? We have both Toto and Kohler in my house. The Totos in general were cheaper than the good Kohlers, and a Toto dealer was just up the street. I'm in Toronto though.Everyone loves to slobber on the knob of Toto's but keep in mind most end up coming from some cheap crappy low end model - which Toto really doesn't make. So they have a $60 American Standard or Kohler toilet and go to a $250 (or even $400) Toto and think its a revolution in toilets.
There certainly isn't anything wrong with Totos as a brand but you can get the same quality in the same price range or often less with the larger brands. The benefit of the larger brands like Kohler or AS is availability of quality parts. For example in my area the nearest Toto supplier is 2 hours away while I can get parts for a Kohler or AS pretty much anywhere. I do also know that Totos have had part supply issues in the past that resulted in very long lead times.
Another benefit of Kohler is that they glaze all of the internal traps of their toilets while Toto does not. They also have a larger line of high (1000) MAP rated toilets. A good alternative to look at besides Toto would be the Kohler Cimaron line.
Toto Drake regular height elongated bowl is my recommendation in that line, for most people at least.Toto Drake comfort height elongated bowl
Toto Drake comfort height elongated bowl
I'm in Toronto though.
Take the Toto handle out of your mouth so you can speak clearly
Well, regarding higher end Kohler fixtures (not toilets), my plumber said it's often a parts issue with them because a lot of their higher end products use different internal designs so often it's too expensive to keep the parts on the truck. You have to go to the plumbing supply shop to pick up the parts, and hope they have them in stock. If they don't you can usually get the stuff in a few days, but with the cheaper brands (not Toto), they always have the stuff and it's often right on the truck, partially because they tend to conserve their internal designs more often for simplicity's sake so there are fewer parts to stock. And the higher end Kohler stuff is sometimes unusual enough that many inexperienced but licenced plumbers won't know how to troubleshoot them. I wonder how different it is in the US. Does Kohler target both the lower end markets and the higher end markets there? It seems in Canada Kohler's market is more upper mid-end to high end.Well thats why - Canadians are always screwed up I am sure availability is different for different areas but Kohler has a far far larger manufacturing and distribution system than Toto so you are much less likely to run into a parts issue with Kohler.
Pics of ...:hmm: Oh, woo. Look at the time. I gotta get to bed. I still gotta brush my teeth, feed the hog, still got some homework to do, still got those bills to pay, wash the car...
ThisIf you want a toilet that will work, skip Home Depot and Lowes as you suggest and go to a plumbing supply house. The blackman plumbing link did not open for me, anyway the toilet I would get is the Toto Drake. Great bowl, 1.6 gallons per flush, never clogs. I have 2 in my house.
Also, is there any difference in mounting this toilet?
.Make sure the new toilet will fit your space. To do this, measure the rough-in size. This is the distance between the wall behind the toilet and the center of the drainpipe or the bolts that hold the toilet to the floor. Its best to perform this measurement before you remove the old toilet.
Measure from the wall behind the toilet to the center of one of the closet bolts (that hold the toilet down). If the toilet has four closet bolts, measure to the center of one of the rear ones. Measure from the center of the mounting holes to the back of the new toilet you're considering. Compare these two measurements. If the base of the new toilet is shorter than the distance between the rear bolt holes and the wall, it should fit. In small bathrooms where space is tight, also measure from the sides of the flange bolts to the sidewalls or other objects to assure side-to-side clearance.
The standard rough-in is 12-in, though you may encounter 10-in and 14-in rough-ins in older homes. You should find the rough-in measurement in the new toilets product information