Best Toilet Brand? Consider This!

At Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating, we recommend the Toto brand toilets above other manufacturers, in part because Toto is the largest manufacturer of toilet fixtures in world today. Toto offers operational innovations that distinguish their fixtures from standard toilets and use less water per flush. Toto also offers a wide range of artistic fixture designs and colors that will enhance the visual appeal of a bathroom.

Toto offers a series of toilet fixtures that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). An ADA-compliant fixture can allow older persons to stay in their homes more comfortably and safely for a longer period of time. The design of the fixture can assist people with sitting down and standing back up, two activities that can be notoriously difficult for the elderly and disabled.

One excellent reason consumers should be considering Toto brand is the issue of replacement parts. Toto fixtures in the GMax series use common replacement parts, while fixtures from other manufacturers like Kohler and American Standard use parts that are unique to each model of toilet. The use of common parts ensures that replacement parts are easily acquired and will be available for a long time, even if the particular model a consumer has installed is no longer manufactured.

Toto fixtures are priced comparably to toilets from other manufacturers, so you won’t spend a lot of extra cash to get a high-performance fixture that meets your needs, works well in your bathroom and is easily maintainable over time. Toto toilets also score well on Maximum Performance (MaP) testing. MaP performance testing was developed in 2003 to gauge the actual water efficiency of toilet fixtures using realistic testing media. MaP testing information is available for nearly 2,000 models of toilets and provides standard performance comparison measures. The results demonstrate how well a particular toilet design clears the bowl using a given amount of water and test flush material – an important consideration when toilet shopping!

If you’d like more information about Toto toilets, toilet selection or toilet installation, contact us at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 288-2911 anytime. We recommend Toto fixtures and can help you select the toilet that will work best for you.

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Toilet Troubles: Curing Common Toilet Problems

Clogs. Most residential toilets use a traditional gravity fed design. The water pressure from the tank on the back of the toilet fills the bowl and pushes the waste material down a trapway and into the soil pipe. If the toilet is clogged, the bowl may not clear properly, or at all. In this case, use a toilet plunger to clear the obstruction. The plunger will put additional pressure on the material in the trapway and force it into the soil pipe. You shouldn’t have to plunge more than once or twice to clear a simple clog.

If the trapway is clogged because an object has become lodged in it, you have a couple of viable options. If you don’t care about the lodged object, you may be tempted to try to push it through to the soil pipe, using a plunger or a toilet snake. Keep in mind that you may be setting yourself up for a clog in your soil pipe or worse, your main drain.

If the object is something you want back, (like your car keys) or something that simply won’t budge (like a toothbrush or a razor), you’ll need some tools and a new wax ring because you’re going to take the toilet off to remove the obstruction.

To remove the toilet, turn off the water supply and flush to clear the water from the bowl. Using hand tools, detach the fresh water tank and set it in the bathtub. Any excess fresh water in the tank will drain in the tub, and will reduce the cleanup.

To remove the stool, loosen the bolts near the floor that hold the toilet fixture onto the flange. Again, you’ll only need common hand tools. Be careful not to turn the bolt the wrong way. If you do, you may overtighten the bolt and damage the toilet, the bolt or the flange.

Carefully remove the toilet from the flange. Remove the old wax ring. (Don’t attempt to re-use this.) Locate the stuck object and remove it. Position the new wax ring on the bottom opening of the toilet’s trapway. The wax side goes against the toilet, and the neoprene seal will go into the soil pipe. Reposition the toilet over the soil pipe and line up the screw holes with the flange. You may want a helper at this point to reposition the toilet properly. Also, toilets weigh about 50 pounds. If you can’t dead lift and control that much weight, you’ll definitely want help!

When the toilet is in position, gently sit on the toilet to press the wax seal against the flange. You may want to rock the fixture slightly while you’re sitting on it to improve the seal. Stand up carefully and avoid moving the fixture. Replace the flange bolts. Replace the tank and reconnect the water. Flush the toilet to check for leaks around the soil pipe. If it leaks out the bottom when you flush, you may need to start over with a new wax ring.

Next week, I’ll talk about other common flushing problems and how to resolve those.

Photo Credit: Emilian Robert Vicol, Public Domain Photos, via Flickr

Dual Flush Valve Great Plumbing DIY Project

Water-saving toilets will play an increasingly important role in urban water-conservation efforts. If you live in an area where fresh water is relatively plentiful, you may not think much about water conservation. On the other hand, if you live in the desert, your water bill may be as much of a concern to you every month as heating in Boston would be in the winter.

