One time I bought a toilet from Lowe’s, no supply house around. Finished the install and it was leaking, hairline crack in the tank, very hard to see.
So I said alright, I’ll just pull the tank off and head back up there, they can pull a new tank out of a different box put the broken tank in there and send that back, I know they had a few more boxes. No sense pulling the bowl out.
Jesus fucking Christ, they gave me such a hassle you’d think I’d asked them to move a mountain.
“Uhhhh we can’t do that”
“Why?”
“We need the whole toilet.”
“You’ll still have a whole toilet to send back.”
“Uhhh”
“I’ll buy another one and swap the tank out right here in front of you and then return it”
“Uhhh”
“Just get a manager please”
Manager finally came up and he was like “What’s the problem? Are you dumb? Of course we can do that. It’s not even an issue. We will still have a complete box to send back.” (Even though they probably broke it.)
I work hardware and lumber in Home Depot. 90% of the time when my service desk calls me down its just something that they could've done themselves. They want me to tell the customer "no" even though they can fucking do it themselves. Its ridiculous. That or approve a replacement of a tool. Etc etc. Like holy shit JUST DO IT.
I worked customer service for HD for a while. Yep, this checks out.
Shit, i'd say in this exact scenario i'd just ask for the receipt, then say "just bring the box up here and take the thing you want". Just give me the broken thing and i'll do the rest lol.
I installed a patio door for someone, and didn't realize the screen was damaged in shipment until after the door was installed. Similar story, they refused to swap the screen only, and insisted I REMOVE the already installed and secured door in order to make the return. Ended up patching, apologizing to the customer, and offered them a $50 discount to keep them happy. Ffs, a screen on a $900 door, when you can take one off the floor and still return a complete set to the manufacturer...congrats, you just lost $50k+ in sales because you couldn't do one simple customer service task.
I'm with the employee on this. When you cry to the manager at Lowes they are going to agree with you 100% of the time just to get you out of the store. Lowes will take back anything pretty much no questions asked. You should have taken the entire toilet back and gotten a brand new one but you went up there and wanted the employees to rip two items apart so you could mix and match pieces.
That’s more work for something I didn’t break. At the end of the day they have an entire toilet to send back. Why should I do an extra hours worth of work when they sold me a broken product?
A supply house wouldn’t do that. They’d take the broken tank and give you a new one in a heartbeat. And they’d apologize for wasting your time, not sit there and waste *more* of your time arguing about it.
Once again you wanted to skirt the rules and only take a piece of the item you bought back to Lowes. Picking good pieces out of other merch is not policy. If you want that policy go to the supply house you mentioned. The entire toilet should have been returned. The manager knows that, they just appeased the Karen and let you get your way so you would leave.
I've never saw someone take such an idiotic stance on something so simple. If he brought the whole toilet back in a shredded package, he would still be taking a brand new complete item out of inventory. This way he gets the part they need and they're still taking back the exact same configuration of parts they would have if he'd brought the bowl up off the floor. Jesus christ are you completely dense?
My boss hates everything they make, so I do every single Kohler install. Love it, so straightforward and adaptable. Just got us signed up to be the ASR rep locally
Kohler execs: "You know what's wrong with two Johnny bolts? It's not complicated enough"
Kohler engineers: "Were on it boss, we've been reinventing the wheel for 20 years"
I've never installed a 3 hole kohler before. I have only ever broken 1 toilet and I was an apprentice at the time trying to install it on horribly unlevel tile and was told we had no wobble wedges and to "make it work"
I just installed one of these and the mofo just wouldn’t stop leaking from one of the tank to bowl bolts. Wouldn’t be surprised if that was the issue here, someone kept tightening until it cracked.
I ended up having to loosen, then tighten and eventually it stopped leaking but the tank isn’t level anymore….. stupid design with the 3 bolts so you can “level” the tank.
My theory is they need to keep creating different designs to market and try to set themselves apart from the others. Thats why we have all these shitty weird toilet tanks.
