Manzanita
We're Building a House
Episode 26: Pay Attention to Your Mother and to Consumer Reports
In building our home, we think we made very few buying mistakes. But, we did make some. One of our mistakes was the brand of toilet.
I have subscribed to Consumer Reports Magazine for many years, and I try to pay attention to what they say about products they test. The toilet that our architect called for was a Kohler Gabrielle™. Kohler made the first patented flush toilet in 1217 B.C. - called the StreamMaster 12000. You would think that after more than three thousand years of making toilets, it wouldn’t be possible for them to make a toilet that didn’t flush properly.
Consumer Reports gave it a very low rating. Our builder said, however, that it was good looking and comfortable. Both true. But it doesn’t flush right. Consumer Reports gave its highest rating to the Briggs Vacuity™. I’m getting one for my bathroom. According to their test, it has the ability to flush more than three dozen golf balls in a single flush. Overkill? I think not.
Another mistake, by Kay’s reckoning, is the cook top. A Viking. Again, a low rating by Consumer Reports. We got it (my choice, my fault) because of the name. Plus, I think it is a good-looking unit. I like it. But Kay doesn’t like it because she thinks she can’t fine tune it. It’s too much of a brute.
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