I read this article in the August 31st issue of the Chicago Tribune in the Home and Garden section and definitely thought that it was an article worth sharing with any person interested in remodeling their bathroom.

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Luke Allison

"Most people think a toilet is a toilet — and that couldn't be further from the truth," says Andy McMahon, one of the owners of Good Plumbing Inc.  in the Irving Park neighborhood. There's nothing in your house more important to health and comfort than a reliable toilet, so proceed mindfully if you have to replace the fixture because it's broken, you're remodeling or because newer toilets save so much water. For tips on toilets, we talked to McMahon and Stephanie Simons, associate product manager for Kohler Co. in Kohler, Wis.

1. Measure. First check the "rough-in" distance from the wall to the center of the drain pipe in the floor under the base of the toilet (commonly 12 inches, but it can be 10 or 14 inches). In all other directions, more space is always better, McMahon says. When designing a bathroom, allow plenty of elbow room, ready access to the tissue holder and 30 inches of depth in front of the bowl. Elongated bowls are popular today, but the shorter "round front" (actually oval) bowl may save you 3 or 4 inches in a tight spot. Toilet dimensions vary, though, so measure your space and check each toilet's specs. Consider height too. A toilet bowl about as high as a dining chair seat (jargon: "ADA compliant," or Americans with Disabilities Act compliant) makes it easier for most people to get up and down.

2. Two-piece or one-piece? Most toilets come in two parts: a bowl piece that sits on the floor over the drain and a separate upright tank. They can be installed by an ambitious do-it-yourselfer. One-piece toilets are generally lower and sleeker with easier-to-clean exteriors, but are more expensive and often have more complex mechanisms. And as a single chunk of vitreous china, a one-piece toilet is quite heavy — not a do-it-yourself job for one person.

3. Enough oomph. By law, toilets sold in the U.S. use 1.6 gallons of water or less to flush. Early low-flow toilets introduced in the 1990s got a bad name for poor performance and clogging. That black eye forced major manufacturers to rethink the way their toilets work, Simons says, so their 1.6-gallon models now out-perform the old 3.5-gallon ones. Switching can save 14,000 gallons of water a year for a family of four, according to the EPA — more than $75 a year at today's Schaumburg water and sewer rates — and create that much less water pollution. New conservation regulations in California and the EPA's "Water Sense" certification program have brought 1.28 gallon toilets to the market. Dual-flush toilets use less water for liquids and more for solid waste. Most toilets work by gravity, but "pressure-assisted" toilets use a pump to give the water more force.

4. But will it clog? That's the No. 1 issue for most homeowners, McMahon says. Clogs are caused by large wads of tissue or "foreign objects" such as toys and sanitary napkins, Simons says, rarely by waste. Bargain toilets found in home-improvement stores for $100 or so are more likely to get plugged up, according to McMahon. Major makers fight clogs by devising an optimal relationship between the position and number of water jets and the size and design of the trapway (the tube that carries waste to the drain). They test for clog potential by flushing sponges, ping-pong balls and wads of tissue. Look for a glazed trapway of 2 inches or better.

5. Form versus function. Most people pick a toilet by looks, McMahon says, often in a suite of similarly styled fixtures. But for him, it's all about function. Where he has a choice, he installs the Cimarron line from Kohler. Also highly spoken of on plumbers' blogs is the Drake line from Toto. Expect to pay $300 to $500 for those fixtures, depending on your choices. For designer-name one-piece toilets in fixture collections, prices can reach $2,000. Add-ons such as air dryers and gently closing lids increase the cost, but it's most important to focus on the basic functions of the toilet.