Enter the HydroRight dual flush valve, designed to fit to conventional toilets. The valve replaces your standard flush handle with a two-button control. Use the upper button when you want to flush away liquid and paper only. This empties the holding tank just halfway and still clears the bowl adequately. For clearing solid waste, the lower button provides the standard full flush. Using this approach, you can reduce the water usage of an average toilet by about 30%.

This is the ideal DIY project. Installing the HydroRight valve requires no tools, no tank removal and is a done deal within about ten minutes. It also eliminates the dreaded chain and handle – common failures in standard flush toilets – and replaces the flapper valve – one of the usual suspects when it comes to leaky tanks. You can also find the HydroRight valve at your favorite home improvement stores for about $20. Depending upon how much you flush, you can recover the cost of the dual flush valve in less than a year, and you’ll be doing your part to help the environment, too.

Photo Credit: MSJI, Inc

Grey Water Recycling In Boston Can Save Money

What is grey water? Grey water is any water that’s not fit for drinking, but that’s not contaminated with biological waste materials either. For example, waste water from your laundry system is considered grey water. Collected rainwater is also considered grey water because it hasn’t been purified for drinking.

Normally, grey water (so named because it tends to be cloudy) is washed down the drain and flows into the sewer. While grey water isn’t very appealing for drinking and cooking, it still has some marginal value for non-drinking applications like flushing toilets and watering lawns.

Some systems on the market today allow the homeowner to “recapture” grey water and recycle it for use in toilets. Why does grey water make a good use for this? If you look at how water is consumed in the average American home, you’ll immediately see why there’s benefit to separating potable from non-potable water.

All water that’s delivered to your home from the municipal water supply is potable. That means it’s safe to drink and use in cooking. Certain other water-consuming tasks require clean, potable water – like washing dishes. You probably want clean water to wash your clothes, too, and certain heating systems – like boilers – require clean water.

About 70% of the water you consume on a daily basis is required to be clean. This includes water for showering, drinking, cooking, washing and heating. The other 30 percent doesn’t need to be pristine to accomplish what you’re aiming for. This includes flushing toilets, washing your car, and watering your lawn. About 25% of the water you use each day comes from flushing the toilet. There’s no requirement that toilet water be potable, yet we use potable water to supply our toilets because that’s the only kind of water that comes from the municipal water supply.Likewise, when we water our lawns and wash our cars, we’re throwing drinking water on the ground.

If we can recapture some of the “grey water” – from showers, laundry, car washing, hand-washing, etc.) we can use this non-potable water to reduce our fresh water consumption significantly. We can also capture rainwater that runs off the roof of our homes for later, controlled use in the garden and on our lawns.

The benefits of grey water recycling are tremendous. First, you can get two or more uses out of water before it gets returned for purification. You can also cut down on your water bill by using rainwater (which is free) and grey water for functions that don’t require high quality water. By limiting your consumption of the highest quality water, you can help ensure that the clean water supply is both sustainable and cost effective as the population changes.

If you would like more information about grey water recycling in Boston, please contact Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 288-2911. We’ll be happy to show you how you can put grey water recycling to work in your home.

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Macerating Toilet May Be Ideal Boston Plumbing Solution

Adding fresh water lines to a room in your home is easy. Adding a waste line… not so much. Adding a toilet in the basement can be a major hassle because it normally requires you to break the concrete foundation and add a waste pipe under your home. Don’t forget the vent stack! On upper levels, a traditional toilet requires a hole in the floor for waste disposal, a new soil pipe, (which could be hard to disguise on the lower floor(s), a new vent stack and a fresh water supply.

A macerating toilet can be installed just about anywhere, even in tight spaces like attics and closets, or under a stairwell. They’re the ideal solution for adding a toilet to a basement, where you have good access to your home’s fresh and waste water lines. Macerating toilets are relatively quiet and use less water than a conventional toilet does. (Most macerating toilets use about 1 US gallon per flush.) They’re also 100-percent safe for septic systems.

