Bathroom Remodeling

Posted: 07.28.2010

Bathroom Faucets Down on the Farm

A little known fact about Professor Toilet is a secret passion for all things plumbing, especially smart faucets like the innovative OutReach bathroom faucet that has a convenient 24-inch pull-out hose. How great is this faucet? Just ask blogger Deborah Sloan, who recently reviewed the OutReach for her blog Baba’s Farm Life, which features product reviews, contests, and reflections on her life in a newly-restored, 18th century stone farm house.

The Professor was pleased to have a chance to chat with Deborah about faucets and her farm life in general.

1. Why did you start your blog, and what is your favorite thing about blogging?

I got started blogging when my daughter told me it would give me something to do. Of course this was before we bought our stone house that we are remodeling. I guess she thought I didn’t have anything to occupy my time before then. My favorite thing about blogging and the blogging community is all the fabulous people I meet! Some in person and most just with notes back and forth online, but truly wonderful people.

2. How do you decide what to write about on your site?

My daughter suggested to write what I know about so it began with our country family life, but then when we bought the Stone House and it needed so much work that was added to the mix along with product reviews, and it’s grown so much.

3. What is your favorite use for the pull-out sprayer that you’ve discovered so far?

Oh my goodness, I love the OutReach faucet for quick clean ups! Hubby comes in the door and the faucet is right there to his left so he can wash his dirty hands and rinse the sink out fast before he has time to bring any mess through the rest of the house. It can get  pretty dirty living on a farm.

I was really surprised by how easy it was to install. Really the SpeedConnect feature was easy to do even if you aren’t that familiar with plumbing.

5. How does the OutReach faucet help make your life as a farmer, mother and grandmother easier?

The OutReach Faucet truly is a life saver on the farm. Not only for cleaning up, but watering all the houseplants and seedlings we start,  keeping the toddlers clean when they come to visit, and shampooing my hair is also a biggie!

6. Anything else you’d like to share?

First I want to say thank you so very much for allowing me to review such a fabulous faucet! It’s made such a difference in our lives and I know everyone is going to love the OutReach Lavatory Faucet! There is just nothing else like it out there.  I truly believe every house should have this faucet!

Toilet Humor

Posted: 07.19.2010

For the birds: Swedish City Builds Bird Toilet to Protect Marina

Toilets aren’t just for people: officials in central Sweden’s Karlstad municipality recently constructed a special pontoon to serve as a seagull lavatory to help protect boaters at the local marina from the “unwanted deposits” the birds were dropping all over the area.

The pontoon was painted and anchored in an area specifically designed to attract the birds. It is hoped that the gulls will choose to sit on the ledge and leave their droppings on the pontoon rather than all over the boats (and boat owners) in the marina.

The Professor wishes Karlstad residents all the best in their bird toilet-training efforts and looks forward to hearing how successful the project was.

Toilet Replacement

Posted: 07.16.2010

Toilets: Get Comfy

When selecting a toilet, homeowners have the choice between round and elongated bowl designs.

Round-front toilets have been around the longest and typically extend 25 to 28 inches from the wall. Newer to the scene and designed to be more comfortable, elongated bowls typically extend 29 to 31 inches from the wall.

Because the toilet sits opposite the door in many smaller bathrooms, a regular elongated toilet can restrict the size of the door or its swing – or just make navigating small powder rooms difficult.

A third option is called compact elongated, which combine the best of both worlds: comfort and space savings. Compact elongated toilets, such as the Compact Cadet 3, offer the comfort of an elongated bowl in same 27½-inch footprint as a conventional round-front bowl.

This space-saving feat is accomplished by reengineering the trapway so that it is closer to the wall but still fits standard 12-inch rough in designs.

It is important not to confuse bowl size (distance from the wall to the front of the bowl) with a toilet’s rough-in dimensions, which denotes the distance from the wall to the center of the toilet flange in the floor).

Saving Water

Posted: 07.15.2010

Yurt Sweet Yurt: An Eco-Friendly, Water-Efficient Life in Western Montana

Eco-friendly plumbing fixtures are often found in really interesting and unique eco-friendly homes. The Professor recently had the opportunity to chat with Patty Woodland, who lives in a newly-built yurt in Western Montana, about how her WaterSense-certified faucets and toilet fit into her green lifestyle. In the interview below Patty discusses her experiences as a part-time goatherd, soap maker and jewelry designer and also tells us what steps she took to make her home an earth-friendly space.

