Your toilet has been been a reliable friend for a long time.  Like all relationships, yours has had its ups and its downs.  But for the most part, your toilet has been there in your most desperate hours of need.  Lately, though, the old boy has been showing his age. It just doesn’t flush like it used to.  Or maybe the wife wants to remodel and has her heart set on a shiny, new modern one.

So you head on up to your local home improvement store, brimming with confident vigor after reading toilet reviews online.  It only takes a minute of browsing to realize that this might not be as easy as you think. There are a bewildering array of choices, each toilet shouting out its features and why it is a better choice than the one sitting beside it.  Your vigor turns to malaise as you stand frozen like a possum in the headlights, totally uncertain about which one is best.

First of all, like everything else, there is no best toilet.  Most people want there to be an unequivocal, unanimous answer to their question, but this rarely happens.  The more toilet reviews you read, the more this becomes apparent.  There are, though, features that will make your moments on the vitreous china throne more likely to be smooth sailing.  Below, is a toilet buying guide- a series of questions you need to ask yourself and some things to keep in mind from the boys of Florida Cracker Plumbing.

Brand Name- What’s the difference between American Standard, Eljer, Kohler, Gerber, Crane, Briggs, Toto, and the million other toilet manufacturers out there? Truthfully, not much. Each has entry level models, and each has expensive options. Don’t focus on brand. Focus on features.

Cost- It seldom makes sense to buy the cheapest toilet.  The reason a particular toilet is the lowest priced is usually because it has a very cheap manufacturing process, which means it is likely prone to backing up more often.  On the flip side, the highest priced toilet is usually one that has pleasing aesthetic features.  That doesn’t mean it flushes the best.  Looks have no bearing on how well it performs.  Usually, it is best to pick one that cost somewhere in the middle on the pricing spectrum.

Glazed Trap- A huge consideration.  The trap is the channel that waste and paper (hopefully) whisks through within the toilet itself after you flush. Cheap toilets do not glaze this trap, and it becomes easy for toilet paper to get caught, resulting in the need for a toilet plunger or closet auger.  Your new toilet definitely needs a glazed trap.

Oversized Flush Valve- Law mandates that the gallons per flush (GPF) of a toilet cannot exceed 1.6.  Before water conservation laws, some of the old ones you could flush a cat down (note: we don’t condone such behavior). Because of the relatively small amount of water allowed, you want the most “bang for your flush”.    The flush valve is what your flapper sits on.  An oversized- usually 3″- flush valve results in a powerful, quick flush.  This kind of flush is much more likely to result in a successful flush, which will put a smile on anybody’s face.  Choosing a toilet with an oversized flush valve is a great feature if you can afford it.

Height- Though the height of a toilet won’t really affect the flush, it IS definitely more comfortable to use one that is taller, especially to those with creaky knees.  Called ADA-compliant or “handicapped” toilets, these will make your defecating experience a lot more pleasurable.  Usually not an essential feature, but certain people will find it a godsend.  And once you start using one of these, you won’t want to go back to doing deep knee bends on a regular height toilet.

GPF- Some new toilets tout a 1.28 GPF.  Unless you live in an area where water levels are at critical levels and even 1.6 GPF toilets are putting a strain on the water supply, there probably isn’t much reason at this point to choose this lower capacity flush toilet. Many toilets struggle with 1.6 GPF as it is.

Bowl Cleaning- This refers to how well the toilet removes all (or most) of the stuff you deposited in it out of the bowl when you flush.  In other words, making sure all the residue gets flushed the first time and doesn’t require multiple flushes.  This is more of a subjective measurement, to be sure. Cleaning the bowl is definitely a good thing.  If the manufacturer says a certain model does this especially well, it very well might. There is just not an official number rating you can put on this capability, however. How are you going to quantify this, unless you drop your trousers and demo a working model in the store? Hey now,  keep it G-rated, please.

Flapper- Not all toilets have flappers.  There are some great toilets that have flush valves without traditional flappers.  However, replacing these flush valves when they need fixing may very well cost you more time and money.  I would recommend getting toilets with flappers so that they can more easily be maintained.

Hope this has helped you in your search for a toilet.  And if you are in any of the Florida areas which we presently service and you don’t want to tackle installing your new toilet, give Florida Cracker Plumbing a call at our toll-free number 877-265-9006 or your local branch telephone found on www.floridacrackerplumbing.com.  We’ll be there lickety-split and give you a good price.

Happy Flushing,

Florida Cracker Plumbing