Johnny Gets An Upgrade

Awhile back, I was offered a chance to review a Delta Corrente toilet courtesy of Delta and Home Depot. I was a little hesitant at first, since my house is pretty new, and I don’t really need a toilet. But I do have a friend who was in need. And what kind of friend would I be not to share?

Soooo, I confess I have never installed a toilet before. I recruited the hubs to help, and we watched a few youtube videos on the basics before we headed over to tackle this:

I think this is the original toilet from when the house was built, and it was in pretty bad shape. The seat cushion was one of those soft vinyl-y ones which had a crack in it. But because the toilet is yellow and a non-standard size, they couldn’t find a suitable replacement cushion. Forget the cushion- the whole thing had to go!

After the youtube marathon, I made a list of all the things we would need to remove the old toilet and put in the new one. Much to my surprise, the Corrente model comes with almost everything you need!

It even has a little wrench and screwdriver! You get gloves, rags, a new wax ring, and bolts. However, I do recommend having access to a set of wrenches, an adjustable wrench, and a small hacksaw.  After going into it a little blindly, we realized most of the problems that we encountered were with removal of the old toilet. This isn’t going be a tutorial on how to install a toilet (seriously, youtube is great for this), but rather just some things we came across during our install and our overall experience with the Corrente 🙂

1) The floor bolts were really rusted/stripped (oddly enough, only on the side Mike was working on…mine came off fine!). Mike brought a toolbox of tools and still wished he had brought more wrenches and the propane torch (what? I don’t question…). The hacksaw we brought was too large (you want the small single blade variety, looks like a swordfish nose) to get into the space to cut the bolts, which is what you’re supposed to do if you can’t remove them with a wrench. Presumably you’d be working on a toilet in your own house, so you’d have all your tools. We just had a rude awakening. Also, we’re a bit spoiled because we work on “projects” in our 5 year old home. I’m sure if we replaced our practically brand new toilet, it’d be easy peasy. #firstworldproblems

2) The existing floor wasn’t level, which was a problem for the new larger footprint. Be prepared to buy toilet shims and/or plumber’s putty (these things do exist!).

3) Toilet wax rings are sticky as heck. Wear gloves, try not to get it everywhere!

4) When you get tired of working, take a break for photos.

Once we got the old toilet out and the new toilet level, things went a lot more smoothly. The Corrente comes pretty much put together…all the tank parts are installed so all you have to do is attach the tank to the bowl and connect the water. It also looks pretty sleek, I love the oval-y tank. But here’s the  most awesome feature ever: a quick disconnect seat/lid. Yes, you can remove the seat and lid for easy cleaning, then pop it back on. Elongated bowl + easy to clean = perfect fit for a family with small kiddos.

I haven’t quite finished caulking yet, as you can probably tell from the photo above. A few days after we installed the toilet, I asked them how it had been doing. They reported a noticeable difference in the power of the flush (while using less water). In fact, they found out that there had been water line work in the area causing low pressure. The older upstairs toilet was having trouble flushing, but the new one was not. Nice! Kid tested, family approved.

As the installer, I (well, we) can say that the Corrente itself is easy to install. The problems we had were due to the old toilet situation and would have occurred no matter what new toilet we were putting in. But in the interest of honesty, I didn’t want to just slap up a before and after picture without sharing our experience fully. You know things aren’t always perfect here at LCH…but that toilet sure is!