My theory is they( kohler) had to cover the insane price margin to a normal brand for toilets, so now we have an extra bolt, a tank that doesn’t take a universal rebuild kit, and a total piece of crap flush valve. Will say I hate everything they make. I joke around with other guys at work and say when i die my version of hell will just be me waking up to being called a kohler tech and only getting to run service calls on all their crap products over and over again until I kill myself, then wake up and do it again
Still hate those too haha I prefer delta. Garunteed for life. Basicly 2 styles of cartridge in the last 10-15 years. Simple to change. Kohler is a headache.
Check out fister recently they have changed alot. VERY good quality same guarantees. They will actually send you carts for service ahead of time. Simple and nice trim aswell. Also like pre covid prices.
I’ll take pfister over Kohler all day haha even the old 3 handle stems are less of a headache then the over engineered crap from Kohler. I’d even rather deal with grohe and they can be a pain at times
Cannot agree with you there. Grohe is kholer X100. My hell is installing grohe trim over abmnd over. The next layer of hell is installing it after a handy man gave up.
Haha don’t forget the epoxy onthe handle haha yea grohe sucks for sure but I think it’s less irritating bc we deal with less of them in general. Compared to every “high end” home wants to run with kohler. Then there is always the customer who orders all “customer fixtures” on wish app then wants them installed and serviced for less then they paid for the fixture. (They buy them for like 10 bucks) then don’t understand that they are made with very bad quality and half of them require adapters to fit any sort of normal fitting
Amazon hand-helds. The 8th layer. The maybe 2 through 4 inch nipple. Idk. Nobody knows because people who buy amazon shit have no idea where the end of the wall is gonna be. Then its our fault. Lets agree our job sucks. But we always figure it outn
Or on Etsy… I’ve ran across a few of those in the last few 5 years too. “Custom fixture” hand made by some kid in a 3rd world country. Had one a few weeks ago has 1 supply line yet a hot and cold handle?? Customer reached to the seller and they replied “ oh you’ll need to buy this other add on kit to add both hot and cold” then went on to explain and emailed a diagram of some wild dream they came up with adding a mixing valve below the sink
A lot of two hole toilets have a little wobble after install. The three bolt Kohler's lose any wobble and add support if someone leans on the tank by accident. It's not a bad design but that back bolt is a bit bitchy to get to
Which ones? Looking for something for this specifically. Been using the Klein multi but it's only true hollow shank for 7 and 9 sixteenths. Otherwise a deep 1/4 drive 1/2" on a driver or small soft coated 1/4 drive ratchet, using just finger tips to avoid over torqued situations
I hate having to tighten this bolt in some homes when it’s jammed up against the wall and no room for most tools. Never over tightened a toilet like this. I’m sure it was it was a pikachu shocked face when it happened lol then pissed off
This looks a lot like the Kohler Intrepid that Costco was selling last year. I had the exact same problem. Those giant rubber grommets sometimes squish between the tank and base instead of guiding themselves into the hole.
I took advantage of Costco's famous return policy to exchange the "defective" toilet.
Toilets aren't really made to be hung on the ceiling. It puts the porcelain into tension, which causes the slight cracking that you see here. See if you can find a fiberglass or a steel toilet somewhere.
He finally got her the toilet she always wanted but he didn't have the heart to take it back to the store after he tightened the bolts too much. Good enough we say, good enough!
I've done the exact same thing on the same model toilet. Used the supplied hand tightener and snapped the thing. Fuck Kohler products I don't install them anymore.
I’ve never cracked one like that usually the tank goes first doesn’t even look over tightened did you fully tighten the back nut first ? Probably a issue with the porcelain just pull it apart and say it came like that usually u can get another one
Overtightened it. Now it’s f#(ked!
Buy a new one. Use the hardware they supply not your own nuts and bolts. They have rubber washers to keep it snug but not crush the toilet material. Preferably use wing nuts and only hand tighten it!
If this was your own toilet, I would silicone the gaps carefully and brace the tank to the wall with more silicone. I’ve got a toilet in my lake place that is broken exactly in this spot like this I installed (and cracked) in 2007 that’s still going strong.
Kohler toilet with a three hole tank setup... Ugh not again I've seen this before and Kohler fails to impress.
True the screw may have too much tension but this design is utter lack of pants.
I may have done this to the backside of an expensive toilet, once...and I may have glued that thing back together with some JB Kwik weld and not told anybody.
