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).

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.

Posted: 05.11.2010

Kermit Baker on Bath & Kitchen Trends from AIA Home Design Trends Survey

Water-saving toilets in general and dual flush toilets in particular are seen as increasing in popularity, according to the AIA survey published on KBBonline.com.

Also trending in bathrooms:

• Bath sizes are not increasing
• Energy and water efficiency are important, but so are designs to accommodate aging in place.
• Aging in place features on the rise include doorless and/or no-threshold showers, and handshowers.
• In the current economy, other high-end bath features such as towel warmer are not being installed as often.

Posted: 03.29.2010

Not Enough Water in the Bowl? Scout, the Toilet Drinking Dog Tells All

With some water saving toilets, there isn’t enough water in the bowl.

Then there’s Scout’s bowl.  Scout, the Toilet Drinking Dog, is quite satisfied with the water spot on the Cadet® 3 FloWise Toilet which saves 20% more water than Scout’s previous favorite water hole, an older 1.6 gallon per flush.

If you’re reading this, the Professor assumes that you do not drink out of toilets.  The benefit of larger water spots for humans is a cleaner bowl with less streaking.

Posted: 03.11.2010

World Class Plumber for World Plumbing Day

Green Plumber Nick Marine at the Pentagon with (l to r) Vice Admiral Dirk Debbink, NERA Executive Director Stephen R. Sandy, Nick and Force Master Chief Ronney A. Wright

Nick Marine is one plumber who truly understands what it means to protect the health of the nation.  Not to mention protecting the freedoms and natural resources of our nation.

Owner of Marine Plumbing in Marietta, GA, Nick is the 2010 volunteer president of the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association (NERA) ,the only military and veterans organization helping enlisted reservists.  Nick divides his time between his business and Washington D.C., recently shutting down his business for two weeks so his plumbers could completely renovate an executive and VIP/special guest bathroom  at NERA’s Fall Church headquarters.

“After I was elected National President of NERA, I wanted to make an immediate contribution,” recalls the third-generation master plumber.  “I started with what I knew best, which was bathroom plumbing.”

Nick also donated part of his fees last fall to assist American Standard in retrofitting 21 homes in the Atlanta-metro with water-saving showerheads and WaterSense labeled toilets and bath faucets.   The volunteers seemed to like Nick as much as they liked the new products:

“This is a fascinating project and the plumbers that American Standard are using are superb.  I would use them for anything.  Marine Plumbing, Nick Marine and Tony Little 770-426-8060.”

In his own words, Nick Marine explains why he became Georgia’s first Green Plumber:

Posted: 03.07.2010

Champion 4 Toilet Delivers Happy Customers–No Callbacks–for Dunbar Plumbing

Dunbar Plumbing, a leader plumber in northern Kentucky, cites “simple design and powerful flushing action,” as reasons why the Champion 4 Toilet is one of Dunbar’s best selling flushers.   Below is their own video showing the amount of water in the bowl and exclusive Accelerator Flush Valve inside the tank:

In their own words, on their forum, Dunbar Plumbing explains the benefits of the Champion 4 toilet:

“With the American Standard Champion 4 toilet, our customers have been extremely pleased with the flushing action of the toilet with a “no worry” attitude about what possibly gets thrown down the toilet. This toilet uses a small fraction of water compared to the older 1.6 gallon toilets including the 3.5 gallon flush toilets. Now that these new style toilets use so little water compared to the wasteful 3.5 gallon toilet, it’s a no brainer that those older toilets were such a costly design. We’ve watched the advancements in the technology grow over the past 25 years and it has been a road hard paved with good intentions to finally get a good working, good flushing toilet.”  Read more at the Dunbar Plumbing Forum.

Posted: 02.03.2010

WikiAnswers – Are Toto or American Standard toilets better?

Doral Classic Champion 4

The Professor is a fierce but fair competitor.  As a toilet scientist, third party testing data from Maximum Performance Testing (MaP testing) is most compelling in choosing a new toilet.  In those tests, the Champion 4 toilet reigns supreme.

Nonetheless, user feedback is important.  As such, Professor Toilet offers up a variety of opinions via commentators at WikiAnswers – Are Toto or American Standard toilets better.  If you have an opinion about American Standard toilets vs. our competitors, talk back to the Professor and tell you story.

Posted: 01.13.2010

Champion 4 Toilet Named an Innovative Way to Take the Grunt Work out of Home Maintenance – MSN Real Estate

The Professor is mightily humbled.

MSN Real Estate chose only one toilet in a recent feature profiling innovative products that make housework and home maintenance easier.

Calling the Champion 4 a “low-maintenance, plunger-free toilet,” the editors at MSN note that it “dispatches 70% more material than usual in each flush thanks to a 4-inch flush valve.”  MSN also cites our exclusive EverClean surface that inhibits the growth of mold, mildew and the bacteria causing toilet stains and smells.

Posted: 12.07.2009

Dual Flush Toilets – Why Jetted is Better

The Professor has a handful of hot dogs to prove that a siphonic dual flush toilet is better than a washdown dual flush.

How can just 0.9 gallons of water flush 5 large hot dogs?   Because H2Option is the first  truly siphonic dual flush toilet, with strong push and pull action created by forceful but quiet jetted action under the rim.

Posted: 11.06.2009

Champion 4 Toilet Fan Writes to American Standard

Reading about the American Standard Tell Us Your Best Toilet Story inspired Catherine Price to write directly to Professor Toilet with her own story.