Building a Home – Consider This When Choosing Your Commodes

Most people don’t discuss their toilets – or even think about them unless they need to be cleaned. But if you’re building a house you need to decide on the:

• Color
• Style
• Size

    You’ll probably choose the same color for all of your bathroom fixtures, so let me add a caution about choosing a dark color. Unless you have a full-time maid or dearly love scrubbing, think twice. 

    Colors like black and dark blue show every water spot. The only time they look clean is when you’ve just finished scrubbing and then rubbing them dry. In addition, colors do date a home, so if you go with the hottest color trend this year, in 20 years people will look at your bathroom and say “Oh, this house was built about 2009.” 

    If you go with a dark color anyway, don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

    Most spec houses are built with whatever is the least expensive model in the building supply store – but sometimes they aren’t the best choice. Some of them are very difficult to clean, and some are not as smooth as they should be inside, so things tend to “hang up” on their way to the sewer. 

    Some of the least expensive models are also “short.” They just don’t stand as high off the floor as what most people think of as standard size. This can create a real problem for the elderly and/or people in wheel chairs. 

    Ask questions and go look at them before you opt for the least expensive. At the same time, design may be the only difference between the middle price model and the most expensive. 

Speaking of design, as the “cleaning lady” in my home, I will always opt for a style with a smooth base from toilet bowl to floor. Cleaning those curvy little channels that run along the sides of many toilets is just not fun, and unfortunately, I didn’t get in on that part of the planning in this house. When I have to clean those, I always fantasize about forcing the designers to come and do the cleaning. 

If you’re the “cleaning lady” at your house, speak up when the builder starts discussing toilets! 

    In areas where water usage is a concern, check to see that the model you choose is a water miser – not all are. 

    Next is the traditional round seat vs the elongated bowl. Large people tend to prefer the elongated style. But – if you’re installing a powder room in a small space, make sure it really fits. One customer of ours wanted an elongated bowl in the powder room, but his floor plans wouldn’t allow for it. Had we installed it, large people wouldn’t have been able to open the door far enough to walk in.