sandsonik, I'm here to your rescue.....sorta, I hope. I have both the Jacuzzi Perfecta and Era, and I also have a ToTo Drake with the washlet. I bought the Jacuzzi toilets almost two years ago to replace toilets in our lake home that were original from 1952. Anything would be an improvement on those. HA! I bought the Jacuzzis simply because I liked their look and hubby wanted me to find toilets fast so that meant Lowe's. Now granted, they have not had a ton of use because we are still remodeling our lake home. We have not put them through the typical everyday #2 use if you know what I mean. But, I do like them and have had no real problems thus far with minimal use. The only thing I will say is that the Perfecta has a VERY LOUD flush/fill in my opinion. I do not like that. Maybe the Era does too, but I really notice it with the Perfecta. As far as the ToTo Drake, it has been great but it is a totally different look and feel as to what I wanted in my "old" lake home. It flushes great and is quieter but not at all the style I wanted in my lake cottage...nor the price I wanted either. That's all I can think of to say right now...let me know if I can answer any specific questions. pup

The housing market in the zipcode only dipped slightly, and I paid less than the last one that had been sold, and now the market is rebounding a bit. This house actually had a competing bid in a slow market, and Both of us started by offering Less because of the new bathroom than we would've offered before.(Both having seen the house pre new bathroom). The house had been taken off the market and reappeared accidentally when the demolition was complete. We both asked the seller to "stop" but the Realtors said the work should be finished because of appraisals and such. The main bath would suit many people at this price point, the new 3/4 bath, I think most people would consider a strong negative. My current place appraised identically with the new bath and the old, but there was agreement all around that it needed to be done to go onto the market. Sometimes it isn't a dollars and cents decision. Kevin, I looked at such a house: 1810 two long term owners and no real bath in the house proper. A kitchen and bath had been built in the side yard along the stairs in the 1960s and there was a toilet in the basement and a toilet in a closet cantilevered over the very top of the stairs. The plumbing for this ran openly through the stairwell. Out of necessity I would have inserted a bath in place of the smallest bedroom, but I would have tread lightly. Unfortunately it was Marketed as needing a full rehab, and it looks like that is what it is Permitted for. This means complete destruction of the 1810 stairwell because they are not up to current code, and once touched, they must comply :(

What is it that you don't like about the 3 1/2 blond oak? Is it the width, the grain, or the color? Is it a material that you can restain? I think the best solution is to replace your family room floor with oak and restain the rest of the remaining oak to match. You can stain oak any color you like, and maybe it is even cheaper than Brazilian cherry. You could also do 5" wide oak, if that is what you are after. Even 5" wide rift sawn oak, which would give you a different grain pattern. That way, you could have floor that you like throughout the house. Second choice is, get the Brazilian cherry, and stain the rest to match. Third choice, get the Brazilian cherry, and keep the color you dislike in the rest of the house. Maybe stain it at some point in the future. I definitely would NOT try to match a floor that you say you don't especially like, anyway.

A plumber noted that the water tank on an in-wall toilet is plastic which probably won't hold up as well over the decades as the regular porcelain tanks. So, replacing the in-wall tank sometime in the future without destroying your slab should be a consideration that the tileable access panels will accommodate. And you can avoid an in-wall tank with a Sloan valve if you have municipal water.