View Full Version : Anyone have experience with the Unifit adapter?
After years of indecison on the subject of toilet efficacy, I have decided to replace my 1928 "old reliable" toilet in a teeny half bath that has a 14" rough-in. I'm planning to install a TOTO Carlyle with the Unifit adapter (http://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm)and hope for the best. My primary concern is that the Unifit adapter could introduce a potential source for leaks or clogs. Has anyone heard of any drawbacks to the Unifit? I haven't found any plumbers who have experience with them. My alternative is to go to the expense of relocating the rough-in to 12" and opt for the UltraMax. Any advice?
http://www.terrylove.com/images/abak/abak_carlyle.jpg
TOTO MS874114SG Carlyle
jumpyg
02-08-2005, 06:08 AM
My alternative is to go to the expense of relocating the rough-in to 12" and opt for the UltraMax. Any advice? The UltraMax can't use the unifit adapter? I think I will have to use one for my 1/2 bath which I plan on remodeling. It also has a 14" rough-in. Is there a list of the Totos that the unifit will work with?
I'm no expert, but I doubt it, because there is no mention whatsoever of it as an option on TOTO's spec sheet for the UltraMax.
jadnashua
02-08-2005, 08:48 AM
The adapter looks pretty robust to me - I've got two in my house. I'm not worried!
Clayton
02-08-2005, 09:52 AM
The unifit adapter was very unusual installing it my first time, but now after installing several I believe it is a good design. I wouldn't worry about the unifit leaking or causing clogs.
no the ultramax does not use the unifit. All the unifit toilets have the skirted styling.
carolina - carlyle - dorian - pacifica - vespin - carrollton
http://www.terrylove.com/images/abak/abak_pacifica.jpg
TOTO Pacifica CST808
Have had them installed in our home for several years. Never a problem. Even removed and reinstalled them due to flooring changes.
Terry
09-09-2005, 05:59 PM
http://www.terrylove.com/images/install_unifit_6.jpg
Installing the Unifit on tile, pick yourself up a 1/4" tile bit.
Use the plastic anchors and stainless screws that come with the Unifit.
They work fine.
Sometimes tile is uneven. If you have to shim, shim at the back, pinning the front of the bowl down. Caulk around the front.
With the Unifit, I would use wax. You will notice that the underside is not round and centered like their toilets are. Use wax.
If you remove the toilet, the Unift will stay installed.
When dropping the toilet into the Unifit, it will slide in easier if you put some liquid soap on the rubber sleeve.
You will notice that there are some toggle bolts stapled to the Unifit box. These are for attaching the seat. Use these toggle bolts with the rubber outer covering and don't use the plastic bolts that come in the seat box.
This way you can alway tighen or remove the seat without pulling the toilet.
Instruction manual for the Carlyle (http://www.terrylove.com/pdf/unifit_toilet_instructions.pdf)
http://www.terrylove.com/wc/toto/toto_seat_toggle.jpg
Seat toggles for the skirted bowls
ho333ard
02-14-2006, 12:20 PM
Thanks so much for posting this-- I have a Carrollton install w/ 12" unifit in my near future.
Questions-- what does a "tile bit" look like-- maybe I already have one?
Any reason I can't mark the 4 screw holes by placing the unifit adapter in position?
Thx. . .
Installing the Unifit on tile, pick yourself up a 1/4" tile bit.
Use the plastic anchors and stainless screws that come with the Unifit.
They work fine.
Sometimes tile is uneven. If you have to shim, shim at the back, pinning the front of the bowl down. Caulk around the front.
With the Unifit, I would use wax. You will notice that the underside is not round and centered like their toilets are. Use wax.
If you remove the toilet, the Unift will stay installed.
When dropping the toilet into the Unifit, it will slide in easier if you put some liquid soap on the rubber sleeve.
You will notice that there are some toggle bolts stapled to the Unifit box. These are for attaching the seat. Use these toggle bolts with the rubber outer covering and don't use the plastic bolts that come in the seat box.
This way you can alway tighen or remove the seat without pulling the toilet.
Instruction manual for the Carlyle (http://www.terrylove.com/pdf/unifit_toilet_instructions.pdf)
If you are going into tile a carbide bit works fine. Using the unifit adapter as a template for the four holes is the way to go.
