What did you do this weekend?

You know what we did?  We bought a new toilet.  Exciting I know.  And it only took us about two weeks to pick one out and buy one.  Only a month ago, I thought all toilets were the same, yeah, I was wrong.  Who knew there were so many options when it came to the loo. 

This is the one we went with.

Impressive I know.  :-)  Okay, so it sorta looks like every other toilet out there, but it's not.  We put a lot of thought into this purchase.

First we had to consider the type of bowl we wanted; round or elongated.  Who cares?  That's what I said when asked before, and well, honestly, I still say that.  I'm not sure why one is superior to the other, but maybe I'm not a toilet aficionado.  We went with a round bowl.

Then we had to pick a color.  That was an easy one, white.  All the permanent things in the bathroom are white, then we never have to worry about them matching when we change it up.  But if you want, there are a wide range of colors to pick from.

Next we had to make sure we found one that would fit in our bathroom.  Our bathroom is a nice size, but it's very narrow.  So we had to make sure the toilet would fit.  We went with one that was 28 inches deep.  Perfect for our space.

Now we had to decide on bowl height.  I know right now, you're exasperated by the amount of decisions that need to be made when purchasing a toilet, but I assure you, you have to think about all of this.  Back to bowl height.  You can purchase a toilet that is from 14-16 inches high.  I'm sure there are probably more options, but if you want to buy a showroom model, that's what they come in.  We went with a tall bowl, because our current toilet feels like you're sitting on the floor.  Our new throne will be 16 inches tall.

Nope, not done yet, there are still more things to consider.

At first we wanted to get a dual flush toilet, but after doing some research, we decided on a lower flush toilet.  New toilets are a lot more efficient then the older ones.  Old toilets are between 3.4 to 5.6 gpf (gallons per flush).  New toilets are usually 1.6 gpf.  Duel flush are approximately 1.0 gpf and 1.6 gpf.  Ours is 1.28 gpf.  Right in the middle of the two.

It also is specially designed to not clog.  Not as fancy as the ones that claim to flush a whole basket of golf balls, but still better then an average toilet.  Seriously, who would test that claim?  Okay, I would go buy some golf balls and test that out.  Then the city would be pissed at me for flushing a basket of golf balls. :-)

And finally, price.  You would be surprised to see how much some toilets cost.  Home Depot had one that was on clearance for $400.  And I know you can get some that run in the thousands.  Who needs a toilet that expensive?  I would never let anyone use it.  You can also get a toilet for $60.  We didn't want a super cheap one, nor a ritzy one.  So we went with one on sale for a mid range price.  Perfect.
 
Once we had the toilet all picked out, we made sure to pick up an extra thick wax ring.  Our waste pipe is a little below the floor level, so to make sure we don't have any leaks, the extra thick ring will make up the slack.

And after all of these decisions, we have a toilet.  I know, who would have know that it would be that involved.  I know we didn't.  We honestly thought it would be a quick task, it was not.  Now comes the installation.  That will be this coming weekend after we install the new flooring.  Don't forget to stop back and see how that went.  :-)