1. What is a yurt?
According to the dictionary, a yurt is: a circular tent consisting of a framework of poles covered with felt or skins, used by Mongolian and Turkic nomads of E and central Asia. But MY yurt is more permanent. It is a kit house my husband found and it arrived on two flatbed trailers. It consists of 36, 4′ panels with a 6′ skylight at the center. The ceiling is 18′ high and pie shaped paneled wood sections. The interior walls go up 9′ so it is very open and airy. We wanted a unique home with lots of windows to take advantage of the beautiful view we have of the Clark Fork River and this fits the bill.

2. Why did you choose to live in a yurt?
Yurts are very energy efficient structures. They also stand up well to high winds  – which we see in our spring storm season. My husband was intrigued with the idea and once he gets an idea in his head there is no stopping him. Additionally, the price per square foot for the kit was quite affordable and we could design the interior to our needs.

3.  What other funny-sounding names do you have in your life?
I have a small herd of dairy goats that I have named after family and friends. There is this one very stubborn goat named Nora. The head goat is Pricilla and she is the SpokesGoat for Happy Goat Soap, a small business I run using the excess milk from my little herd. She takes her duties very seriously; she blogs! She posts every day to The Maaaaa of Pricilla telling tales of her life on the Happy Goats Farm with all of the goats; Abby, Mallory, Sarah, Stubborn Nora, Luke, Little Lew and Little Timmy (the new kids on the Farm). She also sometimes mentions the Farm cats Stinky, Pumpkin and Sherpa.

4. What are the eco-friendly choices you made in your yurt?
We are trying to make all of our choices as green as possible! Our flooring is bamboo and Marmoleum. Marmoleum is green alternative to linoleum made of linseed oil and jute. We used low VOC paint on the walls and will use it on the trim – whenever the trim gets added. All of the light fixtures and appliances are Energy Star rated. Our toilet and bathroom faucets are water conserving since we live in an area of the country where water use is a big concern. The windows are Low E and we added an overhang to the roof so as to keep the house cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. We also added additional windows for passive solar heating. We insulated the basement with ICF so that it helps to again keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Our woodstove meets the highest standards for emissions as set by the EPA.  My countertop is a recycled quartz called Caesarstone.

5. What are the eco-friendly choices you declined due to budget?
I had fallen in love with artisan made cabinets made from larch grown here in Montana but the cost was just too great. I am very happy with the cherry cabinets I did get, and the company is part of a green network, but it would have been nice to have them crafted locally. My cabinets are all hardwood and again, due to costs I only have base cabinets. The plans called for additional base and wall cabinets and more countertop. I opted to put in two sets of steel shelving. They compliment the open feel of the yurt and will provide plenty of additional storage and display space for my canning jars and pantry items. We also want to add solar hot water and electric but it will have to wait until we can save the money.

6.  You live far more vibrantly than the Professor, great richness of color in your rooms. Does the Professor note a well-trained eye for art and artistic expression?

I don’t know about well-trained but my mother was an artist and I think I may have inherited her sense of color. I came late in life to a talent for making jewelry. I love pairing different gemstones and I sell my creations at Broken Teepee Designs. Why live in a beige house when you can have a cherry red kitchen, a yellow bedroom and a raspberry bathroom? If one is not comfortable picking out bold colors there are designers that are more than happy to help. And I know that not everyone wants to live in a house full of bold colors but try adding a touch of red or pinch of purple. It will make you days in your house happy.

7. Does your American Standard FloWise toilet flush well?  Does it flush powerfully?
Oh yes! I am very happy with the high-efficiency toilet; especially with the fact that it uses so little water!

Toilet Replacement

Posted: 07.05.2010

DIY Installation and performance of Low Flush Toilet

A big shoutout to Todd, who has just replaced an old American Standard five-gallon flusher with H2Option.  Todd is going to save more than 10,000 gallons of water in the next year, according to our water saving calculator

Here’s Todd in his own words:
WOW!!!!

I can not believe the efficiency of this thing. Try as we might we have not been able to get it to clog or not fully flush even with the .9 gallon flush. Read more: DIY Installation and performance of Low Flush Toilet.

Toilet Humor

Posted: 06.28.2010

Bathroom Reading Month: Do You Read On the Toilet?| BlogHer

Bathroom Reading Month: Do You Read in The Bathroom? | BlogHer.