You may want to use a punch to gently crack the surface where you will be drilling. It keeps the drill from walking.
Paul
jadnashua
02-14-2006, 01:28 PM
You can use a glass and tile bit as well, just go slowly and keep it wet (spray bottle will work). These look like an arrowhead. Some tile are VERY hard (PEI 5 porcelain for example), and a carbide bit might barely touch the surface.
ho333ard
02-14-2006, 10:21 PM
Thanks so much for posting this-- I have a Carrollton install w/ 12" unifit in my near future.
Questions-- what does a "tile bit" look like-- maybe I already have one?
Any reason I can't mark the 4 screw holes by placing the unifit adapter in position?
Thx. . .
D'oh, I meant a 10 inch.
Thanks for the responses.
I was a little concerned that there are such elaborate measuring instructions for the screw holes in the manual. Why wouldn't they just assume you'd use the unifit as a template?
Is this install pretty straightforward? I need to arrange help, pull the current toilet, clean away grout-n-stuff, finish grouting the tile behind the toilet, finish painting the wainscotting behind the toilet and tank, and get the new one in, using my help's time efficiently (will need to learn how to do the grout thing too).
Spokaneman
02-15-2006, 10:43 AM
I installed two Vespins with unifits, and in my opinion setting the unifit is way easier than trying to put a wax ring on the bottom of a standard toilet then trying to set in on the flange without damaging the wax ring. I used the unifit as a template, using a carpenters square to make sure it was reasonably square to the wall. I put the wax ring in the unifit, placed it on the flange and basicly stepped on the flat plastic part to compress the wax ring, then wood screwed the four screw holes to the floor (I was going through linoleum). I then made sure it the thing was level with a small level.
The design of the unifit connection to the toilet is great, a little liquid soap on the rubber gasket and it slipped right in,There is a bit of a funnel shape on the unifit to toilet connection so alignment is not supercritical.
Be sure that your toilet bolts are in the unifit before you set the toilet in place. Also, if its a two piece unit, bolt the tank on before setting the toilet. It is not so heavy that you cannot manage to line it up.
I spent more time taking the parts out of the box than the actual installation took.
It is so simple a cave man could do it.
http://www.terrylove.com/wc/toto/cst474_side.jpg
Toto Vespin II CST474CEFG with SS114 Softclose seat.
This bowl was installed on a 13-1/2" rough-in using the 14" Unifit adapter.
The water shutoff can be as close as 5-1/2" to the left of center, unless it's higher off the floor, and then it can be even closer to center.
This shutoff had been replaced with a new 1/4 turn valve with brass nipple through the wall.
Installation was by James Love of Love Plumbing & Remodel 206-949-5683
In some of the older Seattle homes, the old toilets had been wall mounted tank toilets.
Those typically are 14" rough-in and need a flange repair to use standard closet bolt connections at the flange.
Everything is on the truck for that.
The Vespin comes with a standard 12" adapter or you can order a 10" or 14" adapter depending on your rough-in distance.
Spokaneman
02-15-2006, 10:48 AM
One more thing, I doubt you will need help, I didn't. That kind of a job, one person is often more effective than two, particularly if the bathroom is small. Toilets aren't all that heavy. If weight is an issue and you are installing a two piece toilet you can install the tank after setting the bowl, its just a bit of a pain trying to get to the lower tank mounting nuts if the toilet is near a perpendicular wall or cabinet.
Similarly if weight is a problem, disassemble the old toilet tank from the bowl before carrying it out.
jadnashua
02-15-2006, 03:19 PM
It was great fun with a small sledge to demolish my old toilets! Just wear good heavy clothes and eye protection...the shards can be sharp - I carried it out in a heavy duty garbage bag.
Spokaneman
02-15-2006, 03:23 PM
Around here Habitat for Humanity will resell used 3.5 gallon toilets and install good 1.6 gallon toilets in their project houses or sell them to landlords.
They said they can sell all of the 3.5 gallon's they can get thier hands on. I donated mine to them.
Terry
02-15-2006, 09:55 PM
In the Seattle area, the water districts are trying to get all of the old toilets replaced to conserve water.
Every few Summers, we have to ration our water to get by.
You will see a lot of brown lawns in the Summer.
Breaking up toilets can be very dangerous. The shards are glass.
