While preparing for my colonoscopy. I had a lot of time to sit and think. One of the things that came into mind was "I'm 6'2, fat, and old. Why am I sitting on an 18 year old toilet designed for a child?". I have three in the house that I'd like to replace but I'm going to just start with one and had some questions.
- Do they come with everything I need. Like gaskets and such. If not, what do I need?
- I'm going to go with the chair height ones. I'd like to keep each one under $300. I plan on going with traditional flush instead of the two flush thing on top like those weird Europeans use.
- One Piece or Two?
- Glacier Bay, Kohler, or American Standard?
- What do I do with the old toilet? How do I get rid of it?
- Anything else I need to know about the install?
1. Maybe some do, but in my experience you also need to buy a wax ring kit. Actually buy two. I usually screw up the first one. They are cheap.
2. Some Europeans are weirder than others. Some Americans are less weird than some Europeans.
3. One Piece removes one place where leaks can occur. I like them. But you can't move part at a time. The whole thing has to be moves at once when installing, and they can be heavy.
4. No prefernce. Get the largest diameter fully glazed trap you can find.
5. Habitat Restore goes through a lot of toilets and is usually happy to have them donated. The one near me says that a lot of bars go through a toilet a week because some dumb drunk drops a beer bottle in the toilt and breaks the toilet bowl.
6. It's not hard. There are plenty of videos on Youtube if you've never done it before. The trap on a toilet is cast into the ceramic, so once you remove the old one, plug the hole in the floor if you aren't going to be installing the new one quickly. Have fun! It's satisfying to diy something like this. And you get to be the one to break in the new one! You have to yell "FIRST" though to let everyone know what you've just done.
