Just brought our new Toto Guinivier home. Took it out of the box. Put the tank lid on top. Was reading the instructions. Toto has an interesting waste plumbing system I was trying to figure out, so I went to tilt it over. The tank top shot forward from my hand (like a tiddlywink) and landed on the unprotected bowl:
Smooth move, Ace.
Breaks everywhere. Looks like I have a parts toilet now.
Out of curiosity, would home insurance cover something like this, I ask as I grasp for straws?
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it’s because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Replies
No problem .
Just ship it COD to junkhound, he will find some place for it.
;-)
Prepaid, not COD <G>
My Pop dropped a hammer on a new toilet in our house in the 50's.
He epoxied (epoxy was NEW, all the rage) it together, it is still in use with no leaks!
I'd call toto and the place you purchased it from and tell them the straight-up story.
You may get one for cost, or maybe even a freebie.
Toto has always treated me very well. Excellent customer service considering all I ever do is give Toto sh!t.
Mongo
I wish I had posted this before I called to reorder a new one. Toto was willing to get me a new lid, but couldn't go as far as the whole thing. The place I bought it from was willing to call it a "shipping break"... unfortunatly they couldn't do that as they had already ordered the replacement for me through regular channels - D'OH!
Lesson now learned, buy all expensive products with AMEX card = 90 days $1000 dork insurance! Unfortunatly it was on my Mastercard, with only $500 coverage.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Paul, I've never read the fine print on the damage insurance. Will they really send you five hundred bucks? FKA Blue (eyeddevil)
I haven't found the fine print yet, but it looks like they will.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Next time, screw the lid on
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
What kind of piffin screws do you recommend for that job ?;o)
Get your head out of the box.
how about a log ger screw
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Where are Toto toilets made? I always figured it was in Japan. I'm probably wrong about that too. :-)
Where are Toto toilets made? I always figured it was in Japan. I'm probably wrong about that too. :-)
Kansas?
Actually, I think there made in Georgia. At least thats where mine came from.
Toto has a factory in Morrow, GA. Not sure how many of the models are made there. IIRC, Southface used crushed reject toilets for drain tiles, parking lot base, or something in their new "eco office" expansion.
Here's the place to look when picking out a new toilet:
http://www.cuwcc.org/MapTesting.lasso
The summary performance tables are pretty useful.
I bought a Toto Drake about a year ago. Bowl is made in China, tank in Canada and the lid in the USA.
they're not in KS anymore.
jt8
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." --Dave Barry
Kansas?
LOL, made me chuckle, thanks!
“Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.” Reagan....
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote
Toto is a Japanese company, but the US plant is in Georgia.
If you bought it on a credit card, try them first
Thanks for that tip. Turns out the card I bought it with has $500 accidental damage protection - just started the claim process.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
$800.00 for a crapper?!
That thing better wipe yer azz when yer done.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
True story.
A few days ago one of guys walks into a customer's bath to relieve himself.
Comes out and asks "Why would someone convert a toilet into a sink"
Bidet...
A long time ago, these two non french plumbers:
"hey larry, take a look at this short water fountain........"A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
96684.5 in reply to 96684.1
$800.00 for a crapper?!
That thing better wipe yer azz when yer done.
Ive always had a problem with this too.
Im sitting on" 49.95 toilet to goes" in a 4 thousand sq ft home. There are four toilets in this house. I use them all which means if we were gonna have a problem it would be with me . LOL.
I have 15 houses currently and all of them are the same toilets. No problems. I install used toilets after rebuilding them and flushing and dont have any problems .
I dont get it either .
Tim
Was renovating my SIL house a few years back.
She INSISTED on Kohler toilets throughout. (All the while trying to cut costs on the project).
I suggested American Standard...quality units with a good selection of styles....lower pricetag.
Nope...hadda be Kohler.
I'm currently finishing her basement. Using the powder room on occassion. The toilet NEVER evacuates on the initial flush. I'm not talking about solid waste.....the bowl does not completely empty of liquid.
I mentioned this to her, and she said she cursed it every time she used it.
Ah....but friends and family always compliment her on what a lovely bathroom.
