Wife wants to do some work in the bathroom. House is about 20 years old. We have original toilet and shower head. Toilet is frequently sluggish. We keep a plunger next to it. I have been told it is a water saving toilet. All of the houses in the neighborhood had the same problem. Shower does not have as much pressure as we would like. It is also supposed to be a water saver. Does any one have any ideas or suggestions on the best, most trouble free and powerful toilet and shower head?

I took off the shower head and removed the restrictor plate in this house. In the last one I drilled out the hole inside the shower head (they used a small 1/4” inlet to restrict)

The toilets are designed to use a certain amount, unless you find an old toilet you really can’t change that-but you can get a new one that uses the smaller amount yet still flushes-I can’t remember what brand it is but there’s one tha can flush a whole bowl of golf balls

You might want to check your water pressure. If it’s low then that can cause issues, most city water is set to be 60-85. Sometimes there is a device on the house side of the meter that you can use to adjust it to higher.

WRT having to use a plunger-I’d have a company come and run a camera thru the pipe. People flush those “flushable” wipes, which are not really flushable, as they get caught on the edges of pipe sections or bends/dips in sewage lines. Or you could have roots in the line.

I spent $400 at my kids house 8 years ago and found the line dipped and had roots in two places, with the closest tree over 50’ away. It was worth it. We had a cutter run thru the line, and he puts some stuff to kill the roots every six months and hasn’t had to have it run thru again.

Search YouTube for…

“remove shower head water restrictor”

Shower head, unlike road head, can be difficult and lead to her choking on the water.

I’d recommend High Sierra show heads. Very happy with the results with the low flow system in my mansion. Have both the classic and half dome rain heads.

I strongly recommend the Kohler's
Highline Classic - Comfort Height - two-piece elongated
1.6 gpf with Pressure Lite

Be sure and get the 1.6 gpf or resign yourself to multiple flushes.

Don't be fooled by the golf ball trick with the American Standard Champion. You're flushing turds not small, perfectly round balls.

We have Toto Drake toilets and they flush strong.

As for the shower head take yours off and remove the little screen insert.
I had the same issue it was decent when we bought it but got real slow. The mesh was covered in crystal stuff.
Popped out the screen and wowza what a difference.

I just replaced a second toilet with the American Standard Champion. They have a strong flush, but I needed to adjust the tank water level up a little to change the level from what the installer did, and it now flushes like it should.

I like them but am pissed that when the install was finished we found out the wrong tank lid was shipped, so now I am waiting until March for the right one to get here.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
We have Toto Drake toilets and they flush strong.

Second that

Based on recommendations from here, I recently replaced both of our sluggish 18 y/o American Standard toilets with Toto Drake 1.6 gpf toilets. The taller (universal?) height, elongated bowl, and Toto soft close seats. Couldn’t be happier. It should be noted that Toto cautions you against using bleach, abrasives, and other harsh cleaners due to their CEFIONTECT finish, which could get damaged. My understanding is that it’s simply a very microscopically fine/smooth layer of ceramic designed to assist in smooth flushing and to prevent stuff from sticking to/building up inside the toilet. No big deal, just need to pick the right cleaner is all.

There was a small o-ring on the flow restrictor of our Delta shower head. My wife immediately asked if I had done something to the shower because it works much better now.

I did not remove the metal screen because it catches debris and prevents the debris from clogging the rest of the shower head.

All good ideas, removing the flow restrictor in the shower head helps. As for the toilet you can change the internals, out, raise the pipe/water level so that the tank holds more water and that will help with flushing.

You can get the parts at any ACE, Lowes, Home Depot to change the internals on your toilets, this is what I used in our Toilets. You just need the manufacturer specs so you know which unit to buy.


Link Fluidmaster 400H



As for Toilets, Kohler is what we use, elongated bowl and taller seat height.

If you just want to change your showerhead because, Hammerheads has all metal: https://www.theshowerheadstore...s/hammerhead-showers

I got a showerhead and handheld combo, and I’d like to add an overhead rain head as well.

Personally, I like the valves that have separate temp and volume controls.

I put in a Toto Drake toilet last October and have been very happy with it.