For what it's worth, this topic is timeless. Toto Drake is the model. They have short and tall, oval and round. Beyond that there are accessories for it. The best one has the features you want. I used to travel and work from hotels 5 days a week. At one time the hotel I was in was brand new with Toto Drake toilets. I liked them so much I ordered one for my house from a local plumbing supply house. When I went to pick it up they asked if I wanted to see the new American Standard Cadet III. I really didn't want to, but they had a demonstrator set up filled with golf balls. I tried it and changed my mind. One of the features I liked about the Drake was the antifungal and bacterial glaze. The Cadet III used the same glaze. They had rolled the Drake out to my car and I called them back in to exchange for the cheaper toilet. At the time the Drake was $409 and the Cadet III was $122. Since then I have bought 6 more Cadet III models for condos and houses we've moved to. It's the first thing I change. Until this house we moved into a year ago. It has American Standard Estate toilets. I'd never seen one, and after looking it up I knew why. $500 is way more than I would spend on a toilet. It has all the same features as the Cadet III plus nicer styling and a different flush wash through the bowl. Toto reinvented the low flush toilet in the late 2000s, but all the American manufacturers caught on quickly. They caught on so quickly that virtually everyone made a better quality toilet than Toto. I'm not certain what has changed since then, but the Totos are all up to the same quality standards as the rest. If you really want to pay twice as much to have a Toto, that's your business.

A lot of what you have heard about name-brand faucets sold in big box stores like Home Depot or Lowes is urban legend. However, let me emphasize the "brand name faucets". Nothing said here applies to off-brand or store-brand faucets. 1. Name brands build make some faucets just for big box stores (BBSs). TRUE. But if the model number is exactly the same as the faucet from a plumbing supply store it is exactly the same faucet. The caveat is that while it is exactly the same faucet, odds are very good that it was made in China or Mexico rather than in the U.S. or Canada. BBSs set price points very low, only Asian- or Mexican-made faucets can meet the price demand. 2. Brand name faucets sold in BBSs are made of cheaper materials like plastic or zinc instead of brass. Probably FALSE. The unit cost of producing special plastic/zinc parts for BBS faucets which would be made in relatively low quantities would probably be nearly the same as using the higher quality part which is made in very large quantities. Economies of scale apply when you are making thousands of the same model. Most likely if a part is plastic in the BBS model, it is also plastic in the non-BBS model. That being said, we have seen examples of models in BBS stores with plastic parts where the same parts are metal in the regular models. It's pretty rare, though, and we're not at all sure that the reason is the company changed the faucet over time and the non-BBS faucet was manufactured earlier while the parts were still metal. Due to price pressure, even very good faucets now have plastic parts, generally in areas of the faucet like aerators where the strength of metal is not needed. Except for the cheapest economy-model faucets, plastic parts do not affect a faucet's performance if used properly. 3. Warranty and parts service for name brands like Kohler, Moen, and Delta is not as good for faucets bought at BBSs than it is for models bought from plumbing suppliers. FALSE Customer service is the same no matter when you buy the faucet. By contrast, post-sale customer service for off-brand and store brand faucets is generally almost non-existent. ----- Remember to save all of the documents that come with the faucet (except the obvious promotional materials) along with the receipt for the faucet and the plumber's invoice, if any. Place them in a clear plastic envelope (a freezer bag works well) and tape them to the wall of the cabinet under the sink. That way you can find them when it's time to make a warranty claim or order a replacement part 20 years from now.

I've ordered a few things from FaucetDirect.com - which incidentally had amazing customer service. Decent prices, not the lowest, but very confidence-inspiring all over. It was very tempting to hit send and do the whole order that way. After some footwork to two local plumbing supply showrooms, I found one overpriced and the other an absolute dream. It's thanks in part to the sales tech who was brilliant, efficient and agreed to provide contractor pricing. (I'd asked her whether better to have my plumber or tile guy come in and do the purchase or me, etc.) She gave me lower prices than FaucetDirect could (after FaucetDirect's 6% discount and free shipping), quite substantially lower on some things, and far lower than the other local place. So the major things will come from this local supply place, delivered in one fell swoop except for one item that is special order and not needed till much later. Three things they did not carry or have in stock are coming from FaucetDirect. On one shower valve where there are two options, after a discussion with my plumber I wasn't convinced they'd really be happy with the one they said they'd want to use instead of the other, so I ordered both from the local place, with their sales tech verifying that if unused I can return whichever one they don't need. The research was time-consuming but I think this was the best approach for the type of consumer who wants to know what is going into their remodel in detail, wants a variety of choices and can coordinate for their plumbers and bathroom contractors rather than fuss around. If you don't have time to go find out what a toilet rough-in is and measure it out yourself and think about the math of what the finished wall will be in terms of rough-in with tile behind it, and then look at toilet schematics, etc., and to do that sort of things with shower valves and other components ... augmented with a couple calls to your plumber and/or bathroom contractor ... then I think it's fine to rely just on what your plumber/contractor recommends. Going only with the plumber/tile contractor's suggestions can be a good route if you know the general idea of what you have in mind but aren't particularly choosy about the exact style.

This is a great thread. We have a smallish kitchen we are now remodeling and I am looking at the Kraus and Franke undercount sinks. I like that the Kraus single bowl comes with accessories such as the dish dryer and cutting board. The Franke single bowl stainless I am considering has the grate insert that can be moved from side to side. For my small to mid size kitchen would the 28 inch Franke sink be sufficient? Or the 31 inch better? We need to conserve counter space that is for certain! Any other opinions on these brands and accessories?