Even in most custom built homes you only pick the fit and finish and not the actual product. This is mainly done for cost reasons since specific products means you need someone to take the time to review existing plans to make sure everything fits and is spec'ed out properly.
See, my perspective is completely skewed. I don’t even know what a custom built home is. I don’t have a house nor any plans to get one but my dad (a civil engineer, usually planning water supply systems) drew up all the plans for my parents’ house and my parents (including the extended family plus friends) really did nearly everything by themselves, and that includes picking out all the interior. Everything is custom about that house. In that context someone telling you which toilet to get is nonsense.
I hope the irony isn't lost on you that this means you did not pick the toilet in your house, just like you found it hard to imagine other people doing!
Ha, I guess you are right. Though my parents might well have taken me with them on one of their many trips to an untold number of stores and I might have actually been present when they picked a toilet. I don’t remember, I was three at the time.
What I wanted to say that I can’t understand not picking the toilet for a house when you build it (or if you decide to renovate a house), I obviously didn’t pick the toilet in my current apartment.
What i'm saying is the customer usually asks for a white toilet that looks like X. The builder says, "Manufacturer Y has something like that. Does this look good?" knowing that manufacturer Y works with his suppliers who will have the exact product at the exact time that they need it.
Sure you can go to a builder and say I want this, this, this, and this, but be ready to pay out the nose for someone to do all the work to make sure they show up correctly and at the appropriate time.
See, my parents are the kind of people who would micromanage that kind of stuff. I mean, I know they would, because they did when they recently renovated their bathroom. This time they paid people to do the actual work (everyone’s getting older), but they made sure to get the right kinds of tiles and drew a plan for the tilers on how to arrange the tiles. Which tiles to cut in which way, and where to, for example, put the patterned tiles.
In America or in Japan? I know for a fact if you are doing a new build or renovation in America your choice of involvement is entirely up to you. Some people pick out specific shower heads and toilets and tile (even on a $250,000 renovation or million dollar new build). Others let professionals pick and choose what they want.
There is an entire industry of show rooms for high end bathrooms and kitchens with salesmen to help you pick out the right bath tub or dishwasher.
