Toto Soiree or Guinevere review, installing, comments and pictures

[spitnfire]

As a plumber, not a consumer.
According to a plumber on another site about a problem with Toto: Is there any truth to this? Thanks

Every single Toto toilet I installed, I had to return within 2 years and take out/remove the Gmax Fill Valve and replace the original flapper that came with the toilet.


The fill valve is a Korky, aka Hunter fill valve. This company (Toto) is fully aware that they are sending out a fill valve that has a known problem, a $3.47 fix that even the smallest piece of dirt and debri can cause the fill valve to malfunction in these toilets.

Fluidmaster 400A, the fill valve that is now in nearly all name brand toilets is the cure for this problem, not replacing the GMAX fill valve.

[Terry]

I have a Korky installed over at my mothers home in a Cadet wall hung that has been in use for 15 years.

You can use any fill valve in a Toto; there's plenty of options there.
The Fluidmaster can overfill the bowl, but most plumbers wouldn't care about that. It's water down the drain, which can add to a water bill.
All flappers need replacement at some point. Korky also makes replacement flappers for all toilets. If you are having problems with flappers, then there may be a chlorine tablet in the tank.

We installed a Kohler Memoirs one-piece toilet the other day that was just junk.
The bowl fill alternated between full and party full. Therefore the flush varied between flushes.
The bowl was not even , so sometimes the water line was smaller on the left.
The bottom of the bowl was uneven, so I had to shim on two opposite sides.
Water sprayed on the wall with the tank lid off.
That was a top of the line Kohler product.

I've sold thousands of Toto products over the years, with less then 1% returns. Nobody else can come close to that.
Sanagloss has been a very good product. Like I said in the previous post, the ones in my home look like the day they were installed.
I've been selling Sanagloss since 1998, and they are all in use.

[jadnashua]

The porcelain in a toilet should last for eons...the plastic and rubber parts certainly won't. As Terry said, the nice thing about Totos is that they use readily available wear parts that are reasonably priced. Try that with some Kohler stuff where it can cost over $100 to replace a worn out part! Depending on your water, the amount of chlorine in it and probably some other things, the rubber parts will degrade over time. That's a fact of life with parts immersed in that soup of chemicals. This is true with most any brand.

As to which Toto is 'the best', it is a two part question: one is subjective, as to how does it look to YOU, the other is by design and execution. Toto has proven to be very well designed and executed. They also don't sit still, and their designs evolve to improve on things, so the toilets that have a II designation are improvements over the original. This is not to say the originals were defective or deficient, it's just that they figured out a way to make it better.

[spitnfire]

which is better the toto soiree or toto drake or American Standard Traditional Champion 4 ??? and why? What makes the Soiree top of the class as you said?

[Terry]

The American Standard Champion is not a top choice.

Mostly quality control, but I also don't like the flush as well. There's nothing wrong with it, but the Toto does seem nicer, not so gulpy and sloshy. Getting parts for the Champion has been harder too.

The Drake II will be similar to the other double cyclone products by Toto. It comes with the rinse that spins around the bowl.
The Soiree adds:
one-piece
Skirted bowl
Nicer handle and style (if that's important)

It doesn't work better then the Drake II though.
It's like my SUV. I could have bought one with the same engine and drive train, but I opted for things like electric rear door, keyless locks, 4-wheel drive with traction control. It doesn't go any faster, though it does do a nice job on the road down from Whistler Mountain at 90 MPH on the winding roads.

Quality control.
I don't know what you do for work, but if I have to return items that I've taken the time to install, that's a huge waste of billable time. Save a few bucks, lose hundreds.

[spitnfire]

Does the Toto Soiree use double cyclone flushing technology or G-max??? What's the difference between the 2 types?
Can you also use a chlorox toilet wand to clean the inside of a sanagloss toilet, will it
cause the sanagloss to come off? How durable is the Sanagloss? How are Fresca toilets? are they any good?
Thanks

[Terry]

Cleaning isn't an issue with these. Do you have just horrible water where you are?
I sell these for people with bad water.
You don't want to sandpaper them. The idea is to clean them without scratching them. I think it's easy. And I'm a man.

All the the Toto toilets have a similar trapway and a 3" flush valve.

Either the rinse is straight down the bowl, or is spins, (double cyclone)
Both are siphon jet, so that part is essentially the same.

[spitnfire]

The soiree says it needs at least 8 psi water pressure..., how would I go about measuring
my water pressure for my toilet? it is fine now and with my american standard, it has a strong flush, with
that being said, do you think i need to go to home depot to buy a water pressure guage to measure
my pressure?

[Terry]

The only way the pressure would be at 8 PSI is if you collect water from the roof and gravity feed your home.

I assume you can shower?

[Terry]

This looks nice in a log cabin.
hj, this also meets the ADA requirements.

[Gary Swart]

I question the comment that the Soiree needs 8 psi to flush. Toilets other than pressure assisted (which Toto does not make at all) require zero pressure to flush. Toilets flush from the water in the tank. Normal household water pressure can vary a great deal, but should run from as low as 30 psi to 60 psi. If it is higher, a pressure regulator valve should be installed. Obviously to refill the tank, there must be some pressure in the water system, but 8 psi is not even close to normal.

[jadnashua]

8psi may not be enough to close the flush valve, but if it did, there would be no difference in the flush whether the pressure was 8 or 80psi. Above that 80psi, the valve may have difficulty staying closed (and that value is considered the top of 'normal' - above that you should install a reduction valve).

[spitnfire]

Can I use lysol , chlorox wand to clean Soiree with sanagloss, it says to use dishwasher liquid, but is lysol and chlorox wand ok? and wont damage the sanagloss. thanks

[spitnfire]

I had a plumber come out to install my toto soiree,
I asked him if I needed a new wax ring, he said no, that's the 1st thing he
inspects, he used the original one that came from the old toilet - it's a new house,
so the wax ring is probably 1&1/2 years old, he said I didn't need a new one, old
one was in good condition and if any problems or leaks he will come back.

2nd thing he said was that my old toilet may be better than the toto b/c it does not
use a pvc outlet connection, which he said might clog or break and it's made out of
some type of plastic - any issues with these in the past vs a standard toilet which doesn't
have one?

3rd, can I use lysol, clorox wand, and fantastic on the sanagloss? Is it safe?

Thanks,

[spitnfire]

Should I call the plumber back to re-do the install with a new wax ring?
And if it is only 1 & 1/2 yr old, do you think it will suffice?

Thanks