We are building a new home. We have had a Briggs Vacuity toilet in our old home and it was great. Our builder says he's had nothing but problems so he wants to use a Gibson toilet rather than the Briggs Vacuity I specified. I am not familar with a Gibson. Can you please advise? Since toilet now only get to flush with 1.6 gallons, I do know that if I don't get a good one, I will hate myself with every flush.

I don't think that you need help with your toilet, but rather your contractor.
A letter from your lawyer to the installer which states that you are paying for the work and thus entitled to specify your choice of product. To violate that trust could prove rather expensive to any contractor.
Briggs is a fine manufacturer and if thats what you want and specify... that is what you should get, period.
I've never heard of the company, Gibson. I have heard of several other American Made Brands:
ToTo-USA
Kohler-USA
American Standard-USA
Crane- USA
Eljier-USA

to made just a few. Don't let any contractor try and take advantage of you. What brand of faucets are they going to try to install?
Best Wishes on your new home !

I agree with wheelchair that there's a problem with the builder. I would, however, first recommend that you try to resolve the situation amiably rather than resorting to lawyers. Gibson makes very nice guitars, but I've never heard of Gibson toilets. It may be that it fits into the builders' fixture allowance, and a Vacuity would be acceptable if you were to pay the cost difference. If the builder has an allowance for a $100 toilet and you're asking for a $200 toilet, that's a situation that needs to be resolved. Wheelchair also had a good point about going over the other fixtures to see if they're to your liking. If the builder has a fixture allowance for competitive fixtures and that's not what you want, an adjustment should be discussed, the sooner the better.
-Steve G

AHHH! Flashbacks!

I can't stand when a builder insists on a certain product - especially when it isn't what either the homeowner or the plumber wants installed.

Sometimes I wonder if they get kickbacks or rebates from some of these second rate manufacturers. I used to install $25 Eljer faucets in $300,000 dollar homes before I went out on my own. When I asked the builder why he was having us put these cheap faucets in such a nice home, I was - shall we say - scolded.

I'll tell you why some builders are such hardheads about fixtures. This actually is a simple lesson in builder economics. The builder is in this to make a profit. It is not his home or his hobby. Keep that always in mind to help you try understand his thinking.

The builders that are putting up homes that are not in the "high end" catagory for the area or especially "track" houses in a neighborhood, are dealing with the plumbing contractors that have given them (the builder) the lowest price.

That lowest price is based on every house being roughly the same from the rough in work to the trim. They use mostly "builder grade" items to keep the cost down and get the home built quickly with the least labor possible. Many "track house" house plumbers here do a rough-in in a day, and a trim out in a day. Anything new adds time for them to figure out and they charge through the nose for it.

These builders, even the ones putting up some of the higher priced track houses, do not like the home owner (HO) to mess with any of their designs. They may let the HO change the floor plane some, but you will find a hefty price increase for anything that effects his subs!

This is part to discourage you from wanting it, and part to cover him for the extra headache of dealing more with guys that usually are just a couple of phone calls and one invoice from start to finish.

Now, if you have ever been in one nieghborhood looking at houses and then drove to the next one and seen an appreciable price increase for very little, if any extra square footage, that is a builder putting in more upgrades into the base price of the house and may more willing to work with you.

A true "custom builder" will let you pick anything you want and get back to you with the pricing. You will pay substantially more for that house, but the builder does most or all of them this way, has the connections to do it right and you get what you pay for.

I hope that helps explain it. If your builder is a real apin to deal with, I would also sugest moving on the better one. Many times their subs are just about the same...quality.

Good luck.