Macerating toilets don’t work quite the same way conventional gravity-fed toilets do. A macerating fixture operates much like a garbage disposal does. While some units still have the fresh water supply at the back of the toilet to flush out the waste and clear the bowl, a box at the base of the toilet catches the waste and grinds it into a liquid slurry. A pump forces the waste liquid into your existing soil pipe via a small-diameter pipe that can be concealed easily in a wall, or in the case of a basement, run overhead. Some models conceal the macerating unit behind an access panel in the wall; other designs incorporate the pump and allow direct access to the mechanical unit. You can even find one-piece (tankless) designs that attach directly to the wall, like a commercial toilet would.

A macerating toilet is more expensive than a conventional toilet, but if you’re planning to add a bathroom to your home, the savings you’ll see from avoiding extensive plumbing rework will more than make up for the cost of the fixture. Generally, you can expect to pay anywhere between $700 and $1,000 for a macerating toilet fixture, but when you compare this to the increased plumbing costs associated with adding a conventional toilet, the macerating toilet turns out to be a really fast and economical way to increase the number of toilets in your home.

If you’re interested in adding a macerating toilet, or just want more information about the process, call us at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 288-2911. We’ll be happy to help you choose and install the right macerating fixture.

Photo Credit: Saniflo

Boston Standard Plumbing: Toilets, Part 2

Today, the design of water-conserving toilets has changed, and many low-flow toilets offer excellent performance, both in water consumption and flushing action. Toto, a Japanese manufacture has been selling toilets in the US for about 20 years. They have a significant portion of the US low-flow toilet market, and their designs are aesthetically pleasant and very efficient.

How does a modern low-flow toilet work? Toto’s low-flow toilets use the same siphon design with a modified trapway and a larger flapper valve to make up for the decreased amount of water in the tank. Low-flow toilets can use between .5 and 1.6 gallons per flush. Some designs also allow the user to adjust the amount of water used during each flush. Designs from other manufacturers use pressurized air or incorporate a pump to help clear the bowl of waste material. Dual flush toilets, which aren’t too heavily used in the United States, offer the option of flushing either liquid-only waste using just .8 gallons of water, or solid waste, using 1.6 gallons of water. Some low-flow toilets even forsake the traditional siphon design and use a cascade or cyclone of water to clear the bowl after use.

Is a low-flow toilet worth the expense? Yes, it is. Low-flow toilets can trim as much as $100 annually from your water bill per unit, based on where you live, how much you pay for water and your usage patterns. Depending upon the manufacturer and the design you choose, low-flow toilets (1.6 gallons/flush or less) can range in price from about $200-$300 for traditional, round or elongated designs to about $7,000 or more for designer and custom fixtures.

Low-flow toilets typically don’t require any special maintenance, and offer exceptional water conservation without diminishing the performance homeowners expect from a modern flush toilet. The plumbing professionals at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating can help you choose and install low-flow toilets for your home. If you would like to learn more about low-flow toilet options, contact us today at (617) 288-2911.

Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy of Toto USA, via Flickr

Ancient toilets in Turkey

Toilets have been around for a long time. Archaeological evidence from Britain as far back as the 31st century BC shows us that some households at that time had hydraulic toilets. Virtually all homes in the Indus Valley had flush toilets connected to underground sewer systems in the 26th century BC. Flush toilets were also used throughout the Roman Empire until the 5th century AD, when the Roman Empire fell, and flush toilet technology was for the most part, lost in the Western Hemisphere.

In about 1200, an Arabic inventor developed a combined sink basin and flush toilet. The user would use the toilet, wash his hands and then drain the waste water to flush the toilet. (These water-saving toilets are making a comeback in Asia and Europe today.)

But where did the modern toilet come from and how exactly does it work? Today’s toilet is the product of a lot of small innovations on the user’s end, and the creation of modern sewer (or septic) systems. Most of the important inventions involved valves that started and stopped the flow of water; waste containment systems or sewers; and traps that both hold the water in the bowl and prevent noxious sewer gases from escaping into the living space.

In the 1880′s in Britain, Albert Giblin and Thomas Twyford designed different toilet systems, which Thomas Crapper built. Unbelievably, there is no relationship between Thomas Crapper’s name and the word “crap.” “Crap” (whose meaning hasn’t changed a bit) entered the English language long before Thomas Crapper entered the world!

Crapper popularized (but did not invent) the siphon flush system, which we still use heavily today. Additional innovations have allowed the use of pressurized water to empty the bowl more reliably, provide shorter recharge times between flushes and supply a self-cleaning mechanism to keep the bowl in good shape. These pressurized systems are most often used in commercial appliations.

