Need recommendation on toilet to get from big box stores

Damn am I mad.

My first Cimarron experience was bad as the tank would not sit level as the base part that it sits on, had a weird defective bow to it. There was no way I could accept this. Back to Lowes it went.

My wife did the return and tried to check everything out before bring a 2nd Cimarron home. I pull it out of the box, sit it on the garage floor and it teeters!!!!! I also notice the Kohler logo is crooked.

How is this acceptable from a company like Kohler! This is no rinky dink operation here. These are supposedly high end products! Where is the quality anymore!

So, I take it back to Lowes and they give me a hard time about the return. I am 41, but look in like I could be in the 20's. So the guys are asking me all these questions as if I didnt know what I was doing. I pointed out that the inside feet extended past the rim...the guy (an older guy in his 60's) was telling me that I have to put a wax ring on it first to level it. Sorry, but I had no patience...I had to demand that I get my refund now and that I dont have to further justify my return.

I was livid!

Should I contact Lowes or Kohler to complain?

Can someone help me get a toilet from Home Depot, Lowes, *******? I cant special order one or deal with any plumbing supply houses (as I am not a contractor)....which of the big box stores sells a nice toilet that works and is of quality?

Hate to rain on your parade, but big box stores are a lousy place to buy toilets. They specialize in builder grade junk. As you have discovered, getting advice from their sales force is often a joke. Kohler and American Standard are not the great companies they built their reputation on. AS dumps their blems on them so frequently folks find they have to take them back, sometimes more than once. A lot of the professional plumbers will not mess with them for that reason. I think in fact you can order a Toto from a plumbing shop, perhaps not all of them, but some will do it. Many of us on this forum favor the Toto brand, but they are not sold in discount centers.

kezug said:

I pull it out of the box, sit it on the garage floor and it teeters!!!!!
the guy (an older guy in his 60's) was telling me that I have to put a wax ring on it first to level it.

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Sure, that will work

Just wonder though, how sure are you the spot you set it on was dead level? Did you try placing over the flange without wax, and seeing how bad it was there? Heck in my home, if your garage was dead level, then that toiled would have probably been a dead on fit in my bathroom My guess is shimming is not uncommon.

I pointed out that the inside feet extended past the rim.

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I've seen that before. It was a homeowner supplied Kohler. I would have had to notch out the marble floor or shim the back up about 1/2"
I told the homeowner to bring it back and get a better bowl. It sucked that it made for a second trip, but that's how that goes sometimes.

schipperke said:

Sure, that will work

Just wonder though, how sure are you the spot you set it on was dead level? Did you try placing over the flange without wax, and seeing how bad it was there? Heck in my home, if your garage was dead level, then that toiled would have probably been a dead on fit in my bathroom My guess is shimming is not uncommon.

Click to expand...

I actually tried it in several spots and flipped it over to drag a straight edge against the underside only to be stopped by one of those inside footings. The outter brim should rest fully on the floor, right?

This is a sad finding that top brands like Kohler and AS are selling defects to discount stores...sorry, but sad. I can accept a lower branded company selling sub standard products, but not that a company sells defects to one store but to plumbing supply houses they dont is just plain BS.

We are talking about a simple device here and to think they cant have it molded to be perfectly square is beyond me.

quote; We are talking about a simple device here and to think they cant have it molded to be perfectly square is beyond me.

Actually, if you KNEW how toilets were made, you would be more surprised that ANY come out "perfectly square".

A toilet (and any clay product) shrinks a LOT after it dries before it can be fired. This can lead to a lot of defects if that process is uneven. Toto (and maybe some others) use a relatively dry clay and form it more than pour it. Thus, their shrinkage and control over the process is better. Then, they have much higher QA/QC standards than many in the industry. BTW, Toto is the largest toilet manufacturer in the world.

How its made

I had a toilet where the rim was badly warped on one side, you can see how that can happen here, when removing from the mold., they are still pliable.