Whether buying a toilet for your home for the first time or doing a bathroom revamp, getting the best toilet for your money’s worth is ideal. Therefore, it is essential that you take your time, understand the different types and designs of toilets available, and find out what works best for your home, and within your budget.
Below are there top guidelines that you should have in mind before committing yourself to a purchase:
Measure your rough-in
One mistake people tend to make is assuming the rough-in of your home. The rough-in is the distance between your wall towards the middle of the flange bolts or the toilet waste outlet. Do not assume. As you measure, please ensure that you start from the finished wall of your bathroom towards the toilet.
Depending on when your home was built, the rough-in can range from 10, 12, or 14 inches. This means that a standard toilet, corner toilet, and a rear outlet toilet will have different rough-in measurements.
For a rear-outlet toilet, the waste line exits through the bathroom wall, unlike others which use the floor as an exit waste line.
Choose a taller comfortable toilet seat
Having a taller toilet gives more comfort. It gives a perfect resting angle of the back and the knees. However, this might not be ideal if you have small children around. The toilet bowl seats should also be well fitted, using the best hinges to give you comfort following these detailed guidelines. With all the guidelines in mind, you should fix your toilet seats well.
Typical toilet height ranges between 14″ to 15″, measuring from the floor towards the toilet rim. Taller toilets which give extra comfort have an additional 2″. Buying a taller toilet relieves pressure exerted to the joints while seated. A taller toilet for your home is ideal if you have a family member with disabilities.
High-flush performance
Nobody fancies the idea of having to flush your toilet severely to clear it. Not only is it inconvenient, but it is also expensive in the long run by using more water. A toilet with a high flashing performance Is the best fit for your home. It saves you the embarrassment of waste not being flushed down.
Shop around for a high-efficiency toilet model
With this type of toilet, you use less water, therefore saving you money in a water utility. The toilet uses 1.28 gallons, even less, per flush. Less water translates to fewer water bills.
Choose a pressure assist toilet for a cleaner bowl
A pressure-assist toilet is more convenient than a gravity toilet. For a gravity-feed toilet, the flush valve relies on gravity. On the other hand, pressure-assisted toilet water compresses air in the sealed tongue releasing pressure that flashes water forcefully along the waistline. Therefore, a pressure-assist toilet gives a cleaner bowl though it is noisier than the gravity model.
Wall mounted toilet for easier cleaning
Having a one-piece toilet is easier to clean than a two-piece unit because it has lesser curves. However, it is more expensive to install. With a two-piece toilet, the boy and the water tank are separated pieces and therefore have more gaps to clean. With a wall-mounted toilet, the cleaning is much easier as you can also clean the floor underneath the toilets.
A one-piece mounted toilet can give you the desired height and maximum comfort you need for your bathroom.
Size of your bowl
The size of your toilet bowl is dependent on the space available in your bathroom. With a smaller area space available, choose the standard sized bowl. However, with more space in your bathroom settle for an elongated bowl. An elongated bowl is more comfortable while sitting.
However, kindly ensure that having an elongated bowl will not hinder the opening of drawers in your bathroom, if available. The bowl should also leave enough space for you to close your bathroom door. Privacy is essential.
As you buy toilet seats for your bowl, remember they are not all manufactured equally. The toilet seat will affect the functionality of your toilet. For instance, get a matching toilet seat color to your toilet. The shape of the toilet seat and bowl should also be in sync. Furthermore, get a perfect fitting of the seat so that it doesn’t slide around.
Buy a dual flush toilet
A dual flush toilet comes with two different flash knobs for liquid waste and solid waste. This flashing system conserves water, therefore, saving you money. By pushing the liquid waste flush knob, it gives a partial flush compared to a full flush in solid wastes.
Additionally, it gives a better visual impression of choosing a modern white bowl over colored bowls. Costs of the bowl and after costs, ease of cleaning, noise during flushing are some of the main factors to consider before purchasing a toilet bowl for your home. It works better investing in a high-quality toilet bowl that will last several years instead of a cheaper brand that you have to replace frequently.
How about the convenience of a slow dropping seat without releasing a loud bang? Interesting, right? Such dropping seats have a quick disconnecting feature which makes it easy to clean. You only disconnect, clean, and install it back. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? However, remember that expensive doesn’t always guarantee high-quality.