Modern gravity toilet with visible trapway - Image courtesy of American Standard

Each gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. The toilet tank has a strong flapper valve at the bottom, which prevents water from leaking into the bowl. When the flush handle is depressed, the wide flapper valve at the bottom of the tank opens and the tank water rushes like mad down into the bowl. With older toilets, the more water you have in the tank, the more sustained pressure you can create in the bowl. The newer toilets operate differently, and as you’ll see in my next post, they’re just as effective at clearing the bowl as the older water-hogs are.

A trapway, which is built into the porcelain of the pedestal, is set at a very sharp angle and makes an upside-down U-shaped bend. You can see the trapway built right into the porcelain if you look near the base of the toilet almost directly under the tank. When the water in the bowl reaches the height of the inside curve of the U bend, a siphon is created and the wastewater is sucked out of the toilet and down the soil pipe.

On the topside of the toilet, the water rushes out of the tank and lowers a float valve. When the float valve reaches a certain angle, it opens a fresh water valve to refill the tank with clean water. Meanwhile, the flapper valve at the bottom of the tank closes to hold the fresh water in. As the water level in the tank rises, the float valve rises, too. When the float valve reaches a certain, pre-set level, the fresh water valve closes and the toilet is ready for the next flush.

If the float valve is not adjusted properly, some fresh water may leak into the tank. To prevent overfilling, there’s a relief tube that has a separate drain path around the flapper valve and into the bowl. If your float valve isn’t working properly, you’ll hear regular drainage into the bowl and the water level will rise. Once it fills the trapway, the water will drain out of the bowl.

On the other hand, if your flapper valve is leaking, you’ll still hear draining water, but periodically, your tank will fill for a short period, then shut off. The excess water will also fill the bowl. When it fills the trapway, the bowl will drain.

If you’re having trouble with a leaking toilet, and you don’t have the tools or the time to make a repair, contact the professionals at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating. We’ll be happy to fix your leak. We can even recommend water-saving toilets that we know you’ll be pleased with. Contact us at (617) – 288-2911 anytime!

In my next post, I’ll talk about new flush technologies and how they can save water without sacrificing performance.

Photo Credit: jscatty, via Flickr

Photo Credit: American Standard

Replacing The Wax Ring On Your Toilet (Buy Two)

Toilets can be very heavy and difficult to maneuver. You won’t be able to see the soil pipe while you’re moving the toilet and may not know exactly where to put the toilet down. In short, it doesn’t take much to goof up the wax ring when you’re trying to reseat the stool. That being said, my great DIY tip for replacing the wax ring is “buy two.” If the flange bolts on your toilet were rusty or you had to cut them to get the toilet away from the floor, buy a new set when you buy the wax ring(s). (They’re standard and they’re inexpensive.)

The wax ring goes on the toilet. (Don’t try to seat the wax ring in the soil pipe and then set the toilet on top of it.) Press the wax ring in place with the neoprene funnel pointing toward you.

Put the new flange bolts in place. You’ll find slots in the flange where the bolt heads should slip in. Use the plastic “washers” that come with the bolts to hold them in place while you position the toilet.

The base of the toilet is heavy (50 pounds or more) and it helps to have a second person around to guide you while you position the toilet on top of the new bolts. If you don’t have a helper, use some kind of indicator on the floor to help you see the flange bolts. The indicators could be string, screwdrivers, chalk marks, pencils … just something to point the way. Line your markets up exactly where the flange bolts exit the flange, but far enough away from the flange to stay out of the way. If you’ve capped the soil pipe with a rag or other cover, remove it at this point.

Maneuver the toilet into place. Do not set the toilet down anywhere but on the flange bolts. The wax on the ring is exceptionally soft. If you set the toilet down for any reason or you miss your mark, you’ll goof up the wax ring and you’ll need to start over. (Remember: “buy two.”)

Once you have the toilet in place and on the flange bolts, carefully sit on the toilet. Your body weight will press the wax ring around the flange. Shift your weight carefully to ensure a good wax seal around the flange.

Tighten the nuts around the flange bolts slowly and carefully. Work on both sides of the toilet by tightening one nut gently on one side, then shifting to the other side to tighten the other nut a little bit. Alternate sides until the fixture is securely bolted to the floor on both sides. There’s no need for power here so take your time and tighten the nuts gently.