I have a nice 2-1/2" scar on my arm from a broken toilet tank.
It went clear to the tendon.
And I never felt a thing. I just noticed there was a lot of blood on the floor.
ho333ard
02-15-2006, 10:54 PM
Thanks for all the tips-- I will definitely review this thread in my last minute cramming for the job.
I am an environmentalist-- gave up car ownership 3 years ago--- but convince me that the average 1.6 gallon toilet doesn't require twoce as many flushes as the old ones.
(I'm also an occupational therapist and I've seen more people injured by toilets than you'd think).
Spokaneman
02-16-2006, 07:01 AM
The first generation 1.6'er's required multiple flushes. The good news is a well designed current generation 1.6'er doesn't. Since I installed my Toto's in December, I can honestly say I have had nary a two flusher, nor a single clog. It's truely bathroom nirvana.
I'm not a greenee by any stretch, I just got tired of plunging.
I am an environmentalist-- gave up car ownership 3 years ago--- but convince me that the average 1.6 gallon toilet doesn't require twoce as many flushes as the old ones.
Get a Toto toilet and you'll see. 1 flush does it all. When we first installed them, we intentionally pitched 1/2 a roll of 2-ply toilet paper into the bowl and gave it a flush and yes, a single flush took that mess away.
ho333ard
03-09-2006, 06:36 PM
Get a Toto toilet and you'll see. 1 flush does it all. When we first installed them, we intentionally pitched 1/2 a roll of 2-ply toilet paper into the bowl and gave it a flush and yes, a single flush took that mess away.
Up an running the better part of a week.
Engineering genius. A double flush now and then, but way less so than the old big-tank toilet.
contessa301
03-19-2006, 01:16 PM
Help! My plumber just tested the fit of the Toto Carrolton for our renovation. We have an 11" rough in (who on earth does that?) and bought the Carrolton with the 10" Unifit (http://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm). The plumber likes the Unifit (although he hasn't actually installed it yet), but discovered on his "dry run" of fitting in the toilet prior to laying the floor tile that the toilet and tank are smack up against the wall. I thought, according to the diagram, that the tank would be aprox. 3/4" away from the wall after installation. What gives?
Terry
03-19-2006, 05:58 PM
The Carrollton comes with a 12" Unifit (http://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm) in the box.
With a 12" rough, there would be about 3/4" behind.
With a 11" rough, the back would be touching the wall.
If you purchase a 10" Unift, then you would have about 1-3/4" behind with a 11" rough.
dmont
08-18-2006, 10:45 AM
We are installing a Toto Carlyle over a tile on cement floor. The flange is 1/2 inch thick, mounted on top of the tile. It is canted somewhat, so the high side of the flange is more than 1/2 inch from the finished floor surface. There is little or no room between the underside of the Unifit and the top surface of the flange for the wax.
Toto said to knead the wax and spread it out to make a thinner seal. We don't really have enough room to do even that.
Is it possible to shim up the back side of the Unifit the thickness of the wax seal and still have the toilet rest on the floor?
The alternatives seem to be trying to remove the existing flange and get a thinner one to mount more level (not attractive because we have no good access to the underside of the floor if this process goes wrong), or scrapping the Carlyle and buying an Ultra-Max (not attractive because no Sani-Gloss and because the water supply is roughed in farther from the center line for the Carlyle). Raising the floor is not an option.
I'd appreciate thoughts on shims or other alternatives I might not have considered.
jadnashua
08-18-2006, 12:55 PM
First, try to sit the adapter on the flange with no wax. If it won't sit flat on the floor, neither it nor most new toilets will fit without flange work. You have an advantage with the Toto Unifit (http://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm)...you are attaching the toilet to the Unifit, not to the flange, so the fact that the flange is not attached to the floor like it should be isn't as big a factor. While you can see it, those who have not seen this adapter, it is part of the toilet installation and is attached to the floor with not only the flange bolts, but additional bolts through the floor to hold it in place. Then, the toilet is attached to the adapter, not to the floor.
If it does sit flat without wax, consider one of the waxless seals made by Fluidmaster (I've used these) or Fernco (supposed to be good, too). They are much thinner, and should work. The Fluidmaster is available at the big box home centers. You might have to go to a plumbing store for the Fernco.