Meanwhile, the bath at the condo we rent in the summer has a contractors special Toto. Aint all too pretty, but one flush and its done. Been there for years with never an issue.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
>Nope...hadda be Kohler.I put Kohler in the prior house and loved them. They were the absolute most comfortable seat and that was worth whatever the diff was. Never had a flushing problem. Might be model specific. Did have a problem with the china. QC missed a crack in two of the three...pre-glazing. So they leaked with every flush, but it was on the clean water side, mercifully. Both replaced by Kohler, of course.Got one Jacuzzi brand. Not only uncomfortable, but the flusher handle broke three times. That is, three different handles broke the same way. Obviously bad engineering. Got one last one and then had to sell the house before it, too, broke.The ones we have here are generic, and uncomfortable. Oh well.
Just to clarify.....I have nothing against Kohler in particular.
I have installed many, and aside from the weak flush on my SILs unit, have never had a call back.
My example using Kohler was only to relate that higher cost doesn't automatically mean higher quality.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
$800 for a toilet, I paid $88 for mine and it craps just as good. talk about throwing money down the toilet.
Before the 2001 inauguration of George Bush, he was invited to a get acquainted tour of the White House. After drinking several glasses of iced tea, he asked Bill Clinton if he could use his personal bathroom. When he entered Clinton's private toilet, he was astonished to see that president Clinton had a fancy solid gold urinal.That afternoon, George told his wife, Laura, about the urinal. "Just think," he said, "when I am president, I could have a gold urinal too, but I wouldn't do something that self indulgence!"Later when Laura had lunch with Hillary at her tour of the White House, she told Hillary how impressed George had been at his discovery of the fact that in the President's private bathroom, the President had a gold urinal.That evening, when Bill and Hillary were getting ready for bed, Hillary smiled, and said to Bill, "I found out who pissed in your saxophone. "
I found out who pissed in your saxophone
No wonder they get along so well........ :-)
“Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.” Reagan....
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote
I can't imagine anyone in the trades spending $800 on a toilet.
Homeowners with more dollars than sense, sure....but not folks who do this for a living.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Installed a $1500 toilet for a customer. She takes one look and says I wanted a white toilet, not bone.
But Ma'm, that is a white toilet. Took it outside, it is bright white. Next to the dark oak vanity, it looked bone.
Took that one out and put in a $800 toilet. Before I took that one inside, owners, boss and myself all agreed it was white.
It looked bone colored too.
Some days I'm glad I get paid by the hour.
LOL!
For $1500 they shoulda handpainted it on site in front of her eyes! LOL
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
"I can't imagine anyone in the trades spending $800 on a toile"
we don't.
I found it online for under $600 ...
so that tells me I could pick it up local for even less than that. I get the "plumbers discount" at my supply house ... my Dad bought from his Dad ... we're grandfathered in! Plumbers Discount is even better than GC Discount ... which is better than Handyman Discount ... which is better than Homeowner Discount ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I could buy it online, but I'd rather develope a relationship with a local distributer. My dad is big on that. If he can buy local, he does. Support the community, it supports you.. even if not directly.
I had great success when redoing my electrics with a local shop. I did my research before hand, and double checked afterwards. Everything they helped me with was spot on. They even helped me with navigating the boundry with the POCO and the BI.
For that extra $100, I ensured it matched the color of my Solo tub... which in turn was matched to the color of a Kohler piece (that my wife liked, but I would never buy a Kohler toilet). Everyone calls this color something different (it's beige). They can hand me a tile and say "Take this home and see if they match".Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Then you haven't ever used one. They really are that much better than the others. Even with the funny plumbing connection, they don't clog.And believe you me, I can clog a toilet.
Nonesense.
Toilet design has changed little since thier inception.
And there is even less difference between the various models offered today.
Certainly not warrenting price differences of $49 and $1500.
Anyone can clog any toilet.
My comment to the OP was offered in jest....a bit of friendly ball busting.
He could just as easily break mine over the fact that I have granite countertops in my home.
We all find ways of justifying our particular extravagences.
But to suggest an $800 toilet is relatively superior operationally to one at a third the cost, is nothing but the sales pitch of an interior designer planning someone elses lavatory.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
actually there are huge differences between low end and high end toilets.
sure they all look the same from the outside ... but the better models have better engineered innards ... better swoops to their curves ... and way better casting ..
smoother is better.
the lower priced Toto's are usually the top performers ...
from the stuff I've read over the years ... cheapest is worst.
things level off around the "coupla small hundred dollar" level ...
and anything close to a thou or higher is just paying more for fancy #### ...
so to speak.
