# Case 1 piece lowboy toilet



## brass plumbing (Jul 30, 2008)

Customer asked me to rebuild 2 of his very old Case toilets & I found a Briggs Case site for parts.

I would prefer a Kohler or Gerber, but, would it be worth the trouble to rebuild or replace?

Thanks, Brass Plumbing


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

It's a good toilet and flushes very quiet.

Whether or not it's worth it pretty much depends on whether or not your customer believes they are getting their money's worth from the result an expensive rebuild can provide.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

These guys will have the parts you need, if you decide to repair the W/C's. http://www.pbplumbingparts.com


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## smoldrn (Oct 4, 2010)

The Case toilets were the Cadillac of ****terz back in the day. A ballcock used to be around $100, but that was long ago.


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## rob the plumber (Oct 21, 2011)

Universal stocks replacement case parts. Definitely cool old toilets. I think they have been out of business for like 50 years.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*throw them out*

throw them out and talk them into a TOTO

I have yet to see a decent after-market replacement
part for any of the low profile toilets.....
Especially KOHLER:furious:

they will sell you something from china made out of plastic that will probably last about 9 months, then you are going to be in trouble...wehn they expect you to "adjust" the parts over and over again:yes:.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

The parts are very expensive. Before repairing I would inform them of a price to replace. Keep the footprint in mind you will not match the footprint.

Close by is a sub division that has nothing but briggs case toilets.Within 2 years the new parts will be hissing and taking a longer time to fill. Make sure to install the proper shutoff valve to get the full volume of water to work it properly. Too many plumbers use a 5/8 x 3/8 stop when it should be a 5/8 x 1/2 shutoff and supply.


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## rob the plumber (Oct 21, 2011)

I consider it a specialized skill to make old stuff like this live again. Too many plumbers just want to rip then out and toss them in the garbage.


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## HOMER (Jun 5, 2011)

case 50 ballcock about $ 275.00 -$ 300.00
your cost
case 62-8 ballcock about $ 200.00 
your cost
(also might need new flush valve ) 
if you want to properly restore and maintain this toilet , i would advise some type of cleaning of mineral deposits,lime,calcifications from the inside of it...like removing toilet ,remove all tank components, capping discharge and filling up with muriatic acid.cover with plastic,let stand 24 hours,carefully remove cap and dispose of waste product.

A lot of work..
not cost effective unless there is a color match requirement or as Mr. Hilliard already said, there is a need to match the footprint of the old toilet.

Case used to match American Standard's colors .
I have a customer with a pink Case toilet that matches the A/S tub and two basins..
it took me 20 years to convince her to change the white Case toilet she had in the master bath.( I was married to that toilet)


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## rob the plumber (Oct 21, 2011)

Funny, I'm currently married to a case toilet myself that an old lady just loves.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

It’s easy to keep feeding repair money to keep an old outdate product alive and running. I used to think that way I until I figured out it is not my decision to make.
 I ran into a 4 bolt Dixie toilet recently and an old Borg Warner avocado. Used to really like the way the old Borg Warner toilets flushed.
Just worked on a bone Briggs Case the other day and had to make it work. Tile guy tiled around the base instead of pulling the heavy toilet when they removed carpet from a bathroom.


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## plumberinlaw (Jan 13, 2010)

If you are going to throw them away let me know I will come pick them up


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

rob the plumber said:


> I consider it a specialized skill to make old stuff like this live again. Too many plumbers just want to rip then out and toss them in the garbage.


Well stated.

My disclaimer in thus regard is that I AM NOT a "service plumber", but rather mostly nee construction with a very miniscule amount of service blended in... that being said, thus blanket statement does not discriminate solely against our trade, but seems to be the norm anymore, and goes as follows;

"The tradespersons of tomorrow are not, in fact, being trained to be tradespersons. Instead, we are slowly giving way to an army of highly skilled "parts changers"...


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Those old Case/Briggs toilets are probably one of the finest ever made.

Granted the parts are expensive, but properly done it can probably go for another 50 years with a few flush ball changes....

It would be a cold day in hell when I ripped one of those out and replaced it with a Mexican Standard toilet... :laughing:

Tough choice with a good Toto though...


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## PlumberDave (Jan 4, 2009)

About a month ago I rebuilt a 1954 briggs $295 for the kit. Too many moving parts in the thing, timing and refill were easy to get but so many places for the moving parts to stick. I had to file sand and grease the dam thing way more than you ought to have to. A very bad experience. But the dead husband built the removable drawer bank that fit so perfect around it I couldn't swap it out.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

PlumberDave said:


> About a month ago I rebuilt a 1954 briggs $295 for the kit. Too many moving parts in the thing, timing and refill were easy to get but so many places for the moving parts to stick. I had to file sand and grease the dam thing way more than you ought to have to. A very bad experience. But the dead husband built the removable drawer bank that fit so perfect around it I couldn't swap it out.


