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Triple master contractor Ed Del Grande
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By Ed Del Grande
Q. Hi, Ed. I love your column, and anyone that reads it knows you can be trusted! I paid a professional plumber to repair my very old toilet last year. Now, less than a year later, it still flushes poorly and I'm afraid it will start to overflow soon. I called the plumber again and he suggested that I buy a whole new toilet to correct this problem. I don't believe this is necessary! What should I tell the plumber so he won't try to sell me a new toilet? Mary (Georgia)
A. Hi, Mary, thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope you appreciate the advice I'm about to give you. A good part of my contracting experience has been in the service end of home repair and remodeling. This has given me a very good perspective of what will work and what will not work when it comes to repairing older plumbing fixtures.
There comes a time when a toilet, faucet or even a sink may get to an age where it is no longer practical or cost-effective to repair the fixture. Trying to locate and install parts that will fit older fixtures will be one issue; another concern is when a plumber works on an older fixture, something else may break. Sometimes the repair can be completed, but as you found out, in less then a year you can be back to the same old problems!
In this case, a professional plumber has suggested that a new toilet may be your best solution. I would tend to follow that advice, especially since he did try to fix it once for you instead of suggesting replacement right away. Another reason for change is that if you remove your old toilet, you can now choose one of the new modern water-saving toilets, and you should save thousands of gallons of water a year along with getting a brand new toilet! Many homeowners don't realize that new quality-grade toilets have been redesigned to deliver a very powerful flush with only 1.6 gallons of water or less. So, don't worry about flushing power. I use new water-saving toilets with this flushing technology in my own home.
I also want to educate others that now you can have the best of both worlds when it comes to new toilets; water savings and strong flushes!
Finally, do some research and look up flush testing on the Internet and find a new toilet you like with a good performance rating. Once you know the toilet you want, call your plumber back with the make and model and request that he install that toilet for you. Be careful with your choice, though, because buying a toilet is not like buying a car. Very rarely can you take a toilet for a test ride before you buy it!
Ed Del Grande was born and raised in a family-owned plumbing business. With more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of construction, he holds current Master licenses in pipefitting, fire protection and plumbing. If you have a question for Ed, send him an e-mail at eddelgrande@hgtvpro.com.
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