Although a toilet is not the most glamorous fixture in a house, it certainly is one of the most important and regularly used fixtures. All it takes is a day or two without indoor plumbing to fully appreciate the brilliance of this simple device.

And brilliant it is. Invented by Thomas Crapper in the nineteenth century, the toilet is a relatively simple but ingenious contraption that operates as an interface between a home's water supply and waste system to cleanly and safely eliminate waste. You can see this brilliance in action here: How a Toilet Works.

Though a toilet may be somewhat under-appreciated, it can gain attention in a hurry when it stops working. With this in mind, it pays to have toilets that operate efficiently and trouble-free month after month, year after year.

This section of HomeTips is flush with information about toilets. You will find unbiased guides for buying a new toilet, do-it-yourself steps for installing a toilet, and information that will help you keep your toilet operating properly or enable you to fix it when it doesn't work.