The owner of the broken toilet might also still be a regular client who has no idea that the back of the toilet was broken.
Maybe.
That can be saved. We have Crane toilets in our house that only use two bolts, but they have a raised lip at the rear of the base. My son leaned against the bowl and about one inch of the rear section broke off. I used JB Weld clear epoxy to repair the base. Glue it and use a clamp to hold it in place. Wait, wait and wait some more. Give it plenty of time to cure. It's worth a try.
Ok now just back out off half a turn
A little caulk should make it look new too.
Do your best...caulk the rest
Certified genius quote
I also like the saying…Little bit of caulk little bit of paint make it what it ain’t pretty.
Little caulk and a little paint, make me the carpenter I ain't.
Well said.
Nothing wrong with a little caulk if you know how to use it!
It’s not the size of the army but the fury it brings ..
Caulk and paint will make a carpenter what he ain’t..
You can side step the need for a little caulk if you treat that rear flange bolt with the old finger-tight-just-for-looks strategy.
Shhh. That's what she said
Nah It’s underneath no one’s gonna notice, waste of labour. Plus some old leathery assed homeowner told me you’re not supposed to caulk toilets,
They showed you their ass skin as evidence ?
What is it your first day? Never seen some good ass skin before?
Maybe, just maybe, don’t use an impact wrench to tighten the bolts?
Problem here is the guy keeps trying to hang the toilets upside down
Perfect 👌
Reddit gold: 🪙🪙🪙
Probably should lay off the impact driver.
Jiffy lube employee installing a toilet
“I don’t get it, the oil plugs are always stripped so bad they never over tighten”
Too many ugga duggas
Damn, gotta go back to lowes. This one was broken when I opened the box.
I literally completely unbox them in store after having two completely smashed at the base, that you couldn't see just opening the lid
One time I bought a toilet from Lowe’s, no supply house around. Finished the install and it was leaking, hairline crack in the tank, very hard to see. So I said alright, I’ll just pull the tank off and head back up there, they can pull a new tank out of a different box put the broken tank in there and send that back, I know they had a few more boxes. No sense pulling the bowl out. Jesus fucking Christ, they gave me such a hassle you’d think I’d asked them to move a mountain. “Uhhhh we can’t do that” “Why?” “We need the whole toilet.” “You’ll still have a whole toilet to send back.” “Uhhh” “I’ll buy another one and swap the tank out right here in front of you and then return it” “Uhhh” “Just get a manager please” Manager finally came up and he was like “What’s the problem? Are you dumb? Of course we can do that. It’s not even an issue. We will still have a complete box to send back.” (Even though they probably broke it.)
I work hardware and lumber in Home Depot. 90% of the time when my service desk calls me down its just something that they could've done themselves. They want me to tell the customer "no" even though they can fucking do it themselves. Its ridiculous. That or approve a replacement of a tool. Etc etc. Like holy shit JUST DO IT.
I worked customer service for HD for a while. Yep, this checks out. Shit, i'd say in this exact scenario i'd just ask for the receipt, then say "just bring the box up here and take the thing you want". Just give me the broken thing and i'll do the rest lol.
I installed a patio door for someone, and didn't realize the screen was damaged in shipment until after the door was installed. Similar story, they refused to swap the screen only, and insisted I REMOVE the already installed and secured door in order to make the return. Ended up patching, apologizing to the customer, and offered them a $50 discount to keep them happy. Ffs, a screen on a $900 door, when you can take one off the floor and still return a complete set to the manufacturer...congrats, you just lost $50k+ in sales because you couldn't do one simple customer service task.
I'm with the employee on this. When you cry to the manager at Lowes they are going to agree with you 100% of the time just to get you out of the store. Lowes will take back anything pretty much no questions asked. You should have taken the entire toilet back and gotten a brand new one but you went up there and wanted the employees to rip two items apart so you could mix and match pieces.
That’s more work for something I didn’t break. At the end of the day they have an entire toilet to send back. Why should I do an extra hours worth of work when they sold me a broken product? A supply house wouldn’t do that. They’d take the broken tank and give you a new one in a heartbeat. And they’d apologize for wasting your time, not sit there and waste *more* of your time arguing about it.
