Eric, do you mind telling me where you ordered your toilet from. Lyban, two local Toto dealers I talked with about a month ago said these "II" models were so new that they didn't know how quickly they'd come in, but based on past experience, they expected it could take 4 to 5 weeks. I thought that pressed my timing, so I looked online. (I also called Toto, which confirmed to me that the toilets were definitely in stock and had started shipping in February). The best price I got was from Ira Woods; I had ordered from them before when doing my kitchen and had a perfect experience, and they always seem to be recommended by folks on the kitchen forum. Their price was best if my total order would be $750, which would get me free shipping on the toilet; I was going to order my drawer pulls from them anyway (and eventually did), so I was over that limit. When I called them to ask about availability, they called Toto and estimated three weeks. I ended up ordering it from HM Wallace (they do business online as PerformanceToilets.com) because they promised they get a weekly truckload from Toto and would therefore get the toilet within a week and UPS it to me (free) for delivery within 10 days. Their price was about $40 higher, but since they seemed like they'd get it to me fastest, I ordered from them. Well, it turned out that my toilet "missed the truck" from Toto for two weeks, and ended up taking about three weeks to arrive anyway -- so I spent a little extra compared to Ira Woods for nothing. Oh well. I will say the customer service people at HM Wallace were nice to deal with. The toilet finally arrived Friday, and will be installed this week as soon as the wall tiling is complete and grouted. If we're happy with it, I'll be ordering another for our second bathroom project, which will start as soon as this one is complete. And I'll order from Ira Woods. One last note: when I was price shopping last month, many of the online sites didn't have all the new Toto models on their web sites, but they were all able to get me pricing when I called them. So if you don't see the model you want on a particular web site, it pays to call them. And make sure you check the shipping policies -- method and cost. (Reads the fine print: some web sites which prominently display free shipping on orders over $99 or $199 say that doesn't apply to oversized items, like a toilet. But they may offer free shipping for hitting a higher cost threshold.) I was surprised something as heavy as a 115 pound one-piece toilet could be shipped UPS, but it's standard with some of the companies. Others ship toilets via a freight line. That might make a difference if you or your contractor aren't home all day waiting for a shipment. Some ship all toilets for free; others have a pretty high cost threshold for free shipping. (If you can order your faucets or shower fixtures from the same company, it'll help you get free shipping on everything.) -- Eric

I doubt that the maintenance guy put it together wrong. The inners of a toilet come assembled. All he had to do was join the tank and the bowl together. I doubt a longer overflow pipe would help you. No matter how much water is in the tank, the flapper will only let a predetermined amount out before it drops and shuts off the supply. There were some posts a few weeks back that dealt with the same problem. Maybe you can read them and narrow down whether your problem is "not enough water" or "something plugged up". If you find that it seems to be plugged up I can tell you that I have seen new toilets installed where the wax ring under the bowl were not centered correctly and they were blocking the flush, but that's a long shot. I really think you have to narrow it down to the above two listed problems....low water or plugged. Then you can figure out how to solve.

Look on the inside of your tank. You will find a water level index line either painted on or embossed in the porcelan on the inside of the tank wall. Make sure the water level in the tank is up to the water level index line. If not, adjust the float on the fill valve. Next, you will see a small tube from the fill valve that is connected to the top of the standpipe. Make sure that line is installed correctly so that all the water discharging from the line goes down the standpipe.

A proper complete flush requires approximately 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 gal to flood the trapway and begin the flushing action. Years ago water closet tanks discharged 5gal, then 3.5gal which was actually an excessive amount to cause the flush action. With the advent of water saver regulations they designed the bowl so that it would retain approx 1 to 1.5 gal as the trap seal, then they determined the minimum amount of additional water it would take to cause the flush, which works out to be 1.6gal. If you lower the standing water in the bowl, not only does that risk the trap not sealing correctly, it also starves the bowl for water during the next flush resulting in an incomplete flush, as is described by Plumbman after he removed the trap primer line. Take my word for it, the level of water in the bowl and the level in the tank are both critical if you expect the water closet to flush as it is intended to do.