Toilets and Baths, Oh My!

In my past house renovation, we had just replaced all of our toilets from American Standard to Kohler after 16 years.  We were having problems with them almost overflowing, one at a time, because the parts were getting filled with sediment.  The reason for Kohler, was that when we renovated, we planned to use Kohler Sinks and Tubs and wanted the whites to match.

We moved in here and found we had these toilets called Pro-flo.  They were not white but a cheap gray-white glaze.  They didn't go with anything.  They were not comfort height and for the life of me - except saving a few dollars - why they would install anything but comfort height is beyond me, again this is a custom builder.  The sinks are no name and the tubs, Bootz, to be the bottom tier in terms of  size and you can get them at Home Depot for under $200 each retail.  They do not have non-slip surface on the floor of the tub and they are actually dangerous in that way.  Of course, they didn't caulk any of the tubs.  

To make matters worse, in my downstairs guest bathroom, the toilet plumbing was not 12" on center but rather 10".   This is a normal size bathroom with no space contraints but if you are a custom builder, wouldn't you ask your plumber to move the plumbing?  I know I would.  Nope this guy shoves a tiny, Pro-flo 10" on center toilet, against a wall with the tiniest tank I have ever seen.  It barely fit a small square box of tissues. 

So I get on Build.com and find a replacement toilet.  The Kohler Highline actually comes in a 10" on center, comfort height, in a normal size everything and once installed has a normal sized tank and lid and doesn't even hit the wall!  Wow, what a concept.  

So I get the toilets in (and pay extra for quiet close seats) and prior to installation, I tried to sell the Pro-flo toilets for $20 each cause maybe someone needs 5 toilets.  Couldn't get rid of them.  I quickly changed the price to free just so I wouldn't have to pay $20 each to have them carried off.  No one wanted them at free either.  I paid $20 each to have them carried off.  Do you see a trend here?  Put in some cheap stuff, that no one wants, in order to say, it has a toilet, it has lights, etc.  If someone want to make the house nice, everything goes in the landfill unless someone at the Habitat Restore happens to want it.     

Though I can't change all of this, the builder should've installed 32" tubs cause that's what was framed out.  My 2 guest room tubs will remain as is but we are upgrading venting, lighting, counter, faucet and possibly cabinet.  To save some money, the builder opted to install undersized tubs, 30" wide and 16" tall and then proceeded to spend the money on tiling to the floor where the tub would've been had it been 32".