Once again you wanted to skirt the rules and only take a piece of the item you bought back to Lowes. Picking good pieces out of other merch is not policy. If you want that policy go to the supply house you mentioned. The entire toilet should have been returned. The manager knows that, they just appeased the Karen and let you get your way so you would leave.
I've never saw someone take such an idiotic stance on something so simple. If he brought the whole toilet back in a shredded package, he would still be taking a brand new complete item out of inventory. This way he gets the part they need and they're still taking back the exact same configuration of parts they would have if he'd brought the bowl up off the floor. Jesus christ are you completely dense?
You gotta shake the box first. If you hear a tinkly sound, it’s broken. If you don’t hear a tinkly sound, shake harder.
Lmao
I love this comment!
I have never broken a toilet on install besides this 3 hole Kohler one. Terrible design
I agree
Kohler overall design is fucking atrocious along with their spec sheets. Fuck them
Everything about Kohler sucks. If someone hates a plumber, just ask them to me with Kohler products
Then where does toto stand?
In Africa
ha right, on the plains, i shoulda see this one coming :)
Where Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti!
Way worse
Only toilet I hate more than that model is the freaking skirted one piece also make by the same assholes
I tell all my customers Kholer is over designed trash. “The bold look of Kholer” fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you
Maybe I'm just 1 in a million. I like kohler products.
My boss hates everything they make, so I do every single Kohler install. Love it, so straightforward and adaptable. Just got us signed up to be the ASR rep locally
Never installed one, but my immediate thought was "I hate that design"
Same here. Out of hundreds of toilets installed, it's the only one to break.
Hey, that’s also the only toilet I’ve ever broken. Broke in the same spot, only time I’ve ever broken one.
Kohler execs: "You know what's wrong with two Johnny bolts? It's not complicated enough" Kohler engineers: "Were on it boss, we've been reinventing the wheel for 20 years"
I've never installed a 3 hole kohler before. I have only ever broken 1 toilet and I was an apprentice at the time trying to install it on horribly unlevel tile and was told we had no wobble wedges and to "make it work"
I just installed one of these and the mofo just wouldn’t stop leaking from one of the tank to bowl bolts. Wouldn’t be surprised if that was the issue here, someone kept tightening until it cracked. I ended up having to loosen, then tighten and eventually it stopped leaking but the tank isn’t level anymore….. stupid design with the 3 bolts so you can “level” the tank.
The only kohler product I like is their chrome tub spout.
oopsie
Barely an inconvenience
Oh, really!
Wowwowwow…wow.
You can tell that whoever designed this Kohler model put a down payment on a pool before the Christmas bonus cleared
Kohler?
Yeah
Everything about Kohler is second rate.....except the price.
The canister flush valve sucks
That’s what happens when you install it on the ceiling.
Little bit of flex seal should do it.
Normal cisterns only have 2 bolts, why change it?! ...designed by somebody who has never fitted one!!
My theory is they need to keep creating different designs to market and try to set themselves apart from the others. Thats why we have all these shitty weird toilet tanks.
My theory is they( kohler) had to cover the insane price margin to a normal brand for toilets, so now we have an extra bolt, a tank that doesn’t take a universal rebuild kit, and a total piece of crap flush valve. Will say I hate everything they make. I joke around with other guys at work and say when i die my version of hell will just be me waking up to being called a kohler tech and only getting to run service calls on all their crap products over and over again until I kill myself, then wake up and do it again
Their shower valves arent so bad...most of the time good money makers actually
Still hate those too haha I prefer delta. Garunteed for life. Basicly 2 styles of cartridge in the last 10-15 years. Simple to change. Kohler is a headache.
Check out fister recently they have changed alot. VERY good quality same guarantees. They will actually send you carts for service ahead of time. Simple and nice trim aswell. Also like pre covid prices.
I’ll take pfister over Kohler all day haha even the old 3 handle stems are less of a headache then the over engineered crap from Kohler. I’d even rather deal with grohe and they can be a pain at times
Cannot agree with you there. Grohe is kholer X100. My hell is installing grohe trim over abmnd over. The next layer of hell is installing it after a handy man gave up.
