 |
| Bathroom with toilet and man with tools in a tool belt. |
I began this post hoping to provide you with a review of Home Depot’s Glacier Bay dual-flush two-piece toilet, its installation, and a few tips and tricks I learned over the years removing and installing toilets. My being blind might convince other visually impaired DIYers to plunge right into a toilet-installation project (pun intended).
Well, Removing the old toilets in our bathrooms is a no brainer ... usually. I recall many times removing and reinstalling the two toilets as we remodeled both bathrooms. Then, at least twice I removed the kids’ toilet in search of a massive clog of toys, toothbrushes, and other debris.
Well, having sons means a toilet removal will require sawing through ridiculously rusted and fused floor and tank bolts. the little darlings can pick off an enemy soldier from 200 yards away while spinning their avatar a full 360 degrees while leaping off a building as they play a video game, but they can’t hit a stationary two-foot by 1-foot bowl of water from a distance of 18 inches, but I digress.
The first sign of trouble was that my vibrating saw seized up and died. Still whistling a happy tune, I grabbed a small hacksaw and returned to work. Before long, I was in no mood for taking cheesy-grin selfies and dictating this project’s instructions into my phone while removing my kids’ toilet. I was soaked in sweat, my sons’ output, rust, and slime. These were not Kodak moments.
After finally sawing through both rusted-and-fused-solid nuts & bolts securing the toilet to the floor, removal and cleanup of the site were straightforward. Instead of droning on, then, about something better explained within others’ YouTube videos and DIY webpages, I’d rather focus on a practical review of Home Depot’s Glacier Bay 2-piece 1.1 GPF/1.6 GPF High-Efficiency Dual Flush Complete Elongated Toilet in White, Seat Included
Home Depot's
We liked the dual-flush capability and water-conservation design of this toilet. We bought two from our local Home Depot — eager to replace the old, frumpy ones lumbering around in our bathrooms.
These new toilets came neatly packaged with everything extremely easy to locate within their boxes. I was impressed with the packaging’s sturdiness and layout. Off to a good start, it seemed.
Each bathroom’s install had complications and mishaps, so much so that this post morphed into the following list of pros and cons of the overarching set of installations.
Removing the ensuite’s toilet was a breeze as my aim is always true. TMI? Anyway, I do recommend removing and installing only one bathroom’s toilet at a time. Doing so prevents your family and visitors from searching for alternative locations where they can find relief.
Okay, enough potty humor into the rabbit hole we go. I promise, that will probably be the last low-brow joke for the remainder of this post.
Here are some pros followed by several cons.
Pros:
Nicely packaged — all parts were well protected and easy to locate
The toilet’s water tank came fully assembled (except for the lid & button switch). Even the two bolts that secure the tank to the bowl were fully installed. Doing so greatly reduced any likelihood of causing a leak during the installation process.
Included all necessary hardware and the wax seal.
This toilet style is more water-efficient than standard toilets here in the USA.
At Home Depot, this toilet model is comparably priced to a standard US toilet.
Cons:
Two stubborn installations in a row suggest that, unless you’re already a professional plumber who is visually impaired, consider getting a predictably standard (US-style) toilet.
The elongated footprint requires more space behind the toilet than usual. I had to remove some of the baseboards behind the toilet so that it would sit flat on the floor.
I was unable to find a digital version of the owner’s manual online. Although the mechanics of the installation were routine, I’m uncertain if there are any nuances to water-flow control. This is a design common in Australia and New Zealand, but only recently gaining acceptance within North America.
Wax seal, though a standard design, was extraordinarily irritating to align correctly between the bowl and the flange in the floor. I wasted 4 wax seals before switching to polyurethane foam & rubber ones. The supplied 2-inch floor bolts were useless. Aligning such a short bolt to clear its corresponding hole in the toilet’s base was impossible using such short bolts. I have a couple of recommendations listed further down within this post to address this problem. Just toss these two bolts aside and buy sets of 3-inch brass coated ones to use.
Dual-flow button assembly (atop the water-tanks lid) didn’t come with straightforward assembly instructions. Similarly, the alignment of the two flush buttons was unclear. Solution: the button with just the one drop design is for the liquids-only flush, while the button having two droplets is for solid waste.
Remaining on the subject of the flush buttons, being visually impaired meant using the trial-and-error approach to aligning each button with its corresponding button inside the water tank. Although both of the buttons’ pushrods are color-coded, a tactile way to identify each button and push rod would be a better approach.
While still on the push-rod topic, they are packaged fully extended. This makes no sense because when setting the lid onto the water tank, both rods push down both buttons within the water tank, resulting in both volumes of water attempting to flush at the same time. Solution: The only remedy I found that worked requires loosening both retaining nuts on the pushrods all the way, and then screwing down both pushrods all the way before tightening the restraining nuts again. Doing this shortens the length of the push rods and allows the toilet to flush correctly. It took a while to figure this solution out, and I’m mechanically inclined. Someone new to installing toilets might be tempted to shatter the plastic push rods out of frustration far in advance of deriving a useful solution.
Suggestions and Tips:
- Overall, I can’t recommend this toilet-installation project to a novice DIYer. This project is just not worth the risk and level of frustration.
- When installing a toilet, toss aside the silly little floor bolts, associated nuts, and the plastic push-on cap assemblies. Solution: Instead, buy the following replacements from your local hardware store: two sets of 3-inch floor bolts made of brass) or brass-coated alloy bolts. The added bolt length is crucial to aligning the bowl’s mounting holes with the floor bolts.
- Also, tie a couple feet of twine tightly to the end of each floor bolt once you have the bolts positioned correctly inside the flange on the floor. Then, thread the twine through each bolt’s corresponding hole at the base of the toilet bowl. This simple step will allow you and your helper(s to guide the bolts through the holes without getting the bolts stuck beneath the bowl.
- While you’re replacing included hardware with better parts from your hardware store, set aside the 4 included nuts. Replace them with wing nuts so tightening each nut-and bolt set will be a breeze. This change will save you a lot of time and aggravation fumbling and tightening the tiny nuts supplied.
- I also recommend using a lock washer in addition to the metal ones usually supplied with the toilet. Without lock washers, the nuts kept loosening on their own. Soon, each toilet was able to be slid around. Loose nuts make for an unstable and potentially unsteady toilet. Such sliding will ruin the wax ring, thus compromising its ability to prevent leaks.
- The included toilet seat and attached lid are made of flimsy plastic. Although standard with this toilet’s design in other countries, I recommend replacing it with a toilet seat that you’re comfortable using. The fit and alignment, thankfully, are US-standard, so replacing the included toilet seat set is a straightforward and simple process.
- Set aside the included wax rings and buy the “Better Than Wax” ring kit from your hardware store. Alignment is a snap as these rings are polyurethane and rubber (no messy, slippery wax and alignment holes are included as part of the ring’s design).
- While at the hardware store, I recommend you purchase a pack or two of spacers. Found in the plumbing department, you’ll likely need these to push beneath your toilet’s base to stabilize the toilet and reduce a toilet’s tendency to rock back and forth.
I cannot recommend this Glacier Bay toilet to the novice DIYer or to the faint-of-heart. It will test your patience, frustration limits, and problem-solving skills. We visually impaired folks can certainly install these beasts, but I wouldn’t do so unless you have extensive experience removing and installing toilets.
Have a nice day
~RJ
Tags:
Glacier Bay, toilet, replace, DIY, hardware, bathroom, project, Home Depot, better than wax, brass, plumber, wax ring, do it yourself, blind, visually impaired
Comments
Post a Comment