ABC's of buying and installing a toilet

Joseph A. Peluso knows his toilets.

As the executive director of the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers & Gas Fitters, Peluso reviews 120 toilet manufacturer applications each year, as part of the board's safety review procedures. Though the board doesn't endorse any product or retailer, Peluso says he has plenty of tips on how to pick a toilet.

To begin, identify several models that fit your aesthetics and budget. But don't buy anything yet. Check out the board's home page, mass.gov/dpl/boards/pl/index.htm, and click ``Plumbing Products System." You'll find a searchable database of more than 100,000 plumbing and gas products that the board has reviewed to be sure they meet Massachusetts safety standards.

``Our approval process is not intended to slow anyone down," Peluso says. Rather, ``the board looks out for consumer safety."

Make your search easy by having your favored toilets' manufacturer names, model numbers, and product names. ``If the product is listed," says Peluso, ``it's approved." If you get stuck, call the board: 617-727-9952.

Where to shop for toilets? Chains such as Lowe's and Home Depot sell them, as do specialty stores such as Moniques Bath Showroom in Watertown. Virtual stores, including designerplumbing.com and plumbingsupply.com, make it easy to browse by maker and to search for specialty parts such as soft close seats and bidets.

As for prices, Patrick Viglirolo, manager of Moniques Bath Showroom, says for ``very basic" two-piece toilets, expect to pay at least $150. One-piece toilets, which are more expensive to manufacture, start at $300.

One-piece toilets tend to offer a lower profile than the traditional two-piece products. Bowls come round or elongated. Elongated bowls are popular, says Vinnie Battista, executive salesperson at Moniques, ``because they're better for gentlemen and for hygiene generally. Ninety percent of the toilets we sell have the elongated bowls."

High-efficiency toilets -- those using no more than 1.3 gallons per flush -- are also an option. And new dual-flush toilets come equipped with two buttons, or lever positions: one for liquids (using 0.9-1.1 gallons per flush) and another for solid waste (1.1-1.6 gallons per flush).

To encourage consumers to save water, some Massachusetts cities and towns offer a rebate for swapping out old toilets -- which use up to 7 gallons per flush -- for more efficient products. For example, Sharon offers a $150 rebate for high-efficiency toilets, says Paul Lauenstein, interim chairman of Sharon's Water Management Advisory Committee. Other towns -- including Concord, Reading, Dedham, Westwood, Foxborough, and Mansfield -- also offer rebates. To find out whether your community provides a rebate, call your Department of Public Works.

Once you've picked out your toilet, Peluso recommends finding a licensed plumber, both to purchase and install the toilet. Doing so helps avoid several common mistakes, he says. For one, a plumber can tell you whether your preferred toilet will fit your home's piping system.

``A lot of people buy their toilet themselves, not realizing that because of structural issues in their home, that particular model won't work," Peluso says.

Another benefit when the plumber makes the purchase: ``If there's a problem with the toilet, the plumber would then fix it without an additional charge" -- provided you stipulate this service in the contract, Peluso says.