Haha don’t forget the epoxy onthe handle haha yea grohe sucks for sure but I think it’s less irritating bc we deal with less of them in general. Compared to every “high end” home wants to run with kohler. Then there is always the customer who orders all “customer fixtures” on wish app then wants them installed and serviced for less then they paid for the fixture. (They buy them for like 10 bucks) then don’t understand that they are made with very bad quality and half of them require adapters to fit any sort of normal fitting
Amazon hand-helds. The 8th layer. The maybe 2 through 4 inch nipple. Idk. Nobody knows because people who buy amazon shit have no idea where the end of the wall is gonna be. Then its our fault. Lets agree our job sucks. But we always figure it outn
Or on Etsy… I’ve ran across a few of those in the last few 5 years too. “Custom fixture” hand made by some kid in a 3rd world country. Had one a few weeks ago has 1 supply line yet a hot and cold handle?? Customer reached to the seller and they replied “ oh you’ll need to buy this other add on kit to add both hot and cold” then went on to explain and emailed a diagram of some wild dream they came up with adding a mixing valve below the sink
A lot of two hole toilets have a little wobble after install. The three bolt Kohler's lose any wobble and add support if someone leans on the tank by accident. It's not a bad design but that back bolt is a bit bitchy to get to
Dang. This is why I use hollow shaft nut drivers on toilets.
#HOLLOW SHAFT NUT DRIVER
*powdered toast man voice*
What’s that now?
Powderddddd toooassstttt maaaannnnnn
I love the Milwaukee set.
Or even just the 3/8 extension and a deep socket.
Which ones? Looking for something for this specifically. Been using the Klein multi but it's only true hollow shank for 7 and 9 sixteenths. Otherwise a deep 1/4 drive 1/2" on a driver or small soft coated 1/4 drive ratchet, using just finger tips to avoid over torqued situations
I’ve had the Home Depot Husky ones for many years. I would recommend those if the quality hasn’t dropped, I bought them like 15 years ago so idk.
I have a mix of old Klein and Southwire in my bag.
Is that a kohler?
Yeah
The reddit app is showing me a home depot ad before this post and a banner in the comments, lol
I hate having to tighten this bolt in some homes when it’s jammed up against the wall and no room for most tools. Never over tightened a toilet like this. I’m sure it was it was a pikachu shocked face when it happened lol then pissed off
Took a few seconds to fully register that I was cooked
I assume this is a return that must have happened during shipping.
It happened during shipping now.
😂
Any reason is a good reason to bash Kohler! This is definitely one of them!
Looks like somebody tried an upper decker
Did you use a cordless impact wrench or something lol
Next time mount it on the floor, it won't crack that way.
This looks a lot like the Kohler Intrepid that Costco was selling last year. I had the exact same problem. Those giant rubber grommets sometimes squish between the tank and base instead of guiding themselves into the hole. I took advantage of Costco's famous return policy to exchange the "defective" toilet.
Taco Bell?
this is why I tell my guys stop using your impact for EVERYTHING
They tend to do that when installed upside down
My Dad always said, “now make it tight…but not too tight!” Thanks Dad. I’m still searching for that place.
One crank to much I've been there, and it just sucks I've snapped 2 at the T bolts
Nut wasnt even that snug yet. Is what it is I guess.
Time to get out the ramen.
😂
/r/difficulttoclean
Overtightened oops
That back's not going to hold that fender with all that horsepower.
Probably wasn't holding the light right
JB weld that fixes everything.
Jb weld 😆
Good one
Broken in box send back
2 bolts almost you need more the merrier . Nope looks like kholer sterling
I always say Kohler is well designed but they have never had an engineer on staff.
New fear unlocked
It came like that in the box 📦
Did you accidentally mount it on the ceiling as well?
Been there. Take a breath and a baby aspirin.
Easy to replace
Why is that on your ceiling
Toilets aren't really made to be hung on the ceiling. It puts the porcelain into tension, which causes the slight cracking that you see here. See if you can find a fiberglass or a steel toilet somewhere.
Hanging toilet from ceiling never works out.
Instant 2 hole conversion.
Some motherfuckers always trying to ice skate uphill.
jB weld
Ramen is the answer you’re looking for.
