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Kohler

Kohler • High-Pressure Toilets • Shower Doors • Lawn Mowers

There seems to be a big problem with the Kohler high-pressure toilets. Best case, they don't work very well. Worst case, they explode and flood the house. In neither case is Kohler very interested in helping to solve the problem. Other complaints about Kohler products include their shower doors and lawn mowers.

Catherine of Pella, IA June 26, 2008

Catherine of Pella IA (06/26/08)
We had a shower installed as part of a bathroom remodeling two years ago. The shower leaked through the side and into a wall and then ran under the floor. The whole area rotted out and now we need to replace the floor, baseboard and part of the wall.

The whole area rotted out and now we need to replace the floor, baseboard and part of the wall. We hired a different plumber to look at the shower and he said that the company now recommends caulking the area but didn't at the time of installation. We have had to hire a plumber and replace the floor.

Pete of Mt. Prospect, IL June 15, 2008

Pete of Mt. Prospect IL (06/15/08)
This is really not an official complaint but just to report a problem with the Kohler K-3423 toilets I bought in 2004 which may or may not be a standard on all brands. I accidentally found out about this problem accidentally. The fill-up mechanism turned on while I was cleaning the toilet which means that the water in the tank dropped to the level that will trigger the fill-up mechanism. It could only mean two things.

1. The flapper could be warped that water could leak into the bowl, and

2. The leak is between the flush valve and the beveled rubber gasket.

I called Kohler customer service and explained the problem and as a sign of good pr, send me a replacement flapper and gasket at no cost. Receive the items in 2 days and (correctly, carefully, diligently)install it. Further observation told me I still have the same decreasing level of tank water problem. The flapper was not the cause so it must be the gasket.

After some analysis, I did the ff: 1. Turn off the water source. 2. Flush the tank up to the rim of the flapper seat. 3. Took the flapper off. 4. Observe the bottom edge of the valve seat and there it was, the silent drip, drip, drip coming from a gap between the tank and gasket.

How can that be when the gasket is new and I installed it diligently, carefully and correctly (just hand tightening the big plastic nut at the bottom of the tank, to the point that the valve will not wiggle.

I had to disassemble the flush valve unit again and as I was looking at the big hole at the bottom of the tank, I noticed that it does not look like a perfect circle and voila! the circle has a deviation between 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch.

Since the gasket is almost perfectly rounded and the tank is not, the pressure on all points of the circumference would not be the same considering the beveled shape of the gasket, leak is highly probable as what has happened to mine. What I did afterward was just an experiment. I reverse the gasket installation. The narrow side of the gasket is now up and the wider/flat side is now down. It muted the purpose of the beveled shape but it did work. The drip, drip, drip is gone.

Not sure how many gallons have been wasted but i'm sure it is not minor. E-mailed Kohler about the problem to find out if I maybe entitled to a new replacement tank due to the nature of the defect. Still waiting for a reply.

Terrie of Vancouver, WA June 7, 2008

Terrie of Vancouver WA (06/07/08)
We have built a home well worth over a million dollars. We wanted the best and added the Kohler Water Tile in the Master Bathroom shower. Since using this item means getting your head wet I did not use it but twice and the third time it fell on my husbands head. I contacted the company we purchased it from, George Morlan Plumbing in Portland OR. After spending 20,000 in that store I was given the run around and told we would first need to take the water tile out (plumber needed) and return it before it could be replaced. They wanted to see the product and make certain it was defective. I told them that was not going to happen in this lifetime.

I am an interior designer and not new to this way of dealing with suppliers. Instead I contacted Kohler and after several phone conversations they finally sent a replacement out to us. As of today, we have used it once to make certain it worked. When we came in from working in the yard we again found one of the 4 tiles sitting on the shower floor. This time at least, it did not land on my husbands head. No, our cats are smart but they did not pull out the tile. I will contact Kohler again tomorrow but expect very little if any help. The tiles are not really all they say and I find that it was not only a waste of time and money but a potential life hazard.

George of Corona, CA May 19, 2008

George of Corona CA (05/19/08)
In 1995 I installed a kohler San Rafael one piece toilet for a customer. Kohler # K-3394 (found on the bottom of the toilet lid) This toilet has the pressure clean flushometer tank system. Serial #T94F20198 ( # found inside toilet on flush mechanism)The color of the toilet is Kohler ice gray-95. Color chart can be found on Kohler web site. Something inside the toilet flushing mechanism gave way (broke) and flooded her house. Since the job is 50 miles away I needed to make sure the local plumbing supply house would carry the parts. I called Kohler and was informed that parts for this toilet are no longer available.

As a plumbing contractor this was a shock to me, that I couldn't get parts for a 12 year old toilet. List price for this toilet on Kohlers site is app.975.00. Checked on the web and found other people have had their houses flooded by this toilet. Contacted Kohler and explained the problem. What Kohler is doing about the problem is they will send you out a new toilet to your house @ a cost of 150.00 plus tax. You still need to pay someone to install the toilet. Customer also complained about poor flushing action.Sorry I don't know all the years affected by the unavailability of toilet parts.

Flooded house

Irene of Madison Heights, MI May 11, 2008

Irene of Madison Heights MI (05/11/08)
I have a Kohler elongated toilet K3402FB. This is the worst toilet I have ever had.  The water inside the bowl is always running and I have had plumbers out several times trying to fix it.  There are no parts to replace in inside and I have all gray in the bathroom, the toilet, bathtub, and sink are all Kohler.  Everytime I try to call someone, they are no help whatsoever.  I am 65 years old and need some help with this running toilet.

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