What whites best match Kohler white?

[jcwconsulting]

We're remodeling (really totally redoing a bathroom) and using a Kohler white pedestal sink and toilet...our problem is we need a 4.5 foot or smaller tub and the Kohler one is cast iron...too heavy to get up to our second floor (believe me, I've tried on that one with various workmen, they won't do it). It's also too late to return the sink and toilet. I've found American Standard and Crane tubs that work size and weight-wise, but am concerned about the "whites" not matching the Kohler white. Does anyone know what is my best bet/what "white" is closest to Kohler white?

Thanks for your thoughts...jcwconsulting

[jadnashua]

There are very few 54" tubs out there. For many adults that actually take a bath, even the standard 60" tub is too short. Every brand has their own name for white, and some have more than one. Also, differing materials and lighting can make even 'same' colored whites look different. Keep in mind that tubs are measured from studwall to studwall, not between finished walls. Might you actually have a 60" rough opening?

[hj]

quote; believe me, I've tried on that one with various workmen, they won't do it

In that case they must not have been "plumbers" because the only difference between a cast iron tub, or an Americast for example, is that it take TWO men to get it upstairs. When I worked in Chicago, we ONLY installed cast iron tubs, regardless of which floor it was on, and they were 60" tubs NOT 54" ones. Even Kohler's white will NOT match the toilet and possibly the sink, because the tub has a black/gray surface under the enamel and the toilet has white ceramic base. YOU will NEVER see the difference because of the various planes and angles of the surfaces which distort the color comparison. In the "old days", however, Crane's white toilets were more "brilliant" than other manufacturers.

[jcwconsulting]

Thanks much hj...guess I'll choose based upon other factors, knowing now that no white will necessarily match better than another. Thanks very much for your reply...I'll now stop making myself crazy trying to match this stuff up.

And yep, now we know we won't get any delivery team to move a cast iron tub upstairs.

[Layne]

I recently read that Kohler white does not match American Standard white, though I can't personally confirm it. I was trying to learn the difference between Toto's cotton white and colonial white and that's exactly it, one matches kohler, one matches American Standard.

[jimbo]

It is absolutely true that Kohler's white is "different". Makers of 4" bathroom tiles, such as Daltile...have long offered colors # 101 white, and K101 white.

I think Toto, if not others, does offer a match, and perhaps Terry will confirm for sure that cotton is the one.

[hj]

quote; Kohler white does not match American Standard white,

Put two fixtures, not color samples, in the same room separated by a few feet and you will NOT be able to tell the difference. IF one is a cast iron sink and the other a china sink from the same manufacturer, they will also NOT be the same color. But since fixtures are ALWAYS separated from one another, and they have different planes and curves it would take an expert with a spectrometer to see any difference.

[Layne]

I'm sure that's true. I imagine you could put in a neon orange toilet and you'd stop noticing it in a week or 2.