Do you read in the bathroom?  Many people multitask on the toilet, which isn’t too surprising, consider how many people text and drive.

A 2008 study sponsored by American Standard shows that people are doing a lot of things inside their bathrooms besides the obvious.

1. A full 88 percent use at least one electronic device in the bathroom.

2. More than a third read their mail — both snail mail and e-mail.

3. 15 percent talk on the phone, and three percent watch TV.

Toilet Humor

Posted: 06.22.2010

Who Invented the Toilet?

It’s pop quiz time. Who invented the toilet?

A. The Professor (thanks, but way before his time)

B. Thomas Crapper

C. Sir John Harington

Crapper’s got the name, but Sir Harington wins you the game.

Harington invented his water closet design in the 16th century. It was truly a throne fit for a king… or queen. Harington’s godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, had the first one installed in Richmond Palace. Harington’s modern flush toilet model flourished, becoming a common fixture in Europe over the 18th and 19th centuries.

Toilet design has continuously evolved since then. In 1992 the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring new toilets to drain just 1.6 gallons per flush, instead of the average 3.5 gallons. Manufacturers, such as American Standard, are seeing how low toilets can go to conserve water resources and save consumers money without sacrificing performance.

Visit Discovery News to learn more about potty pioneers!

Saving Water, Toilet Humor

Posted: 06.18.2010

On Saving (Seltzer) Water at the Brooklyn Farmacy

Like most people, the Professor enjoys a treat now and again, and nothing hits the spot like an old-fashioned chocolate egg cream. And in Brooklyn, New York, there is now a great new place to have one, thanks in part to the assistance of the TV show Construction Intervention. The shop is called the Brooklyn Farmacy, and proprietor Peter Freeman was about to give up on his dream of opening a neighborhood ice cream shop in a beautiful 100 year-old pharmacy because of the daunting amount of renovations the building required.

A chance encounter with the casting director of the television show saved the day, and Peter agreed to let the crew of Construction Intervention renovate the shop for an episode of the show. The Farmacy’s electrical wiring was re-done, structural problems with the building were fixed, a long soda counter was installed, and two new bathrooms that now feature WaterSense-certified toilets and faucets from American Standard were built.

Having comfortable and inviting bathrooms was important to Peter, who wanted a safe, clean environment for neighborhood kids to wash their hands before digging into a slice of his strawberry-rhubarb pie. The Professor also notes that the new water-saving fixtures also compliment his eco-friendly philosophy of buying locally and sustainably made products.

Congratulations, Peter! The Professor tips his hat to you.

Saving Water

Posted: 06.08.2010

Shower Systems, Water Conservation and the DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a new interpretation of the term “showerhead” in the DOE’s regulations related to the energy conservation program for consumer products.

The proposal will re-define showerheads as shower valves, allowing only a single showerhead using no more than 2.5 gallons per minute of water per showering compartment. Unless challenged, the new definition would take place by June 18.  (Source: Supply House Times).

American Standard is all for water conservation and we back many federal, state and local government initiatives, such as the EPA WaterSense program.

This action, however, is a significant step backwards from everything we now know about safe bathing for people of all ages, heights and abilities. Smart shower systems designed by experienced professionals have controls for different showerheads in the same shower enclosure, set at different heights for children, aging-in-place and universal accessibility.

The new definition also threatens to increase costs to build schools and other institutions that require multiple showering areas, since separate shower valves will be required for every showerhead.

Professor Toilet urges everyone to contact the DOE re: Docket No. EERE-2010-BT-NOA-0016

1.  Leave comments for the DOE.

2. Send an email.

3. Write to: Docket No. EERE-2010-BT-NOA-0016, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585

PS:  Professor Toilet would prefer to see government action along the lines of   “cash for flushers.” (Of course, the Professor brings it back to toilets.)   Water conservation rebates implemented in many cities and counties around the nation have encouraged many homeowners to replace old water wasters with toilets that perform better on less water.

Toilet Humor

Posted: 06.04.2010

Dog Days of Summer

Summer is on its way, and in honor of the fun, more relaxed mood everyone finds themselves in this time of year, the Professor is giving in to an inner love of dogs. Maybe not an inner love of bathing dogs, but the convenient new OutReach bathroom faucet makes it really easy. And who doesn’t love a clip of an unbelievably cute dog being bathed with the pull-out faucet?