Tiled, now toilet won't fit

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dubele

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Hello,

I tiled my bathroom including behind the toilet. The wall used to have just 1/2" drywall and I removed that for tiling. After installing shims, hardie board, mastic, and tile, the wall is closer to the toilet flange by 1". I dry fitted the toilet and I am not going to be able to use the slots/outlets in the flange...they don't line up. I suppose the original toilet had little to no "wiggle" room the wall to the outlets in the flange. The only thing I can think of is drilling in fasterners down an inche away from the wall....but the outlet hole in the toilet and flange hole won't line up. However, the toilet hole is a bit smaller than the flange hole. Is this an acceptable solution or is there a better one?

Thanks,
Doug
 

Jadnashua

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Usually, you can fudge the location of the toilet maybe 1/4" or so on the flange. Moving it an inch probably won't allow you to get a proper wax seal since the horn on the toilet would be so far off from the sealing surface of the flange.

Measure from the finished wall to the holes for the toilet bolts - that's your rough-in location. Nominally, the toilet was probably a 12" version (and there's normally at least a little gap behind). You may end up needing to either look for a new toilet that will fit, move the toilet flange, or take off the tile behind the back of the toilet.
 

MTcummins

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yeah, many 12" rough toilets area actually a little less than 11" from center of flange to back of tank. if you have an older toilet, its more likely that it uses most/all of the available space.

If you're getting down well below 11" flange center to wall, you may want to look at 10" rough-in toilets, rather than moving the flange.
 

WJcandee

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You should know that an original Toto Drake toilet, CST744E (1.28gpf) or CST744S (1.6gpf) will usually fit on 11", even though it's designed for a 12" rough-in. So if you have 11" or more from the finished wall to the center of the flange, around $200-ish street price from your local plumbing supply could fill your space with one of the best-flushing and well-made toilets out there. Other Totos usually require considerably more (like 11.5 or so), but the original Drake can almost always get in on 11". And if it's tight, you can get another 1/8 to 1/4 inch wiggle room on the basis that you describe and that Jim confirms above.
 

dubele

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Thanks everyone! I have a toilet already and would like to get it in. I will ask one last question. I understand this may not be optimal, but.......and I will explain this simplistically....Am I ok if the hole in the toilet empties in the hole in the flange even though they are centered?? Meaning, I wouldn't want any part of the toilet hole lying over top of the flange. Put another way, the circle of the flange is bigger than the circle of the toilet....Therefore, the circle of the toilet can be moved to the edge of the flange circle and still empty without obstruction of the seating part of the flange. Would this be acceptable???

Also....is it ok if I have the back of the tank resting up against the tile so I can achieve maximum space??
 

Gary Swart

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Moving the toilet over the flange as you describe is the wiggle room that Jim mentioned. As far as having the tank resting against the wall, the toilet will work fine that way, but removing and replacing the tank lid could be a bit tricky.
 

hj

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usually the recess in the bottom of the toilet just fits over the round flange, and if yours is that way, you cannot "move it an inch further" out. Toilet flange bolts NEVER have a "fudge factor". They fit or they do not, period.
 

Jadnashua

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Usually, about 1/4" is the most you can fudge things...the hole in the toilet is only so big and if you use the larger bolts I prefer, maybe a little less - you want the bolts vertical so the nut and washer apply even pressure. Depending on how the flange is designed and installed, it may have narrow slots - if those are used, you only have the slop in the hole in the toilet; if you are using the T-slots, you have a bit more slop, but still are asking for problems if things aren't centered pretty well. More is just asking for problems. The area outside the horn of the toilet is what holds the wax and that must seal with the outer ring on the flange...it isn't all that wide and you can't fudge the wax.
 
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