Kohler Transitions seat for Toto Drake toilet?

[FunNut]

We're adding a guest suite to our home and plan to buy a Toto Drake non-ADA toilet. We have a toddler grandchild and another "on the way." Our adult children live far away, but when they come to visit it would be nice to have a toilet seat that little ones could use. I saw the Kohler Transitions seat at a showroom and think it would be a nice addition to the guest bathroom. It's a "seat within a seat" and is sized for both adults and small children.

Will the Transitions seat fit on the Drake? Has anyone done this and do you like the seat?

[jadnashua]

Except for weird shaped toilets, there are basically two generic styles: round and elongated. If you buy one in the right shape, the holes and general shape will fit. The differences from the OEM seat you may notice are that the color may not match perfectly, and the overhang, if it exists, may differ from the OEM seat (for example, the Toto seat pretty much matches the curves of the toilet bowl and effectively has no overhang). So, it's mostly an asthetic and functional consideration, not a fit one.

[wjcandee]

To put a finer point on Jim's excellent comments, the Kohler Transitions seat has the anchor posts on a 5-1/2" spread. The Toto Drake has the holes for the anchor posts on a 5-1/2" spread. It will mount.

However, note well Jim's point that most toilets are either sized as round or elongated. The CST744E or CST744S (1.28 gallon-per-flush Drake or 1.6 gallon-per-flush Drake) are the elongated model Drake, and the K-4732 Transitions seat will fit on them. The CST743E or CST743S (1.28gpf and 1.6gpf respectively) are the round bowl model, and I don't see a round-front Transitions seat in the Kohler catalog, but I admit I only gave it a quick look.

Our general recommendation on this forum is that you buy the elongated Drake rather than the round unless you have a very-specific and serious architectural need for the round one, like a door that needs an extra couple of inches to swing past the front of the bowl. So, since the elongated is preferred, you can get the elongated bowl Drake (CST744E or CST744S), or the Drake II (which only comes in elongated), and the seat will mount just fine. As Jim says, the overhang may not be perfect, but it will fit such that most people won't notice.

[FunNut]

Yes, will be buying the elongated Drake. Thank you for your comments. Looks like the transitions seat will work. Now to clear up my confusion about all the different Drake models, it's a real job to compare them all. We have a 2-year-old 1.6gpf Soiree, with a Coco bidet seat, and like it a lot. We haven't had a single clog. Going to the 1.28 makes me a little nervous.

[Gary Swart]

You can relax. It may seem strange, but the 1.28 Toto toilets flush just fine.

[wjcandee]

And to get you over the hump, I can tell you that we have a little trick available in the event that you're not satisfied with the 1.28. Turns out you can swap the flapper with a $9 one from Lowes and give yourself essentially a 1.6 gpf toilet. So that's a backup plan to calm your nerves. Every person we have mentioned this to has written back in to say that they were pleased to find that the 1.28 works great and they wouldn't think to change it. One regular contributor has a 1.28 Drake and a 1.6 Drake and he swears the 1.28 flushes identically. We have a 1.28 Carlyle II with double-cyclone and it's amazing what it can do with 1.28gpf.

I'm pretty good with the models and model numbers, so if you have any questions about them, fire away.

And, to see where the industry ultimately must go, I saw today that Toto has their new One Gallon Per Flush Drake II, called the Drake II 1G, now loaded on their web site. I'm eager to hear when they are shipping, and will be intrigued to hear what early-adopters have to say about them.

[FunNut]

Thanks to all for your posts. I plan to go with whichever non-ADA, elongated Drake model that I can buy for the lowest cost. It will be a couple of months before I need to order, just trying to line up the ducks now.

I got a fabulous deal on the Soiree a couple of years ago, it was a floor model 1.6gpf and I've been really happy with it. As an aside, the Soiree was missing a few parts when we unpacked it (months after we bought it at the plumbing supply house in Santa Fe). The vendor wasn't the least bit interested in providing the missing parts. So we called Toto's customer service in Georgia and, after cluck-clucking over such poor local service, the missing parts were sent to us FREE. Needless to say, the local store won't be getting our business this time.

[wjcandee]

cst744e or cst744s should have the best prices, elongated, non-ada e is 1.28gpf, s is 1.6gpf

Toto customer service is excellent, caring and responsive. Terry says the Soiree is one of Toto's best gravity toilets. Glad you got a good deal.