Flange bolts are much longer than they need to be. Use your hacksaw to cut off the unneeded length of the bolt. You may need to check the nuts after you’ve sawn through the bolts to verify that they’re still tight. Put the plastic bolt caps back on.

Reconnect the tank and the water supply, check for leaks and fill the tank. Flush the toilet and check again for leaks around the floor. If you have none, you’re done!

You can apply bathroom caulk around the base of the toilet, but don’t completely seal the base. Leave a little discreet opening somewhere. This will allow any leaking water to escape and reveal itself before significant damage occurs.

Photo Credit: Don.Wing45, via Flickr

Now for the messy leaks:
A leak can also occur if the tank cracks or if the connection between the tank and the stool is broken, cracked or not sealed properly. On a two-piece toilet, you can replace just the cracked tank, however many people choose to replace the entire toilet. If the bowl is cracked, you’ll need to replace it, even if it isn’t apparently leaking. A cracked toilet stool is unsanitary, unsafe to sit on, and poses a health hazard. New toilets range in price from about $100 to thousands of dollars, so choose a toilet that fits both your budget and your bathroom.

If the toilet isn’t cracked, but seeps water from underneath it when you flush, the wax ring on your toilet may be deteriorated, broken or dislodged. The wax ring may also need to be replaced if your toilet constantly emits a sewerish, foul odor. Wax rings are inexpensive and can be found at hardware and home improvement stores. The wax ring, which may include a neoprene “funnel”, seals the toilet fixture to the soil pipe. It’s an integral part of most residential toilet designs. You can’t get by without one, and you can’t reuse an existing ring.

To replace the wax ring, you’ll need to shut off the water and flush the toilet to drain it. You may need to use a plunger to get the rest of the water out of the bowl. Disconnect the supply lines from the toilet. Unbolt the toilet from the floor. If the flange bolts (sometimes called “Johnny bolts”) are rusted, that may be a telltale sign of hidden water damage. If you can’t get the toilet unbolted due to rust, you may need to use a hacksaw to cut the bolts apart. Lift the stool off the pipe. You can “cap” the soil pipe with a rag or overturned bucket while you have the toilet fixture removed.

Remove the old wax/neoprene ring on the bottom with a putty knife or something similar. You’ll need to remove all of the old wax to ensure a good seal. Likewise, remove any old wax from the soil pipe.

Examine the floor around the toilet. Use the tip of a screwdriver or your putty knife to check for softened wood. If the leak has caused a lot of water damage, or has been active for a long period of time, you’ll need to repair the floor before you re-install the toilet. Depending upon the extent of the damage, you may need to replace the surface flooring, the underlayment or even the subfloor! Check the integrity of the floor joists around the damaged area to determine whether they’re still sound. Complete any floor repairs before trying to reset the toilet. Be sure to extend your flooring right up to the soil pipe.
In my next post, I’ll discuss replacing the wax ring and repositioning the toilet on the soil pipe.

Photo Credit: Andrew Ratto, via Flickr

Spotting Hidden Water Damage, Part 3: Leaking Toilets

Spotting hidden water damage from a leaking toilet can be a bit more difficult, depending upon what’s leaking and where the water’s going. When you’re lucky, the toilet tank may be overfilling, In this case, the excess water is shunted down an overflow tube and into the soil pipe. No water damage, but you’ll want to adjust the float in the toilet tank to shut off the refill flow sooner, mainly to avoid wasting water. If the flush mechanism isn’t sealing the bottom of the tank properly, you may need to replace a valve, the flush chain, or make a few adjustments inside the tank.

Water can also condense on the outside of the toilet tank causing water to drip on the floor. The condensation is a product of a large difference in temperature between the water in the tank and the air temperature in the bathroom. The condensation can add to an already-damp atmosphere. It can also soak carpets and cause water damage to floor tiles and other flooring surfaces.

There’s not much you can do about the temperature of the water filling the tank, but you can insulate the tank itself with a tank cover to inhibit condensation. Be sure to use a cover that’s designed to fit your toilet and make sure the tank is covered all the way to the water line. Use an exhaust fan to circulate the air in the bathroom. This may help reduce the difference between the outside air temperature and the inside water temperature. Finally, consider using a small dehumidifier to draw moisture out of the air.
In my next post, I’ll tackle the messy leaks – those that involve removing or replacing the wax ring or repositioning the toilet on the soil pipe.

Photo Credit: Doug Noon, via Flickr