Anybody retrofit their toilet with a Japanese toilet seat?
Raident
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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nycbluedevil_gw
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agomonicakm_gw
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Toilet Choices?
Comments (7)Can anybody comment on the quality of the Jacuzzi Perfecta relative to the Toto? It is WAY cheaper and the old addage 'You get what you pay for' is on my mind. I read the reviews on Lowes' website and most were favorable, but it looks like replacement parts will be an issue and there have been some QC issues with regard to the bowl/tank mount... Anybody have anything to add? If anybody knows of something that fills a similar niche to this toilet feature-wise please let me know. Note that the Perfecta spec-wise is basically what I outlined above... BTW- the Round over Elongated is in part because our Bath is small and mostly because my wife thinks Elongated Bowls look funny and too modern (yes, I'm rolling my eyes too). Here is a link that might be useful: Lowes' page on the Jacuzzi Perfecta...See MoreIn need of a toilet primer...recommendations on HET toilets?
Comments (7)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...See MoreToilet Seats
Comments (9)I coughed up for the Toto seats in my previous house. I think they look the nicest on the Toto toilets, and I LOVED that soft-close feature - no seat accidentally banging down at 2am to wake me up with a jolt. I bought a Bemis (same company as Church) soft-close seat for my current house's junky toilets (AS Cadet, I believe; I've got the plunger out at least twice a week) and it's a piece of garbage, and the Kohler/AS soft-close seats were only about $15 cheaper than the Toto. Also, funnily enough, although they were odd-feeling at first, I got very used to the, umm, curvature of the Toto seats and now find the flat conventional toilet seat VERY uncomfortable!...See Moretoto toilet seat
Comments (12)Thanks all! We ended up getting the soft close (it was actually free thanks to the intercession of my local plumbing store maven Jackie. I highly recommend her to anyone in LA if anyone's interested). I have to say that to me, the soft close doesn't really matter much; the lid gets left up most of the time anyway. In truth I find it a little annoying waiting for it to close down when necessary, but not really a big deal. What I do note, however, is a complete "YUP" to stacey's point. We also have always had wooden toilet seats. I think my parents got one at some point in my youth and I thought it the height of sophistication, to tell the truth. It's a weird teensy thing I felt it hard to let go of from deep inside. But like Stacey, I've come to really like the toto seats. I was worried about the steep angle but it is actually quite, um - how to put this delicately? - it's very functional. And it's not obtrusive as a negative. It's an impressive piece of subtle but deep engineering! Whatever does this mean about the difference between our cultures? I couldn't presume to guess but I'm sure others have... Hi Breezy. I did one bathroom that *finally* just got finished, um, almost: still need two lights. And I am thrilled with it. I have one to go. Guess I did another one too that I also like, but it's not done yet either. But the decisions in that one are not oppressive. The utterly undone one, though ... oy....See Moreenduring
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