Hello, when we moved in the house, there was a bathroom in the basement but for some reason the toilet was removed as well as the sink and vanity. i found out later the town i live in you needed a permit for a basement bathroom before you could sell and they did not have a permit. Long story short, there is an upflush system down there with the pipes, the vent, everything needed. I redid my bathroom in my master bedroom, my question is can i use the toilet from the master bath? it is just a regular standard toilet? or do i need an upflush toilet to go with the upflush system? An upflush system is around 1000 dollars, a regular toilet is 100-200 dollars. SO i am hoping i could just use a regular standard toilet to connect with the upflush system...any knowledge on this topic? Thanks

I just bought a solid stone freestanding tub as pictured (MTI Alissa, 71" x 37" x 22") off Craigslist. $800 from an interior designer. It was pulled out of a high-end remodel before the first soak, because the owner decided she needed jets. Since it retails for about $6500, it's an understatement to say this tub is out of my normal price league. It's intended to be the centerpiece of a total tear-out master bath remodel. I'm probably going to add a chandelier to make it a focal point (same source - $5000 new, for $500). Since this tub set up is a departure from the planned recycling our surface-mount Jacuzzi tub, we're now headed $1500 over budget before passing go. But it should be worth every penny. With that background in place, let me get to the point. We need a freestanding floor mounted tub filler. Not married to the idea of a hand shower too, but it seems to be the thing to do these days. The budget is blown. $1000 and up is easy to throw at a name brand, much more getting into fancy designer series. Perusing eBay, I can only assume that the U.S.-shipped units that are $500-ish are probably Chinese. So I might as well go the source; ship from China set-ups are around $200 in many cases. They look nice. Would this be a viable option for a cash-strapped remodel? At this point another $1000 or more will take away from something that's hard to change, like tile. If the "China Special" becomes advisable to replace in a couple of years, we could handle that. Am I naïve to assume that it would be easy at that point to swap out for a name brand, or will I be looking at plumbing peculiarities? I know all the arguments about long term parts availability and quality. But I have found some Chinese products to be pretty amazing, especially in a value context. I'm open for suggestions that either support my thought process or at least turn me in cost-savings direction compared to the mainstream retail, made in the USA.