Small Space for toilet

**Sharee** · 04-18-2012, 02:55 PM

My current toilet is 26 inches from the wall to the front of the bowl (12" rough-in) and 14-1/2 inches high and not water efficient. I wanted to get a TOTO. Do any of them measure 26 inches? I have no room to spare! I was told the Promenade at 27-1/2 inches would be the closest. If this is true, is there any other brand out there that will fit my space and do the job with one flush like the TOTO?

**Gary Swart** · 04-19-2012, 01:21 AM

A round bowl Drake measures 26-3/8" according to the spec sheet. There may be some other possibilities as well. My suggestion is that you go to the top of this page and click on "Toilet Reviews". Then select "Shopping" and finally "Toto". This will take you to a description of the Toto models and includes the specifications for each. The usual problem people have when looking for a toilet with a short distance from the wall to the front is a door that opens into the room. One possible, albeit fairly expensive, is to replace the swinging door with a pocket door. Just something to consider.

**BobL43** · 04-19-2012, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Sharee

My current toilet is 26 inches from the wall to the front of the bowl (12" rough-in) and 14-1/2 inches high and not water efficient. I wanted to get a TOTO. Do any of them measure 26 inches? I have no room to spare! I was told the Promenade at 27-1/2 inches would be the closest. If this is true, is there any other brand out there that will fit my space and do the job with one flush like the TOTO?

Sharee,I recently installed a Toto Promenade round bowl toilet and although I placed the floor flange 12 center from the back wall, there is actually almost 2 inches between the back of the toilet. It probably (the flange) could have been placed an inch further back towards the wall. My situation is that there is a doorway next to the toilet and we also needed the shortest toilet to keep the front of the bowl from blocking the doorway much. The builders design had the original toilet 41 years ago where the bowl's front was about even with the doorway opening, but that toilet was smaller then the new ones. No way to install a 24 inch pocket door into a wall that is barely longer than the door either. Well, I have to retract that statement, but I did enough demo and did not want to tear down the bedrrom wall also. One of the photos in this thread shows my Promenade round bowl toilet in this space:http://www.terrylove.com/forums/show...ghlight=BobL43I just looked at the spec sheet again, and 26 1/8 inch is shown for the dimension of this toilet itself, plus 3/4 inch clearance to the back wall (round bowl). I tried uploding the soec sheet, but the file size exceeds the limit here. Toto's web site will allow you to view or download it:
http://www.totousa.com/Portals/0/Pro...SF_G, V.10.pdf

**Gary Swart** · 04-19-2012, 12:25 PM

Rough-in is not your problem. It is true that most toilets rated as 12" rough-in actually will install very nicely on a lot less, but that won't affect your need for 26" wall to front of bowl. I will say that all brands of toilets are pretty similar in this respect, so you should stay with Toto. You can often cheat on the installation by a fraction of an inch by installing the toilet a bit to the rear of flange center, you can't get a whole lot of space, but perhaps 1/2" would be a big enough gain to consider. I concur with Bob that tearing out walls to install a pocket door would be a lot of work and a lot of expense so likely would not be up for serious consideration unless you were into a major remodel anyway.

**jadnashua** · 04-19-2012, 02:20 PM

http://www.johnsonhardware.com/wmindex.htm I've found this company's products to be well made. I have one of their pocket door kits installed. Might a wall-mount sliding door be a possibility? Not having a swinging door in a small room sure makes things easier.

Also, had you considered having the door swing into the hallway rather than into the room? Might be a problem, as someone could block it more easily, but you could get around that by using a bi-swing door.

**BobL43** · 04-19-2012, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by jadnashua

http://www.johnsonhardware.com/wmindex.htm I've found this company's products to be well made. I have one of their pocket door kits installed. Might a wall-mount sliding door be a possibility? Not having a swinging door in a small room sure makes things easier.

Also, had you considered having the door swing into the hallway rather than into the room? Might be a problem, as someone could block it more easily, but you could get around that by using a bi-swing door.

Jim, in my case, the door does swing out into the bedroom. And the Promenade is OK, as we are used to the situation for over 41 years now. It is really not that bad. there used to be another door into the bathroom where the tub is now. I closed that off. that was a 30 inch door and the bathroom was a quick shortcut to the master bedroom.

**jadnashua** · 04-19-2012, 07:05 PM

Building code may have a problem with a room's only door opening out, as it is more easily blocked and can't be cleared from within the room, trapping someone during an emergency, which is why I suggested a bi-swing door might be in order - you'd have a chance of getting out in an emergency.

**BobL43** · 04-20-2012, 04:32 AM

Originally Posted by jadnashua

Building code may have a problem with a room's only door opening out, as it is more easily blocked and can't be cleared from within the room, trapping someone during an emergency, which is why I suggested a bi-swing door might be in order - you'd have a chance of getting out in an emergency.

That's almost funny as I was always worried that if I passed out from a heart attack of stroke, or who knows what, in one of my bathrooms near the door, I would be blocking anybody from getting in and aiding me. I think as an adult, that is more likely to happen than a fire, but I guess you could be right. I have to check building code here for clarity on that. Thanks