cleaner and let it sit overnite (longer than their recommended time) Repeat
posted by canoehead at 12:35 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

I've had Toto 1.0 and 1.28 gpf toilets for nearly a decade now. They work perfectly; I could not be more pleased.
posted by splitpeasoup at 7:59 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding: don't cheap out too much, and consider new toilets. We have had bad luck with contractor-grade, new, cheap toilets over the last ten years (three different homes, bad toilets came with the homes) and have ended up replacing the valves in three of them, and straight-up replaced two of them, and a third is on its way to being replaced. There are some godawful toilets on the market these days.

I'm not a plumber, but I grew up in an old house with "standard," old, flapper valve toilets, and learned how to fix them, even replace the flappers (they rot) etc. The old toilets? I could get them running fine. These new cheap ones have been trouble. Either they don't flush right (same issue as you, you need to hold the lever) or they run and run and run, no matter how I adjust the flapper, the screw adjustor, etc. Or even leaks, which can be a disaster. Thankfully we noticed the leak before it wept too much water.

I don't think you need to spend more than $400 but please don't buy a super cheap toilet. Do some research. It will just be a headache. It's a necessary appliance that deals with water 24/7 (which can ruin things), and I recommend replacing these when you can with something decent.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:50 AM on May 7

The water in a toilet gets its "push" from gravity. A toilet with a low tank will have less push than a toilet with a tall tank.

HD, selling direct to consumers, focuses a lot on low price with less emphasis on satisfactory performance. A "showroom" sort of business reverses the priority.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:09 AM on May 7

An internet gem, Toilet Forum discussions
posted by superelastic at 5:48 PM on May 7

Response by poster: thanks folks. the flapper chain was comically long and i made it as short as possible. it seems to have helped! i'm just going to leave it for now, and perhaps buy some nice new, big, tall toilets when i have money again.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:35 PM on May 14