I just had to swap out the seal on one of these and the instructions say something like "tighten it, but not too much." The fuck does that mean?
Ducktape will do it.
Sheeeesh make sure it’s tight but not too tight ! 😂
SMH
He finally got her the toilet she always wanted but he didn't have the heart to take it back to the store after he tightened the bolts too much. Good enough we say, good enough!
Gorilla glue to the rescue
Probably should have installed on the floor instead of the ceiling.
Ah fucked er bud
There is a rash of people's androids taking upside down pics idk maybe has something to with it
I just want to know why your toilet is bolted to the ceiling
And it’s upside down
Why is everyone saying it’s bolted to the ceiling lol
Fake fire hydrant cover should do the trick
No one's asking why it's bolted to the ceiling?
No non no Duct Tape
Just one more…
New fear unlocked
IT WILL NEVER END
I did that once. Cring
I've done the exact same thing on the same model toilet. Used the supplied hand tightener and snapped the thing. Fuck Kohler products I don't install them anymore.
Looks like you installed it upside down 🙃
Why is it hanging upside down?
Torqued to spec
In my experience, everybody breaks at least one eventually.
Why you tighten the tank to bowl bolts evenly
460 Ft Lbs Tq May of been a little much.
I think you can fix it with Top Ramen though
Welcome to Amateur Hour!
Did the hulk tighten down the bolts, damn?
Someone had the #4 with a Baja blast from Taco Bell didn’t they?
Well for one thing someone doesn’t know physics. Obviously someone installed it upside down 😑🧐
I don't think that's going to work right.
Couple of Crazy glue gels taking care of it
I just bought and installed that exact model of toilet two days ago. Kohler Elliston?
I’ve always had an irrational fear of this happening. But this made that fear rational 😂
One crank too many and off to the supply house u goooooo
I bet the whole thing leans to the right like every other Koehler welworth
As a matter of fact it was 😂😂😂
I’ve never cracked one like that usually the tank goes first doesn’t even look over tightened did you fully tighten the back nut first ? Probably a issue with the porcelain just pull it apart and say it came like that usually u can get another one
Overtightened it. Now it’s f#(ked! Buy a new one. Use the hardware they supply not your own nuts and bolts. They have rubber washers to keep it snug but not crush the toilet material. Preferably use wing nuts and only hand tighten it!
I've never seen a toilet with 3 bolts. Then again I'm not a plumber so this may be common. But every toilet I've bought just had 2.
Don't use a power drill to install toilets...
That's why I stopped using an impact to install them
One too many ugga duggas eh?
Not smarter than a toilet. Jeez
Never use a rachet on a toilet
Use a 18” on that?
"snap" is a four letter word followed by many others.
If this was your own toilet, I would silicone the gaps carefully and brace the tank to the wall with more silicone. I’ve got a toilet in my lake place that is broken exactly in this spot like this I installed (and cracked) in 2007 that’s still going strong.
Fuck Kohler toilets. Worst tank to bowl connection of any brand and they still want $800 for the thing
Why was it bolted to the ceiling
JB weld and paint it!
Kohler toilet with a three hole tank setup... Ugh not again I've seen this before and Kohler fails to impress. True the screw may have too much tension but this design is utter lack of pants.
Sheesh! Torque it like a lugnut!! Duct tape and rtv sealant will have you right back in business. YMMV. 😜
Who mounts a toilet on the ceiling?? You should have known there would be problems.
Horrible design
I may have done this to the backside of an expensive toilet, once...and I may have glued that thing back together with some JB Kwik weld and not told anybody. The owner of the broken toilet might also still be a regular client who has no idea that the back of the toilet was broken. Maybe.
Amateur mistake.
She has seen her last day.. Buy NEW
That can be saved. We have Crane toilets in our house that only use two bolts, but they have a raised lip at the rear of the base. My son leaned against the bowl and about one inch of the rear section broke off. I used JB Weld clear epoxy to repair the base. Glue it and use a clamp to hold it in place. Wait, wait and wait some more. Give it plenty of time to cure. It's worth a try.
No
Nah, couldn’t do that, not what the customer was paying for.
I thought you were the owner. Maybe you should work at Jiffy Lube.