Artemis78 asks (questions answered out of order in relation to the posting): "...we have a very tight space to fit the toilet in. The current one is a round bowl that is set out from the wall, ... will still have a tight squeeze between the toilet and the nearby tub. ... So I'm thinking this means we should stick with a round bowl to save the meager inch or two that we pick up doing that ..." Within a specific toilet model the elongated bowl version will stick out farther from the back wall than the round bowl version, but there are some brands and models of elongated bowl toilets that have shorter dimensions from the wall to the front of the bowl than the round bowl versions of other brands and models. A manufacturer's specification sheet or a tape measure taken to a showroom may help you better than general advice from this forum. Also, the base of the user's spine, or tailbone position, near the hinge of he toilet seat will be the same for the round and elongated versions of any specific toilet model, so the knees of the person who sits on the toilet will stick out the same distance whether the bowl is round or elongated. "Wondered if anyone could share which high-efficiency toilet you chose and how you like it. Our plumber recommends the Toto Drake as a good basic model, but I want to understand what else is out there, too." Understand that the best toilet designs in the world come from Japan. Until recently, the only Japanese designed toilets that have been readily available in North America have been the Toto line, and they are very good. In direct answer to your question, we installed a Toto Vespin II (the skirted version of the latest Toto Drake) in January of this year, and it fully satisfied our (high) expectations for it. It flushes well with minimal water use, and the flush action completes rapidly; it is also easy to keep clean. The "other" major Japanese toilet maker (number 2 in market share in Japan and considered more innovative than Toto) is Inax, which is just making a big push into the Nortth American market. Five years from now, an inquiry such as yours undoubtedly would have a lot of responses recommending models of Inax toilets. Inaxes are as excellent as Totos, but harder to find. Because of the way that Toto and Inax have elected to market their wares in North America, you will see neither at any big-box store. You will have to go to a specialty plumbing retailer to see a Toto or an Inax in a showroom setting. Or, you can fly to Japan, where all of the toilets in the airports, and most of the toilets in the high-end hotels, are Inax. Terry Love, who sometimes contributes to this forum, sells both Toto and Inax in the Seattle area, and also on-line. Here is a link that might be useful: Terry Love's consumer toilet reports

paintguy.....thanks for the speedy reply. My husband is heading over to paint at our new house right now. Thanks for the explanation too. Just curious though....I don't know all of the acronyms you experienced people use.....what does PVA stand for? (Don't laugh!) :-) volvo 85.....I would think your painter is correct when he says you don't need a primer. Even though the paint is old, if the walls have been painted before, I don't think you need a primer unless you've done a lot of patching and have new drywall mud. But the pros here will hopefully give you a better answer. You may, however, need 2 coats, depending on what paint you use and how it covers.

1. I had a bucket of water with a little vinegar and wiped a section with a sponge. Then I'd take another sponge, wet it in the sink and wipe over the area and rinse the sponge in the sink again and wipe again. There was no glue that you could see when I started or finished, and I tried to feel if it was gone, but I it was hard to know for sure. 2. I really can't remember how long I waited before I applied Kilz. It was at least overnight, but I think it actually may have been a couple days later. 3. The GARDZ can said to apply it liberally but not too thick or it may sag. I thought I rolled it on thick enough, but who knows. Actually, the stickiest areas are in spots where I would have brushed it on around the door and shower. Does a brush apply it thicker than a roller? 4. It was Kilz 2 white latex sealer, primer, stainblocker. 5. No, a full coat of Kilz wasn't used. I just brushed on Kilz over the GARDZ on about a 3'X3' section of new drywall below the window, and around the window, and in several other very small spots where the orignal primer had peeled off a little. But those aren't the tacky areas - it is tacky where it is just the GARDZ and most tacky where I would have used a brush. What kind of mess have I gotten myself into? Sigh! Why is it risky to just prime back over it and then paint? Thank you all for trying to help!

christopher & alex, thanks. I'll go out and get these today. I'm really sensitive to odors but I also hate wearing that respirator (it smells like ether to me a bit--makes me sick), so I'm thinking I'll return the BIN and try the ones you mention. Christopher, if you happen to see this: in the stores near me there are 400 and the UMA--do you think I need the 400 or can I get away with the UMA, which has much lower VOC? And alex, I'm looking at the SW website and seeing that Preprite Bonding Primer is listed specifically for "glossy paint, metal surfaces, glass, porcelain, tile, plastic and previously painted drywall, masonry and concrete" -- think I may go for that. Hope it's not got the BIN consistency/odor...both of these, the SW and the XIM, are sold at SW, so it will be just one stop, at least. Thanks, all of you. Oh, and lkplatow, I wish I knew what they put on. I think these were commercial doors before we got them (at architectural salvage) and the paint probably could only be sandblasted off the frame. It's completely perfectly smooth, too, which suggests spraying to me, if that helps.