Jeff
I think the toilet testing website is Terry Love something or other ... Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I did say "relatively" speaking.
As in.....the $800 toilet isn't $600 worth of better than the $200 unit.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Granite Countertops!?!
Don't ya know plywood works just as well? When I did my kitchen I spent only $50 on plywood. Shhesh, some people just have more dough than sense...
...or they live with someone else who has a say in the matter :)Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
LOL!
I actually did live with plywood countertops for years.
Ten to be precise.
When we bought this dump 13 yrs. ago, it needed EVERYTHING.
We couldn't afford a new kitchen at the time.
Luckily I was in the midst of a kitchen remodel project for a client.
I grabbed the cabs they were tossing.....ugly steel units with plywood doors, hadda be 30 yrs. old.....cleaned em up and installed them as best I could in my layout. Added 1/2" UL ply for counters, and Whalla! Temporary kitchen.
Kinda hard not to give the woman who lived with the temporary cabinets (and the guy who put them in) for ten years anything she didn't desire.
So I guess I fall into both categories.....more dough than sense without the final say in decorating decisions! LOL (Married 18 yrs. though. Guess I'm doing something right) ; )
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
I got plywood counter tops right now, and they are not finish. I have concrete board bathroom walls. dont know what color tiles. My floors are concrete, no carpet or tile.
I agre that there is no need to spend more than 3-4 hundred buccks for a good one, but - "Toilet design has changed little since thier inception." - I guess that is true in the same way that it would be true to say that automobile design has changed little since it''s inception. They still have four wheels and an internal combustion engine and a steering wheel.but both inventions have been refined tremendously to allow for a smooth slipstream amoung other things
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Agreed.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Ya know, awhile back I couldn't hear enough about how my cheap Champion toilet was ####, and to get a decent toilet you needed to get a Toto.
Well, I got a Toto... and to get the nice detailed style my wife liked, we got the Gueniver (sp).
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
Ya know, awhile back I couldn't hear enough about how my cheap Champion toilet was ####, and to get a decent toilet you needed to get a Toto.
You were told right. Tho I didn't blow eight bills on a commode, I did put a Toto Drake in each of the three baths of my house. None have clogged or even flushed reluctantly in three months.
I gave about $300 each for 'em - roughly the price of many decent toilets I've seen.
Eight hundred bucks seems like a lot to some folks but you know what I say? Hell with 'em. It's not like someone's holding a gun to their head to make them buy one, and - most importantly - YOU gotta live with SWMBO, not them.
Jason
"$800.00 for a crapper?! That thing better wipe yer azz when yer done."Not quite, but close:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_wbGTGdeypMne sutor ultra crepidam
if you're toilet craps, you got bigger problems then the $800.00
The $27,000 Toilet Seat - A Funny DIY Story
The following incident was relayed to me by a Plumber I know:
I received a call from a homeowner asking for someone to come estimate some repairs. When I asked the sort of repairs, he said it would be too many to enumerate, but much easier if I just came out to the house and looked. I went.
It began like this............
Old Joe wanted to change his toilet seat, but couldn't get the old one off. So he tried wrenches until he rounded off the nuts (he was turning them the wrong way because they were upside down) and then decided to get his trusty cold chisel and hammer out. Well, he tapped a bit on it with no success, so he drew back the hammer to smite a mighty blow against the stubborn bolt. In so doing he broke the toilet tank and flooded the area with cold water. This cold water gave him a shock and he drew back in a hurry dropping the hammer into the bathtub causing a big chunk of the
porcelain to pop off the tub floor.
Regrouping his thoughts, he ran down to the basement two floors below to shut off the water to the house, the house had no other valves installed when it was built in the 1890's. Meanwhile water was flooding through the floors and had saturated the plaster of the
ceiling below to the point it collapsed into the living room.
Old Joe then removed what was left of the toilet tank, and tried to remove the bowl from the floor flange. It wouldn't budge either, so out comes the trusty chisel and hammer again, and "WHACK" no more toilet bowl. In the process however, he managed to tear the closet flange from the floor as well, and since it was attached to a lead closet bend, it torn and now needed replaced too.
