Toilets are simple fixtures, right? Not so fast, my friend. Try shopping for one looking at it piece by piece.

You use it a number of times daily, but how often do you actually think about the toilet? Perhaps only when you’re in need of a new one? When you’re ready to shop for a new toilet, here are some things to consider:

• One piece or two?
• Settling down
• Gravity-fed vs. pressure-assisted
• Water usage

One piece or two?

Before you start anything, decide on how you’d like your toilet is put together. A one-piece toilet is actually 6 to 10 individual pieces sculpted together into one seamless unit, so it lacks any crevices between the tank and bowl that could hide dirt and odors.

A two-piece toilet, meanwhile, includes a separate bowl and tank that are bolted together during installation.

Settling down

Here are a few ways to maximize your comfort:

• Elongated front toilets measure around 18 ½ inches from the back of the seat to the front. This recent improvement is designed for added comfort.
• Round front toilets are compact and are able to fit in small places. A lot of older toilets were built this way.
• The seat of comfort height toilets (right around 16 ½ inches tall) aims to maximize comfort and ease when sitting down or standing up. This improvement was initially geared toward helping our aging population, but it’s real nice for anyone.
• If the toilet isn’t comfort height, it’s standard height.

Gravity-fed vs. pressure-assisted

When it comes to flushing, you have two basic types of systems: gravity-fed and pressure-assisted.

Gravity-fed toilets are aided by gravity itself and a siphon “pull-through” action to empty the bowl. Pressure-assisted fixtures use pressure from the home’s water supply.

Water usage

Thanks to legislation on both federal and state levels, plumbing fixtures are becoming extremely efficient. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a toilet that uses over 2 gallons per flush (gpf). Still, there are some choices out there to be made regarding water usage.

Manufacturers like Kohler, Toto and American Standard have settled nicely into the WaterSense-friendly zone of 1.28 gpf (or less). Still another option is a dual-flush toilet that allows you to choose between a very low gpf (for liquid waste) and a slightly higher gpf (solid waste).

As you can see, shopping for a toilet is a pretty involved process. But with the right amount of know-how and research, you should be able to snag the fixture that best fits your bathroom.

Until next time, Happy Home Improving!

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