Need help selecting new toilet

Last year I bought a Kohler Cimarron and installed it in a tiny bathroom that had been added onto our house God knows when. The first major problem I ran into was although the base of the toilet fit perfectly, the tank stuck out an extra inch or so in the back. Sadly I am impatient and wanted it installed no matter what so I cut into the wall about 3/4 of an inch.

I was confident that the superb flushing abilities of the cimarron would keep my wife from pointing out the fact that the bathroom now looks strange with the tank set inside the wall. The flushing abilities are wonderful but the bowl cleaning issue that others have commented on are driving me over the edge. I hate cleaning and my wife is a clean freak so it's been a long year at my house.

I hate to spend money but I can't take it anymore. I want to solve my rough in size problem AND the dirty bowl problem once and for all by installing a new toilet. That's where you all come in!

The new toilet needs to be able to handle 500 grams. It needs to have a large water spot and not do the little cimarron trick where it starts of pretty high but then quickly "adjusts" to a small spot. It needs to be able to rinse the darn bowl. It needs to have a rough in smaller than 12" since I know that is too large after my cimarron experience. I read where Terry said that the TOTO drake lists a rough in of 12" but in reality is an 11". That's ok with me IF the cimarron is in reality 12" because an inch less is all I need. I did also see that I could get a rough in adaptor on several models so that would be an option as well.

I read through the consumer report and it provides exellent information. I want to make sure I get it right this time though so I'm hoping that some of you experts out there will be patient enough to read through my novel and help me out. Thank you very much in advance!

There are quite a few threads on this subject you can view but it seems that with most 1.6 G toilets staining to some degree is a problem.Check the thread about the Clorox with Teflon. This has seemed to help quite a few people.

The rough-in is measured from the bolt holes of the flange that hold the toilet down to the finished wall. Once you know that, you can shop toilets that will fit. Most of the low-flow toilets don't do a fantastic bowl wash. The normally available toilets are 12" nominal rough-in. The alternatives are 10 or 14". Toilets can have up to about 3/4" or so clearance between the toilet and the wall.

Perhaps you should consider a Gerber Ultra-Flush in a 10" rough. As a pressure-assist toilet, the bowl is designed to create a larger water-spot and utilize 20% of the flush-volume to extract waste and the remaining 80% to rinse and refill the bowl. Typically, gravity toilets function at a 50-50 ratio for extraction and rinse/refill.

Since 1998, the Ultra-Flush has consistently received high ratings from Consumer Reports' non-biased off-the-shelf performance testing.

The Gerber number for a round-front 10" rough Ultra-Flush is 21-300 (21-342 bowl with 28-385 tank).

Good luck in your research.

jadnashua said:

The rough-in is measured from the bolt holes of the flange that hold the toilet down to the finished wall. Once you know that, you can shop toilets that will fit. Most of the low-flow toilets don't do a fantastic bowl wash. The normally available toilets are 12" nominal rough-in. The alternatives are 10 or 14". Toilets can have up to about 3/4" or so clearance between the toilet and the wall.

Click to expand...

Which bolt hole?

A typical toilet has two bolts that hold it to the flange, one on either side. The distance from those bolts straight back to the wall is what is referred to as the rough-in size. "Normal" is 12". The other standard sizes are 10, or 14". Note, most toilets allow a space behind them, so you MAY fit with a smaller spacing, but it is toilet specific. If it is one of the exact measurements, then you are guaranteed it will fit on the flange-wall spacing. Some toilets require the water supply to be in a "non-standard" position, which is around 5-1/2" from the centerline of the toilet.

Go For The Gerber

We installed a Gerber Ultra-Flush system about a year ago at the suggestion of a pipe fitter at the plant where I work. Best advice I've ever received!

Our sewer backups and other associated problems have NOT been an issue since this install.

Finding a dealer that carries Gerber was an issue back here in the holler in darkest WV.

Thomas Somerville Co. a large supplier carries the full Gerber line . These are the best toilets I've ever used ( 1.6 gal )

They are excellent and economical .

my 2 cents.

Cal