Yea, It's definitely not your run of the mill toilet rebuild... :laughing:

It takes some time and know how to fit and adjust all those parts properly and that is an understatement if anything. But done properly and with a few cubic dollars it will coast another 50 years....


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Local car dealer has six of them in his grand old house. When I told Mrs. car dealer how much the new valve cost, she looked like she was going to have a stroke, so I asked her if she'd like to consider a new toilet and gave her a price for a similar styled product. 

She asked "oh, is that for all of them? I said "no ma'am, that's just the one toilet." She said "oh, well, I'd need to replace _all of them_ so they'd *match*, let's just turn that one off in the meantime, we hardly use that toilet anyway." There were two of them in that suite.


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## greenscoutII (Aug 27, 2008)

Richard Hilliard said:


> Make sure to install the proper shutoff valve to get the full volume of water to work it properly. Too many plumbers use a 5/8 x 3/8 stop when it should be a 5/8 x 1/2 shutoff and supply.


I follow your logic, the way it was explained to me is that the 5/8 X 1/2 stops were used back when a typical water closet had a 3.5 or even 5 gallon flush. The toilet needed the larger supply to fill in a reasonable amount of time. With modern 1.6 or 1.28 gallon tanks, I don't think it matters.

Do you use the larger shutoff on all of your W/C installs, or just older stuff?


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## Associated Plum (Nov 4, 2008)

Redwood said:


> Those old Case/Briggs toilets are probably one of the finest ever made.
> 
> Granted the parts are expensive, but properly done it can probably go for another 50 years with a few flush ball changes....
> 
> ...


And believe or not they are designed to not overflow if the bowl stops up.

I don't think there is even a comparison to the old Case/Briggs and the water closets designed today.

The American Standard Vent-A-Way and Kohler Champlains were almost in the same category as Case, but worse to work on.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

greenscoutII said:


> I follow your logic, the way it was explained to me is that the 5/8 X 1/2 stops were used back when a typical water closet had a 3.5 or even 5 gallon flush. The toilet needed the larger supply to fill in a reasonable amount of time. With modern 1.6 or 1.28 gallon tanks, I don't think it matters.
> 
> Do you use the larger shutoff on all of your W/C installs, or just older stuff?


Mainly older 1 piece toilets from the past get the 5/8 x1/2 stop that should not last another 50 years. Who drives a 100 year old car and pay way more for that than a toilet? LOL What was the old Kohler 1 piece that used a can and leather gasket with the float ball. I cannot remember the name of that Kohler or the Elger Patrician, those are not worth repairing however they were excellent flushing toilets and quiet.. The seats alone are well over a 100 bucks cost it is just silly. That is like taking a shallow well pump and taking 5 hours to rebuild it when a new one would cost way less. Every plumber should know how to repair and rebuild the products in our industry however at what point do we draw the line and say the time, money, lack of warranty is not really worth it. The only person that cares about my pride and ability to make the repair is me. 
I like to install the larger shutoff for toilets that have special fill valve to deliver more volume such as the Toto G-max fill valve. Not all plumbers believe this is necessary.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

greenscoutII said:


> I follow your logic, the way it was explained to me is that the 5/8 X 1/2 stops were used back when a typical water closet had a 3.5 or even 5 gallon flush. The toilet needed the larger supply to fill in a reasonable amount of time. With modern 1.6 or 1.28 gallon tanks, I don't think it matters.
> 
> Do you use the larger shutoff on all of your W/C installs, or just older stuff?


 




The 1/2" x 1/2" angle stops are actually required in my code for 1-pc W/C's. There's a footnote, that essentially states the supply pipe can be one nominal pipe size smaller if certain conditions exist. Table 604.5 FL Building Code, Plumbing


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## rob the plumber (Oct 21, 2011)

I think it's important to have the ability to fix the old stuff, but also give the homeowner every viable option.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Tommy plumber said:


> The 1/2" x 1/2" angle stops are actually required in my code for 1-pc W/C's. There's a footnote, that essentially states the supply pipe can be one nominal pipe size smaller if certain conditions exist. Table 604.5 FL Building Code, Plumbing


Some of these older 1 pc toilet have complex valves that actually use some of the incoming water as part of the flush cycle. That is why the larger supply is required.




Richard Hilliard said:


> Mainly older 1 piece toilets from the past get the 5/8 x1/2 stop that should not last another 50 years. Who drives a 100 year old car and pay way more for that than a toilet? LOL What was the old Kohler 1 piece that used a can and leather gasket with the float ball. I cannot remember the name of that Kohler or the Elger Patrician, those are not worth repairing however they were excellent flushing toilets and quiet.. The seats alone are well over a 100 bucks cost it is just silly.


It might be very important to someone that has an older home completely furnished with antiques...

We have a few like that around here where even a 1930's Case toilet is kind of new for the home... :laughing:

But then again money may not be an object there...


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