Sure Everyone Poops, But Now They Can Install the Toilet Too

Ummm . . . I’m just gonna say it – words like “potty” and well, “poop” too, are just plain fun to say.  Or maybe it’s only me.  I mean – if you had a house full of kids (well, I have two) and a wife like mine, you’d giggle at them too.  The words that is.  And how could I not with nighttime reading like “Everyone Poops (My Body Science Series)Everyone Poops” lying around?

Now,  I wrote a post a few weeks back that had this subtitle “It’s Hard to Believe I Only Use the Word ‘Potty’ Once.” (And just like that I’m up to two for this one.)   That post was about my trip, along with a select group of bloggers, to American Standard’s New Product Design Center in Piscataway, New Jersey.  (This is actually the third in a series dedicated to coverage of that all-expense paid trip.)

Revisiting the New Product Design Center

There we discussed social media, the bath industry, as well as bath trends, how products are designed . . . and made, and what “Am Stand” is doing recently to set themselves apart.  We toured an impressive and contemporary showroom, and worked our way back into the bowels of the Design Center (yeah, I typed “bowels”).  In the Center’s lab, we saw an amazing 3D printer, a toilet modeling process that we were sworn to secrecy on, and we saw . . . well, more on that in a minute.

Recaps of the trip (from my partners in crime) included talk of passion and sincerity, as well as some focus on American Standard’s commitment to “flush performance.”  My own posts noted that they appear committed to producing toilets to the newest WaterSense^® standards for high-efficiency.  And yep – some of those posts included a few light-handed potty puns (three).  We’re a special lot, I mean and why not. When you think of American Standard, what you do you think of? . . . Toilets! Right? . . . Of course, or at least I do.

Editor’s Note: Read more about my recent hall bath redo. It featured more than American Standard Toilets.

American Standard Does Potties Right

Take their Champion line — you have likely heard the name.  Did you know that there are 17 different models in that collection alone (check the link back there)?   Elongated or round, RH/LH (that’s right-handled and/or left, and it can make a *big* difference).  That’s not to mention variations in dimension — total height, tank height, tank width, etc.  All these options come in handy when you have a “location” you MUST fit.  And I know a Champion has saved *me* more than once.

That’s right, at this point – I’ve installed a handful of toilets, and they really are easy enough that anyone can do them.  I’m serious, I think I might even let Evyn, the Princessitect, try the next one I need to do.  I mean – I’ll pay her a $100 (she’ll spend it on Monster High dolls) and still save a ton over a plumber.

Hmmm . . . “An 8-year-old on toilet?”  Well, the biggest concerns, and the biggest fault points (with toilet installation), are cranking bolts down too tightly . . .  which can result in cracked china.  I *have* learned that the hard way . . . and oh yeah, then there is the whole leaking water thing.  But with the right supervision, Evyn, I think, could do it.  (*wink* *wink* Am Stand.)

Editor’s Note: For more on Installing Toilets, please see this article I did for Home Depot‘s Pro Referral Network – How to Install a Toilet.

A No Tools Installation

Easy enough as it was, but when the company released a No Tools model earlier this year, that did it — there is really nothing standing in the way of anyone putting a toilet in themselves.  The No Tools SAVER, as one model is called, is designed for simple hand tightening, and . . . hand tightening virtually eliminates that cracked tank/bowl issue I noted above . . .

Now to a pressroom write-up from April:

Available in both one- and two-piece models, the SAVER fits elongated comfort into a standard space, allowing small bathrooms to offer full-size comfort. SAVER toilets have the American Standard EverClean^® permanent surface that inhibits the growth of stain and odor causing bacteria, mold and mildew on the surface. (Editor’s aside: Stays clean easier, and easier to clean)

The SAVER is available in a 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf)WaterSense^®-certified high efficiency model, which uses 20 percent less water than standard toilets without sacrificing flushing performance.

Available at Lowe’s, the new SAVER elongated toilets are available in 1-piece Right Height^® and 2-piece Right Height^®, as well as normal height bowl configurations. Right Height designs meet all ADA requirements for accessibility. Suggested retail prices start at $159.

And a photo likely of the station used in the filming the above video. (idk.) We saw this on our tour; this box, and while I do not have the exact dimensions, is meant to simulate the working area roughly in which a toilet is installed.  And yes, American Standard does this type of testing.

Toilet Testing

While our guide Gary Uhl, Director of Design, did give a little time to toilet anatomy and physics, he also illustrated some the most important factors in toilet performance . . . the most important being — the velocity at which water passes through the bowl on flush.  They do everything they can not to slow it’s speed during this process.

Flush performance is vigorously tested in their lab, nearly an entire wing of a room dedicated to it — where bags of miso are loaded in for a flush.  Yes, miso, a seasoning, when placed in a bag looks pretty much like, well, poop and is an industry norm.  Other objects — golf balls are flushed too, and maybe you have seen some of this on YouTube — where flush videos seem strangely popular.

I’ll close with an insight provided by the one and only Professor Toilet (well, the real life inspiration for) who says, “Our research shows that homeowners don’t necessarily want it easy, they just don’t want it (an install of a potty — four) to take all day.”  The new No Tools models make that happen for, well . . . everyone.

Look for other No Tools advancements from the team at American Standards Brands soon, and I didn’t type that here.

*******

Thanks for reading and have a happy weekend. ~jb

*******