Elongated or Round In this Situation?

[KP Texan]

I'm in the process of doing a budget remodel on my guest bathroom, and have decided that I want to replace the old Round bowl toilet which is probably 20 years old or more with a new Toto Drake. My house was built in 1962 and it has a 14.5" rough in but, as far as I can tell, the current toilet was made for a 12". The space between toilet and wall never really bothered me and I don't have enough funds allocated for Toto+unifit adapter.

Here's my dilemma: with elongated bowl, I calculate only 20-3/8" between the front of the Drake to the bathtub. In your experience is this adequate clearance for a toilet? A ran a simulation with a chair and it seems like it would be ok. Round bowl obviously gives me a bit more room and will meet code for minimum 21". Should I just forget about meeting code clearances and go with the elongated bowl? This install would technically never meet code as it is because the toilet flange centerline is only 12-13" from the adjacent wall...

 

[Terry]

With either the round or the elongated bowl, your feet and knees are in the same position.
I would go for the elongated myself.
I lived in a home once where the bathroom was 47" from wall to wall.
With a round bowl, I had 19.5" from end of bowl to the wall. It never bothered me.
And I walked past it to use the shower.

 

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[KP Texan]

Thank you for the reply Terry! That makes perfect sense about the seating position on elongated vs round bowl. The toilet is also at the far end of the tub which I rarely use. A few photos of what I'm working with here:

 

[Wallijonn]

Front the exact centre of the closet flange what is the distance to the wall side? (Not rough-in.) If it is less than 10" then the tank may be too wide to fit.

Since it's not connected, now would be the time to change the water valve to a 1/4 turn valve.

I'd flip the bowl upside down, install the closet flange bolts upside down so that they enter from below, then tape the flat end to the bowl, while also moving the bolt all the way forward, measure to the closest 1/16" from bolt centre to bolt centre, remove the flange bolt, install into the closet flange, and tighten them with a single nut snugly while keeping the same distance as measured before, bolt centre to bolt centre. That should guarantee that the bowl is as far back as possible. Only then would I install the wax ring and position the tank into place.

On a 12" rough-in there is a 1.25" space between the wall and the back of the tank when installing a Drake. And if you have a 14.5" rough-in then the Drake may be 3.25" away. That is a lot of space, no? It should be easy enough to add a wallboard and some stone veneer, or real wood paneling, to flesh it out. Adding a fake wall behind it shouldn't be a problem either.

If your closet flange is easily removable (not part of PVC pipe, for example) you could consider an offset flange adapter, which would allow you a little more leeway. If it is not you might be able to use a continuously adjustable flange like

That's where the previous measurement comes in handy.

 

[KP Texan]

Thanks for all the help guys! Every time I turn around, this old house is being a real pain in one way or another...just makes me want to sell the place.

The rough in is closer to 14-1/2", although I'm sure it was supposed to be 14". The distance from center of the closet flange to the outer wall is only 13", but that should work since total width of the tank is 19-1/2". There is already a 1/4 turn Keeney valve there, although the escutcheon looks awful (I remember having to replace it a few years back). The stub out for that line is about 4.5-5" off the center line of the closet flange. Unfortunately, the existing closet flange is solvent welded to the outside of the pipe. The other frustrating thing is that it has a carbon steel ring on it....it seems rusty but intact, although I can't believe people are so cheap that they won't spend a couple bucks on a stainless steel ring while going through all the trouble.

As for bringing the wall out, I suppose I could throw a few 2x4s up there flat and then put a sheet of drywall on it to bring it out 2" or so. Doing this would also require me to extend the supply stub out, but I can sweat copper pipe so that's a non issue. It would probably cost me $20 max, and a couple hours of my time. As you can see, that wall is already slightly extended from the rest of the wall, so it wouldn't look too out of place.

The big question is if it is worth all of that work just to get rid of 2" of gap. What do you guys think?

 

[KP Texan]

I forgot to add: I just ordered my new TOTO Drake...come hell or high water, I will have a TOTO elongated toilet in this bathroom!! This has been my bathroom for over 8 years now (the wife gets the master), and I'm sick and tired of the round bowl and using a plunger. Unfortunately, my closest TOTO dealer is over 2 hrs away so I had to order it online; found a pretty decent deal on a CST744S Drake!

ETA: I just realized ordering online is frowned upon on this forum, but it was not really an option for me. I really wanted to buy local, but I called around to several places this morning with no dice. Burning $75 worth of gas and 5 hours of my time to go to San Antonio and back would have been the only way. Either that, or settle for something that could be bought at Lowes or HD here...

 

[Wallijonn]

I suppose I could throw a few 2x4s up there flat and then put a sheet of drywall on it to bring it out 2" or so.

Since you're a guy (Duh!) you could just as easily make a bookcase / shelving, with the bottom shelf removable for when you need to get to the tank innards. Bathrooms never have enough shelving, I find. Sure, you can dump everything into the vanity cabinet, but there's those darn things called towels... I'd rather have about 1000 cubby holes around a mirror, no more than about 3" deep, to put every single little bottle within easy reach. As far as the vanity goes, I want one that is about the height of the kitchen cabinet, so that I don't have to bend over so much for when I need to just wet my hair. I find bathroom vanities too short the older I get. Squatting down and reaching the back of the vanity is a pain, so the vanity can go, too.

I doubt that the tank wall is facing the outside wall, but if it is I'd probably want insulation installed behind it to prevent tank sweating. (I have a medicine cabinet that butts against an exterior wall that I want to remove and fill with insulation in the hopes of keeping the bathroom cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter... ) And I've always wanted to ring the bedrooms with a 12" shelf around the whole ceiling circumference to increase storage space. It's what they are now doing in NYC apartments. These pictures should spark creative ideas:
http://www.shelterness.com/31-creative-storage-idea-for-a-small-bathroom/

You have a clean slate to start with. I wish you the best of luck, so that it becomes a point of pride every time you go into your bathroom. Women always make it look very feminine, how does one make it masculine?
http://www.houzz.com/masculine-bathroom

The big question is if it is worth all of that work just to get rid of 2" of gap. What do you guys think?

It's just as easy to take a piece of wood, say 1" x 4", trace the tank top, then use a jig saw to form it so that it is flush with the tank top. A little sanding, some paint or oiled finish, two brackets to hold it up (or two pegs centered on the studs) - and presto! gap is gone. It would just be a filler piece of wood.

But I'd rather have a big "spice rack" over hanging the toilet, but made for cologne, towels, hand towels, body wash towels, face towels, shaving utensils, pictures, toilet paper, etc., basically anything that goes in the medicine cabinet (with the exception of medicine, obviously since the labels will get moist from the bathroom moisture.)

 

[KP Texan]

Those are some great ideas you've thrown out there! I'll definitely be putting some short of shelving in there as opposed to a faux wall. The wall would give me no functionality whatsoever but, like you said, you can always use more storage space.