In our last post, titled new toilet installation, we talked about some of the reasons why we were installing a new toilet and some of the tricks regarding installing a new toilet, that we learned from a plumber at one of the local hardware stores. This post will cover what we learned while installing our new one piece watersense certified toilet.
Everything went really well and the plumber suggestions certainly helped. The most awkward part of installing this particular toilet in our down stairs vanity room was a lack of space. A two-piece toilet would certainly have been much easier to install. The space between the toilet and the wall was no wider than 6 inches and it was difficult to get behind the toilet to connect up the water hose. A person who is thin can definitely do this much easier. I am slightly over weight and found it very difficult to reach around to the water connection.
Follow the New toilet installed Instructions
We follow the steps outlined in the instruction booklet closely. We placed a towel under the toilet and tipped it upwards so that the base was exposed. Then we attached the wax ring to the toilet. Finally we then dropped the toilet down slowly onto the bolts that were in the ring on the floor. Once the toilet was in place we then tightened the bolts. The most important thing is to make sure that the bolts are not tightened too tight. Otherwise you can crack the toilet. At that point you have no choice, but to purchase a new toilet or install the old one. Both scenarios are not desirable so be careful.
We also looked at comparing the amount of water savings that we would receive as a result of installing this toilet. We looked at the number of flushes per day. Which we felt averaged about 12 for two people. We then calculated the amount of water saved between our old toilet and the new toilet. We multiplied that number by the cost of the water for our city and multiply that times number of days per year to find out what the total cost savings would be.
Once we had that number it was an easy calculation to divide the cost of the toilet by the cost savings to figure out how quickly we would be paying back this toilet per year. It turned out that our toilet would be paid for within two years based on the water savings alone, and my wife is happy with the brand-new toilet that looks modern and very nice. It has an elongated bowl and is higher which apparently is the new trend.