So, you're thinking or buying a new toilet.

Greg Discusses selecting and buying a new toilet, including the five areas to consider:

MaP : The toilet testing and ranking site referred to in the video: www.map-testing.com/

Things to consider when purchasing a new toilet

  1. What brand do I go with?
    • Does Brand matter? No, results do ! See the map-testing.com site or hire a professional and demand results
  2. Features, size, color, and shape
    • ADA (comfort) height, which is about 2 inches higher than a regular toilet height of 15 inches (not including the seat)
    • Seat with handles  ADA grab bars on a wall are sometimes not possible due to wall distance. Seats are made with raised bars on the side for ADA features.
    • One-piece toilet
    • Elongated (watch for door clearance)
    • Pressure assist. Note higher noise and minimum water pressure requirement.
    • Color (colors cost more, especially black)
    • Dual flush (I don’t recommend, due cost and repair)
    • Smooth exterior at floor joint (skirting)
    • Soft-closing seat
    • Sana Gloss (Toto brand), or other better glazing for cleaner surface. Minerals build up on the glazing surface in the bowl. Better glazing limits this.
  3. Gallons per flush
    • 1.6 gpf vs.1.28 gpf requirements may vary by state.
    • Map-testing.com  test site
  4. Physical requirements
    • Door clearance 
    • Round front vs elongated
    • Distance from wall to toilet bolts, and from bolts to back end of toilet.
      • Consider wall and baseboard distance depending on the model's design
      • 10” rough in option
    • Tank height to fit under counter ledge over toilet, (Banjo countertop)
  5. Can't you just give me a make and model number?
    • Regional availability and marketing may make a recommendation in one region useless in another
    • You may want any of the many options existing.  Most brands make 20 or even 40 different toilets. Toilets are more important than cell phones, due diligence  is recommended.
    • What’s in the store? You can only choose among those that you can actually get.
    • Buying on line
      • Free shipping vs. return postage (what if the toilet arrives broken?)
      • The $100 toilet at the big-box store
        • Parts: Are future parts like flappers available at hardware stores and at what price?
        • Metal vs bronze: The bolts in tank that are exposed to water, are they brass, or metal that will rust and break?
        • Capacity test results: Are you interested in delving into the massive volume of data and making a choice based on the map-testing site?
        • Paying  a plumber once and getting a better toilet due to the professional knowledge and not needing to deal with shipping or anything else
        • Hauling away the old toilet, some trash services charge $25 or more to haul away a toilet. Not all neighbors tolerate an old toilet in front yard with flowers in it.

MaP testing provides a uniform test across a wide varity of makes and models to allow you to compare them. Toilets are graded based on their ability to flush a given amount of material, in grams per flush.

Videos here explain the testing procedure http://www.map-testing.com/toilet-reviews-videos.html

Download a PDF of this toilet purchacing considerations guide.