# I am looking to buy a new toilet. Anything I should know? (gotchas...that sort of thing) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544 "2021-02-09T18:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/82 "2021-02-15T17:23:07Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The tank cover kept the tank from sweating, but the lid cover caused the seat to fall down when a man was peeing while standing. When I was dating I would cringe when I’d go into the woman’s bathroom and see one of those lid covers, because I knew I’d have to pee with one hand holding up the toilet lid. > [@AskNott](#): > > There was also a brief popularity for a crocheted cover for the spare toilet paper roll, made to look like a doll in a hoop skirt. My mom had one of those. By the time she died the thing was probably 50 years old, worn and chipped, looking like something out of a horror movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/83 "2021-02-15T17:27:00Z")
I was visiting a friend in college or shortly thereafter who had one of those bathroom readers on the toilet tank. I tried picking it up, but it really stank of urine. I think it’s best to avoid anything in the bathroom that can absorb odors, like a crotched toilet roll cover. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/84 "2021-02-15T17:35:39Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > When I was dating I would cringe when I’d go into the woman’s bathroom and see one of those lid covers, because I knew I’d have to pee with one hand holding up the toilet lid. One of the toilets in my Grandma’s house when I was a boy stayed open…usually. It was just on the edge of falling, and sometimes the seat would fall down randomly after staying open a while. Urinating was like playing Russian Roulette. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/85 "2021-02-15T17:39:08Z")
I think some of the fancy toilets or fancy toilet seats can automatically raise and lower the lid. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/86 "2021-02-15T17:57:36Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > The house I grew up in north of Chicago had a mixing valve to feed some hot water into the toilets to counteract that, but after air conditioning was installed they were shut off. Interesting. I’ve never noticed (or heard of) a second feed for hot water to a toilet but I have a feeling I’m going to start looking now. My 1920ish Chicago home with a toilet from the …40s? came with a drip tray under the tank, though I’ve never noticed it wet. I line it with a couple kitchen napkins and replace every so often. That toilet is anything except low flow but it’s partially set into the wall. I dread the day I need to replace it. It has a ball, not a flapper and brass hardware. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/87 "2021-02-15T18:31:28Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Interesting. I’ve never noticed (or heard of) a second feed for hot water to a toilet but I have a feeling I’m going to start looking now. Sometimes they were scabbed in later, with a tee off the hot water line to the sink. An abandoned shutoff valve is likely to remain there out of sight. > [@jnglmassiv](#): > > My 1920ish Chicago home with a toilet from the …40s? came with a drip tray under the tank, though I’ve never noticed it wet. I line it with a couple kitchen napkins and replace every so often. That toilet is anything except low flow but it’s partially set into the wall. I dread the day I need to replace it. It has a ball, not a flapper and brass hardware. It does seem like a lot of 1920s bathrooms got an update in the late 1940s or 1950s, since the fixtures from the 20s were decidedly old school (think wood toilet seats, huge tanks, freestanding tubs, not much different from nearly 20 years prior). In the late 1930s however American Standard put out a beautiful new catalog of sleek modern (at least for the time, they have an Art Deco or Streamline Moderne feel) fixtures that lasted well into the 50s, so there was a very quick transition from “old and busted” to the “new hotness.” [https://www.pinterest.com/fgsalvage/vintage-american-standard-catalogs/](https://www.pinterest.com/fgsalvage/vintage-american-standard-catalogs/) Their one-piece lowboy toilets were de rigueur. The overflow drain was cast into the porcelain rather than being part of the flapper assembly, which is a neat touch. Ours didn’t have the ball plunger or a flapper but something in between, more of a tilt/balance flapper with a sealed cylinder float and another cylinder with a small hole in the bottom that would time how long it could stay up. [https://www.plumbingsupply.com/images/amstan-flush-valve-47086-0700.jpg](https://www.plumbingsupply.com/images/amstan-flush-valve-47086-0700.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/88 "2021-02-15T19:11:10Z")
The last two houses I’ve lived had windowless bathrooms, and I think it’s fairly common. It seems to me you wouldn’t want a window where you’re going to be naked or partly naked every time you go in there. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/89 "2021-02-15T19:15:38Z")
That’s why bathroom windows generally are shorter, and mounted higher, than typical windows. Or have bottom-half curtains. I suspect non-window bathrooms are far more common in apartment buildings than in stand-alone houses. It’s probably also regional. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/90 "2021-02-15T19:23:48Z")
There are a lot of older buildings here, and until powered fans (and reliable, powerful) ventilation fans became a thing, code required a window. You need your bathroom to be ventilated so it doesn’t turn into a morass of mold and mildew. Not to mention odors. That may be why all bathrooms in older homes, and frankly, almost all bathrooms around here, have windows. And yes, the windows tend to be small and high, so they don’t show you off to the outside world. But I’d be a little freaked out to find a home bathroom with no window. I’ve never lived in a place with a windowless bathroom, and I don’t think I’d buy a home with a windowless bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/91 "2021-02-15T19:54:51Z")
