# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/102 "2021-02-16T23:25:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > 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. There are two bathrooms in this house, both with tubs/showers, and only the master bathroom has a window. ---
**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 17, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/103 "2021-02-17T01:35:17Z")
I think really old buildings were more likely to do this. Before electric vents having a window to air out the bathroom would be welcome. I live in Chicago and, while not a young city, I can say this is pretty rare (a huge amount of the apartments in the city are three-floor walk-ups so no air wells…but there are a few of those as well). The last place I lived was built in 1967 and the bathrooms are in the interior but with a vent built in that you have no control over (beyond closing the louvres). ---
**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 17, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/104 "2021-02-17T23:52:36Z")
If you live where tornadoes happen, the warnings tell you to go to an interior room with no window.In my house, that’s a bathroom ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/105 "2021-02-17T23:55:11Z")
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but select-flush toilets are really great. There’s a small flush and a large flush button. The small one has always served me well, but it’s nice to have an insurance policy. ---
**Author:** ![daisysmithh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@daisysmithh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daisysmithh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/106 "2021-02-19T01:25:56Z")
I quite like them but it costs expensive. I cannot really value whether a Toto toilet is better than something else or not. But my friend says that Toto makes a wonderful low-flow toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/107 "2021-02-19T20:51:19Z")
I have a Glacier Bay Dual Flush toilet and I’ve had a lot of trouble with it where the flapper or equivalent is leaky. I highly recommend NOT getting one of those. I can easily replace the flapper on a regular toilet but not on this one. ---
**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 23, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/108 "2021-02-23T03:46:20Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The last place I lived was built in 1967 and the bathrooms are in the interior but with a vent built in that you have no control over (beyond closing the louvres). > [@AskNott](#): > > If you live where tornadoes happen, the warnings tell you to go to an interior room with no window.In my house, that’s a bathroom Yeah my house and my parents’ house, built in the late 60s here in Ohio (slight tornado chance, but it’s a real possibility) have interior bathrooms with no windows. Heck, my bathroom is on an outside wall and still, no window. Same goes for every house on my block. For me, taking a shower next to a window is a real novelty. It’s pretty neat compared to my dark shower. ---
**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 23, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-looking-to-buy-a-new-toilet-anything-i-should-know-gotchas-that-sort-of-thing/932544/109 "2021-02-23T13:06:52Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > For me, taking a shower next to a window is a real novelty. It’s pretty neat compared to my dark shower. My first apartment had a window _in_ the shower. We were in a basement apartment, so it was a small 4-square frosted glass block right at head level that was under a deck on the outside. It _opened_. I thought I was really going to enjoy taking an indoor shower with the window open: like an outdoor shower. It turns out that even in summer it just felt like a cold draft, and I could never open it for more than a few seconds because it was very unpleasant. One of several disappointments with that apartment. [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=5)