He determined that it would be necessary to cut out the tee in the stack where the closet bent was
attached since he had no idea how to repair old lead piping. He thought using that nifty PVC from Home Depot would do the trick. He tried to cut the cast iron stack with a hacksaw to no avail, then tried a sawzall, also fruitless, so.... yep, out comes the good old chisel and hammer, but a bigger hammer this time.
He whacks on the stack a few mighty blows and Viola' it splits into several pieces with one tiny segment still holding it all together. He pried the last vestige of solid pipe out of the wall with a crowbar and suddenly the remaining section of pipe (the vent going through the roof) lets go and with a mighty crash comes down and out of the wall through the sub floor into the now plaster less
ceiling of the living room, continues its downward decent until it hits the TV set, ricocheting off that and through the floor of the living room until it hit the electrical panel plunging the house into total darkness and finally comes to rest after shearing off the main water shut off valve flooding the basement.
This was a $27,000 toilet seat replacement.
About the Author
Paul Forte has been in the construction field for over 25 years. For more Do It Yourself Stories visit:
http://www.forteelectric.com/DIYproblems.html
That tale reminds me of a brother of mine, who shall remain nameless, who decided on thanksgiving weekend to change the dripping washer in his kitchen sink. There was no shutoff under the sink, so he turned off the only shutoff in the house. When he turned it back on, the stem broke off. At this point, he did the smart thing, and called a plumber.
Plumber comes to look at it, then goes out on the front lawn to look for the shutoff from the street. Which he can't find, so he calls his friend with the backhoe. They very carefully manage to break the water line on the supply side of the shutoff to the house. Town has to come by to shut water off to the whole street. On a holiday weekend. When people are trying to cook turkey dinners.
One neighborhood of very happy people. As one said, 'Next time you want to fix your goddam tap, call me. I'll either do it for you, or leave town for the week.'
I was delivering plumbing supplies, high end toilet 900+. the HO is wathcing me struggle up his expensive marble stairs,which he also told me to not use the hand truck. sure enough as I strugled to navigate the last few steps of a curved landing, ya think the guy would have helped me,instead he watched the bowl slip out of my hand on the last step. now he has a nice expensive planter on his patio.
It might. Wouldn't hurt to try. Subject to your deductibele, of course.
EDIT: Now it sounds like you may have the deductible covered by the credit card coverage, so you may actually come out fully covered after all, if the Homeowner's policy kicks in the rest.
"What's an Arkansas flush?......It's a small revolver and any five cards."
Edited 11/6/2007 7:41 pm by intrepidcat
"Wouldn't hurt to try. Subject to your deductibele, of course."
Well, it actually might hurt.
According to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal, even a single claim on a homeowners policy can target you for much higher premiums or cancellation.
Maybe it was just propaganda put out by the insurance companies to scare people from making claims?
Years ago I made a simple inquiry to my insurance agent regarding possibly recouping some medical expenses after a friend was injured on my property. Turns out I waited too long after the accident to file a claim, but almost immediately after my inquiry (not a claim, mind you), the insurance company sent someone to inspect my property.
I was given a long list of items to be addressed, or my policy would be cancelled. I was in the middle of some extensive restoration work, so that list was very long. I wrote back and said all these things would be addressed, but NOT within their deadline. I told them to advise me whether or not I should be looking for a new insurance carrier.
Never heard back, but my premiums increased a little bit.
Allen
Edited 11/7/2007 9:41 am ET by WNYguy
I've heard of that. But never experienced it. Even with all the claims I've been involved with.
"What's an Arkansas flush?......It's a small revolver and any five cards."
You could tell them the first time you used it, you had a major blowout...
Billy
I could see it now'oh my god, oh my..... oh, oh, who your daddie, whoooooo your dadddddiie, oh my I broke the toilet"
Low flow Toto meets high flow burrito blowout.
Billy
Once upon a time I had a client that was a master ceramics guru and could easily determine the composition of the original clay and finish, mend the break with clay and refire it, then mend the finish and refire it again. You'd never know. She did a lot of that kind of work for cleaning services that would tip over expensive ceramics. It was quite amazing.
Take the insurance money. It just reminded me of that gal.
Good sitting
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Please send me the broken toilet, My neighbor is so bad im gonna build me a fence of toilets with flowers growing out of each one, If i had a 800 buck one it would be a high class fence.