Linelle, my personal theory is that it started as a money grab. One more thing to charge you for. When you look at the price of toilets, you think, oh, it's not that high...but then you get to ADD the price of the seat! Just like when carpet went from being sold by the square yard to the square foot... yikes, if we sat down and figured out how much we're paying per square yard!

I did find toilet packages that included the seat for two of my BR's. There was a super deal at HD for a pretty nice toilet, and even though we weren't looking the day we were there, we couldn't pass it up! Only problem is, it's the only one of my three toilets that doesn't have a soft close seat, and I usually forget and it goes BANG!

raehelen, geez, this is so annoying. I never dreamed toilets didn't include seats until I started seeing a lot of photos online without seats. As if the ceramic part isn't expensive enough. Everybody tells me I need a Toto. And yet, my 15-year-old no-name toilet flushes without complaint or streaking or clogging with a mere 1.6 gpf. I am so tempted to just keep that old toilet and replace everything else. Some day I might get a new one, when I've paid everything else off.

I'd keep the toilet if it works, Hey I think a 1.6 flush is very good. Until a year ago we had ancient toilets that used very large volumes of water. They would clog every now and then.

enduring, it's encouraging to hear you say keep it. I suppose I could even treat myself to a new seat. They do sell "universal" seats, don't they?

Yes, either elongated or round. Since yours is a 1.6 gal it is rather new in the scheme of things. I was in an old bathroom today and to toilet bowl was REALLY round, and the seat matched. But I think all the toilet seats you'd find at the big box stores would work, keeping in mind round or elongated bowl. I like the soft close feature.

We've been in our house almost 2 years and have started looking at toilets at HD. The main floor bathroom has the weirdest toilet I've ever encountered. By that, I mean my butt (which isn't tiny but not that huge!) doesn't fit. It almost seems like a kids toilet or a minature toilet. Anyways, when we were looking, I'm pretty sure all the toilets they had came with the toilet seat. All the samples they had up on the wall had toilet seats - now you've got me wondering and I'll go back and check that out. I hope it's not an extra (which I'm seeing more and more of these days).

I'll keep my eyes open for round toilet seats, and a chrome handle while I'm at it. The white plastic is a dead give-away. Since the old toilet will have to come out anyway, I can give it a good clean. White porcelain is white porcelain.

Actually, we purposefully chose toilets that didn't come with a seat, for the reason raehelen said. We would be buying an easier to clean, soft-close lid seat for use anyway. Why pay even a discounted amount more for the seat, when it would never be used? Then I have to take it to a donation place. Frankly, I'd rather not have to bother.

Some of the box sets everything included at HD and Lowes have the cheapest thinnest toilet seats. A friend told me that yes you think you are getting a good deal until you have to buy a new toilet seat that is more comfortable.

If you like your toilet, keep it! A 1.6 gpf model is very good, if you're worried about the environmental thing. If it's pretty standard looking, you should be able to find a replacement seat at any hardware store or home depot/menard's/lowe's.

The only improvements I've seen that you might want to look for are the soft close feature and 'easy clean' where you can remove the seat with a few clicks without have to get underneath to unscrew it.

Replacement trip levers are also available in many styles and finishes.

One first American Standard we purchased did not come with a seat. The second one came with a self closing seat. It works wonderful in the main bathroom. It makes the seat and cover go down without a slam.

1.6 gal. is very good - if it works well, I think that I'd keep it.

As for the toilet seat thing - another one who LOVES having the soft close on the seat. It sounds funny, but I hate having the "toilet seat noise" as it is shut...we kept an old toilet that has been in the house for a while and just got a new soft close seat for it. The other new toilet we got was one of the dual-flush models and it came with a soft close seat.

My current toilet seat has plastic covers over the bolts that hold it down. Do I pop them off? Will the new seat come with new bolt covers?

My 1.6 gpf is a veritable deep throat. (Remember a few years ago when they found out who Deep Throat was? He lived a few blocks away from me.)

Yes just use a flat head screwdriver to pop the covers open then get a pliers and screwdriver to undo the bolts. Easy. When you put the new one on, be sure to not tighten too tight, just tight enough so the seat doesn't move, but no more. You don't want to crack the toilet. I have never seen that happen so good bet it wont for you either.

Was deep throat living in the neighborhood while you lived there? You just never know, do ya.

Deep Throat was living a quiet life with his daughter and her family. Nobody knew. He was in frail health when the news came out and he died a year or so later. I guess it was time to set the record straight. He lived in a different neighborhood, across one of our main roads, but it was just a few blocks as the crow flies.

