Kroppin Karen's Korner

I know must have too much time on my hands to be stressing over which toilet to have installed in my new bathroom . . . but here’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  Would love your comments or opinions please.  Leave a comment by clicking on the Comment box after the post.

Research:  I was told by several people (plumbers, homeowners, etc.) that the Toto brand was the best on the market and to go for a one piece toilet.  I was okay with that and went on an internet search to find the perfect one piece Toto Toilet (don’t ya love the sound of that?).    They ranged in price from $342 to $3,970!!!!  That one would have to get up in the middle of the night for me before I could pay that price!   The one I picked out that I would actually want to buy for the look of it and the features was this one:

Toto MS874114SG-11  at a retail of $891.  The best price I found was $534.00   The problem I had with this was that I would have to buy it on the internet and if something was wrong with it, would have to ship it back.  I wasn’t comfortable with this so back to researching.  What I found when looking at the Toto that I loved was the smooth sides instead of all those curves and nooks and crannies that are so hard to clean.  So now, I know I want the smooth sides and a one piece; also it would have be easy to clean. 

I found this one:  

American Standard Town Square Right Height 1-piece Elongated Toilet Model # 2847.016.020 

I really liked the square-lined look of this and it takes up so much less space than the one we have now.  Also, it is made in the USA, which is a big plus to me.  It has a retail of $895, found on sale at Home Depot online for $455.  I also purchased it using the Ebates program and qualified for a 6% rebate which brought the total to $428.  

Home Depot had free shipping and I could return it to the store and they have a 90 day return policy.  We went ahead and ordered it the last day of the sale on Dec. 31^st and it has been sitting in my son’s bedroom  ever since.  Mission accomplished, right?  Wrong!  

See Ebate info here:   Earn Rebates When Shopping Online

When I was in Lowe’s looking for a bathtub (which is another story), I saw this:

American Standard Clean White High Efficiency WaterSense Elongated 2-Piece Toilet Item #8857 at an in-stock price of $253.  That is a savings of $175 on the toilet!   Keeping the budget always in mind I bought this one too and planned on taking the other back to Home Depot.

I did want to check the specs on both and see what the differences were and the main one was that the more expensive toilet was a one piece and had a fancier look to it.  I also found out that the Lowe’s toilet was a special model only sold by Lowes and every review of it mentioned the cheap plastic toilet seat that comes with it.  So, I figured we could just buy a new seat for it and found out the toilet seat on the Town Square model cost $110.  Also, the flush lever was over $50.  So, I guess there are the reasons for the higher price.  The Town Square has a 10 year warranty on the entire toilet, the Lowe’s model is 10 year limited and doesn’t cover the seat or handles. 

So now I’m befuddled and not sure which one to keep.  With only a few days to go, what do you think????