Even today the IRC-based codes (and most others) require either an operable window or an exhaust fan in bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/92 "2021-02-15T21:37:10Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But I’d be a little freaked out to find a home bathroom with no window. I’ve never lived in a place with a windowless bathroom, and I don’t think I’d buy a home with a windowless bathroom. Interesting! I don’t think any of the homes in my neighborhood (about 60 homes, built in the late 60s) have full bathrooms with windows. The homes that are shaped like my parents’ home are slab ranches and the full bath is not on an outside wall. The homes shaped like mine (same neighborhood) are raised ranches and our single full bathrooms are against an outside wall but still no window. I’ve showered at friends’ houses with windows in their bathrooms and it’s pretty novel to me. It’s neat to take a shower with so much light! Most of the times I’ve taken showers away from home has been in a hotel and of course, no bathroom window there. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/93 "2021-02-15T21:52:08Z")
Re: sweating toilet tanks - aren’t any of them insulated to prevent this? I know I had to line mine myself back in the '80s with 1/2" styrofoam, but others came with it already in place. It helped reduce the amount of water I used, but didn’t interfere with effective flushing. Of course, you wouldn’t do that with modern low-flush toilets. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/94 "2021-02-16T01:29:30Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > In the late 1930s however American Standard put out a beautiful new catalog of sleek modern (at least for the time, they have an Art Deco or Streamline Moderne feel) fixtures that lasted well into the 50s, so there was a very quick transition from “old and busted” to the “new hotness.” [37 Vintage American Standard Catalogs ideas | american standard, american vintage, vintage](https://www.pinterest.com/fgsalvage/vintage-american-standard-catalogs/) Mine is a two-piece and resembles the top few in your link with two squared off lobes or columns on either side of the tank & lid. Thanks goodness it’s white. I found a logo of an A in a diamond stamped on the underside of the lid along with a date: Oct 31, 1940. There’s also what appears to be a hand written set of initials. There’s an even older toilet in the basement but the spiders and I have an arrangement, lol. Neither bathroom had ever had a shower until I moved in almost 11 years ago. I had to put in a curtain surround. I never really thought about the windows much but this thread had me get my tape measure out. All of the north facing windows in the house are about 56" from the floor. This represents one smallish window in the smaller bedroom at the rear of the house, a fairly big glass block with ~12x12" ventilation window in the bathroom and two full size windows in my tiny ‘master’ bedroom. All of these look to the house next door, about 5-6 feet away. I have an oversized (for here, anyway) lot and every other main floor window is a more standard 27 inches up. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/95 "2021-02-16T03:34:11Z")
And now I feel dumb, because my basement bathroom doesn’t have a window. 🙂 Of course, it’s in the basement, and I almost never use it except for the sink, and I don’t close the door when I use the sink (because it’s tiny) so there’s actually some indirect sunlight when I use the room. (For random reasons, my house has 4 bathrooms. Only two of them get much use.) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/96 "2021-02-16T03:58:35Z")
Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever been in a full bathroom that did not have a window. The half-bath in my parents house has no window, but it’s only a toilet & sink that my dad installed himself. Every bathroom I’ve seen that includes a shower/tub has a window. Except in hotels. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/97 "2021-02-16T14:07:44Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > A pressure-assist toilet is what you’d probably want. They still have a tank, but there’s a plastic tank-within-a-tank that uses the water supply to pressurize a cushion of air at the top of the tank. So when you flush, the compressed air forces the water out much faster, like in the commercial toilet. I had one of these years ago in a previous home. My wife could be in the yard and hear the toilet flush. Noisy as hell. took it out after a few years just because of the noise. It always emptied the bowl though. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/98 "2021-02-16T14:42:19Z")
I actually find bathrooms with windows to be a rarity (to the point of a novelty). I live in the city in apartments/condos and they just don’t do that. Even growing up in a house the only bathroom with a window was the master bath. All the rest were interior bathrooms with no windows. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/99 "2021-02-16T17:35:41Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > seat) height. Shorter are easier for shorter legs (kids, etc.). But if it’s just adults, then chair height. I think the toilet term is “comfort height” for the ones that are intended for taller people. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/100 "2021-02-16T22:47:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I actually find bathrooms with windows to be a rarity (to the point of a novelty). I live in the city in apartments/condos and they just don’t do that. > > Even growing up in a house the only bathroom with a window was the master bath. All the rest were interior bathrooms with no windows. My apartment in Manhattan had a nice stained glass window in the bathroom. They came and took them all out (lead hazard) and replaced them with modern frosted glass. But the NYC apartments mostly look out over the air well. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/101 "2021-02-16T23:08:42Z")
The main first floor bathroom in my brother’s house has a window that looks out at the deck on the back of the house. Originally, they had wooden shutters on the inside of the window for privacy but a couple of years ago, he took those out and covered the window glass with this frosted film stuff you can get cheaply at Home Depot. So there’s privacy while still letting in light. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544.md?page=6)