We bought two new toilets last year. One was an American Standard - the one that can flush golf balls - we have not tried that feature yet :-). It came with a plastic slow close seat which we decided to use. The other was a Toto that came sans seat. We got a Bemis slow close, easy remove seat for it. It came with all the needed hardware. You just turn two knobs on top of the hinges to remove it, and it does make it easier to clean.

Linelle, if the toilet matches/works with your remodel then I would keep it. We are doing our master bath and going with high end stuff, but I would have been very happy to keep the 12 year old 1.6 toilet and bidet, but unfortunately they are that beige color and the new design will look better with white.

I just looked at toilet seats at Home Depot. I want round, slow-close. The HD guy said the plastic ones are "better" (easier to keep clean), but I all the tops showed scratches and I think the plastic feel is icky. Am I crazy to want enameled wood?

The most expensive one was $35, which makes me think it's better than the $6-12 ones. True?

All this talk of Toto (and their prices) has put me in a mind to keep my old 1.6 toilet. But HD has Kohler Highline Classic (taller, elongated) on sale for $178. It has a dual-flush (1.6/1.1). Reviews are pretty good. Can it be that much worse than a Toto?

Linelle,

Maybe I can help you put things in perspective:

I have three toilets:
1) Oldest one is +4 years old, bought from Canadian Tire, not a major brand, relatively inexpensive bought on sale and with a rebate. Soft-close seat, elongated, dual flush, comfort height, which I like, bowl gets calcium deposits at waterline, need to use pumice stone to remove.
Assume/hope I will never have to replace it.
2) Second one is ~ 2 years old. American Standard H2O Option dual Flush. Supposedly retails now for ~ $450CAD for everything, paid much less than that at HD on a package deal. I do NOT like the seat it came with, actually uncomfortable and doesn't soft close. (I guess I could look for a new seat...obviously doesn't bother me THAT much).

Both these toilets will streak, and need to have some sort of physical intervention to get bowl clean.

3) My new Toto Vespin 11. I love this toilet, it is skirted, so cleaning will be easier, plus I like the clean lines. It is not dual flush (I wouldn't buy another Dual flush again), I bought a Bio Bidet Washlet seat (which is soft-close), so I was glad I didn't have to pay for the Toto seat. My toilet cost $400 CAD, which is a good price here (and less than what the washlet cost me!) This stays so much cleaner than the other two, but would I pay twice as much or more to have this in my other two BR's? I don't think so. We will be renoing BR #2 next, I intend to keep the AS toilet and just move it.

As long as everything is working fine, I would just keep your present toilet.

raehelen, thanks for your take on toilets. I guess my Universal Rundle (whoever heard of that?) will live to flush another day (or several years).

Washlet seat? Holy crap. I had no idea. When things get that bad, I just stick my butt under the tub spout and start over.

linelle: "Washlet seat? Holy crap. I had no idea. When things get that bad, I just stick my butt under the tub spout and start over."

"Washlet" is a registered trademark of Toto; no other manufacturer can advertise its seat as a Washlet without risking a suit for trademark infringement.

However, like "Scotch" tape and "Band-Aid" bandages and "Xerox" copiers and "Coke" cola beverages, a lot of people use "Washlet" as if it were a generic descriptor.

Toto Washlet advanced toilet seats are very good, but are not the best of breed; that medal belongs to Inax advanced toilet seats. Inax -- which is the #2 Japanese plumbing fixture company in size but in Japan has a more prestigious image than Toto -- invented the category, and has remained the technological leader in that category for 30 years. Lixil, the name of the corporate group of which Inax is a part. purchased American Standard last year, and you will see a lot more of Inax in the United States going forward, I am sure. (My guess -- only a guess: American Standard will play the Toyota role in the United States, while the Inax brand will play the Lexus role.)

But as to the story of advanced toilet seats as a purchase that you W-I-L-L make in the future, you should know that, in Japan, more than 90 percent of households already have them, and the Japanese now look down on our primitive American toilet hygiene in the way that we North Americans view the use of pit privies in third-world countries. Anybody who has used an advanced toilet seat for a period of more than a week or so is not going to go back to a primitive toilet seat. Never ever, ever. As to advanced toilet seats, Americans are in the stage that we were in in the early 1980s: "Why would I want a computer in my house?"

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose George tells it like it is

We haven't done our remodel but I convinced DH that not going with a "washlet" style was akin to getting an old tube TV.
Thanks to GW for helping me with the decision. Leaning toward Inax seat with Toto toilet.

Herring_maven, I have a post on the Bathroom forum addressed to you :) It is about a Toto Maris 2 piece toilet with a planned Inax advanced toilet seat installation.