Toilet for tight budget

WannaKnow · Oct 21, 2009

I am helping my mom with the renovation. She has a VERY tight budget and needs to select an inexpensive toilet. By reading this forum I see that Toto Drake is highly recommended. I also saw a reference to American Standard Cadet 3, which is a little cheaper. Are there cheaper toilets that are less prone to problems? We're not trying to buy a BMW of the toilets here, just a very basic one. Lowe's or HD sell toilets starting at $70 or so. It's hard to ignore those when the budget it tight. My mother's defense for a cheap one is that in her rented apartments with super-basic toilets, she has never clogged one.

So, are there cheaper toilets than Cadet 3 that you would recommend?

Terry · Oct 21, 2009

Not everyone plugs toilets.

If your mother doesn't, then just pick up the $70 toilet.
One persons "throw a way", is another persons throne.

Which $70 toilet are you looking at?

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

WannaKnow · Oct 21, 2009

To be honest we didn't select any one yet. We just noticed that there are some very inexpensive toilets there (as well as very expensive ones). She wanted to save on the toilet and get a washlet for $150 (the one that does not come with the seat and cover). It just connects with water lines, no electric connection needed. Very basic. Are they problematic?

I tried to convince her to go with Toto Drake, but her argument was that she never clogged cheap toilets, so why spend the money that she doesn't have.

I just wanted to see if there are some real no-no's as far as super cheap brands.

P.S. I am going to correct myself here. Lowe's website shows the cheapest toilet at $100. I don't know why we saw $70 toilets at local Lowe's. Maybe the price was just for the bowl.

Runs with Bison · Oct 21, 2009

Just a thought...perhaps pay the difference to buy her a toilet (or washlet) she really likes as an early Christmas gift. Hey, I know it's not the most attractive sounding gift, but it is something that will get daily use and something she really needs.

WannaKnow · Oct 22, 2009

Neah. She's super thrifty with my money and won't be happy if I spend. Not to mention I am already contributing a lion share of remodeling expenses. So, any recommendations in the economy section of the toilet market?

Gary Swart · Oct 22, 2009

You generally get what you pay for. Plumbers like Terry make a living replacing those builder specials from the Big Box stores. Why people think they can spend $100 for a toilet and get one with $400 performance is beyond me. Why not look into a Toto Dalton? Good performance and reasonably priced.

FloridaOrange · Oct 22, 2009

WannaKnow said:
I tried to convince her to go with Toto Drake, but her argument was that she never clogged cheap toilets, so why spend the money that she doesn't have.

It's not just clogging toilets that is a concern with cheap or builder's grade toilets, it's also effectively clearing the bowl with one flush. I recently replaced one of my builder's grade toilets in my house with a AS Champion 4 which flushes very well. With our old toilets they never clogged but would routinely require a second flush at least to completely clear the bowl. After the change I noticed our water bill dropped $10/month and that was the only change. At that rate the toilet would be paid (completely) for inside of 3 or 4 years. Since I was lucky and got the toilet for free it's instant "profit" for me.

Ian Gills · Oct 22, 2009

You can't go wrong with a Cadet 3.

But like any toilet that has traveled miles to get to the Big Box stores and been handled roughly, take it out of the box to check for obvious defects before you take it home. I certainly would not order any toilet online that had to travel any distance.

Mine is still going perfectly. I have lost count of how long I've had it now. Must be three years.

If it works and does the job well, you rarely think about these things.

Made in Brazil. They got the Olympics this year you know?

I'm proud to own one, and my family back home too. We often send them photos of it to share with their friends. I wish I had the T-shirt.

Terry · Oct 22, 2009

Ian,
The Cadet 3 is way out of this persons price range.
It's got to be under $70

Ian Gills · Oct 22, 2009

Oh, that's a shame.

Dunbar Plumbing · Oct 28, 2009

$70 for a toilet?

Did they spruce up those homer buckets at home depot that now has a toilet seat on them?

Wannaknow,

Go buy that $70 toilet and install it, enjoy it.

Remember, "tight" budget and throw the cheapest toilet in there so you can plunge it daily or weekly...because your personal time is worth nothing when you're working on a tight budget.

Buy the cheapest, that's why they sell them. For the budget minded.

Cass · Oct 29, 2009

Here is a low cost toilet...and it is green....

WannaKnow · Oct 30, 2009

Wow! Some pretty testy plumbers here... I hope I didn't offend anyone by asking for advice about a budget toilet. No need to get all flustered. You know there are some people in this world who are not rich and are on a budget. Not everyone pockets $150 just for a 30 minute service call. I guess someone is obviously overpaid here, if they trash people who are on a budget. Or and I forgot to ask that smarty pants - what car do you drive? what watch do you wear? how much was your house? I hope the answers are BMW, Rolex and over $1 million...

Cass · Oct 31, 2009

No one here is testy...there are a zillion $70.00 toilets you can choose from it is just that they are all the same so there is no way for us to rate / track their ability to flush Etc.... because of the $70.00 price the quality is "in the toilet"

...you got good honest answers based on years of expereience...maybe not what you expected or wanted but none the less good, honest, accurate, answers...

SteveW · Oct 31, 2009

Wannaknow -
Try not to take comments personally. This is a common topic on this forum and plumbers here have seen the effects of choosing a toilet based on the cheapest price.

Here's a link to a review of a different brand, and one of the issues that plagues cheaper toilets - it's called "slump" and refers to the tendency of the clay used to make toilets to be pulled out of position due to gravity while it's drying:

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17625&highlight=slump

Folks here are just trying to save you from some avoidable problems - after all, if you choose a $70 toilet and end up replacing it 6 months from now, that would not be money well spent.

Dunbar Plumbing · Oct 31, 2009

WannaKnow said:
Wow! Some pretty testy plumbers here... I hope I didn't offend anyone by asking for advice about a budget toilet. No need to get all flustered. You know there are some people in this world who are not rich and are on a budget. Not everyone pockets $150 just for a 30 minute service call. I guess someone is obviously overpaid here, if they trash people who are on a budget. Or and I forgot to ask that smarty pants - what car do you drive? what watch do you wear? how much was your house? I hope the answers are BMW, Rolex and over $1 million...

As I repeat myself,

Buy the $70 toilet because you're on a tight budget.

hj · Nov 1, 2009

toilet

Do not buy the Home Depot "blue light special". I have only installed a couple of Toto toilets since they started, but have installed many low priced ones without having customer dissatisfaction. I have had excellent results with Mansfield, A/S Cadet, an import from Turkey, as well as a couple of others.

Toilet for tight budget

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