Elongated toilet stick out too far?

13 years ago

Please forgive me in advance. I am new to this ("this" referring to both posting and renovation in general!)

We are doing a kitchen reno which has somehow turned into an entire first floor reno. The latest casualty was the main floor bath which had to be gutted due to some plumbing (burst pipe) issues. At this point, a stylish bathroom reno is not in the plans. I am just trying to cobble together all the necessary parts: toilet, sink, lighting.

My dilemma is that the bathroom is shallow. It had originally a builder issue round bowl toilet. We were thinking of putting in a Kohler Memoirs elongated toilet. However, when I took my measuring tape to the space, the toilet looks like it will stick out significantly into the doorway. A round bowl option is about 3 inches shorter and would still stick out into the doorway, but (obviously) 3 inches less.

Are those 3 inches significant? Should I risk having to step over the elongated toilet to get into bathroom? Or will it be an issue either way and an elongated toilet is preferential no matter what?

You can see the line on the back wall where the old vanity was taken out. The new sink will be the Memoirs pedestal and will take up no more room than the old vanity.

The tape measure denotes where the elongated toilet would stick out at the furthest point.

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Comments (9)

clg7067
13 years ago
What you need to know is the building code in your area. The minimum required space in front of a toilet varies from 21 to 24 inches depending on where you are located.

You should be able to google your city or county to find that information.
maryl1
13 years ago
Did the old toilet stick out also? Is it possible to move the toilet to a different wall? Or maybe move the door opening?
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pricklypearcactus
13 years ago
I believe Kohler also sells "Compact Elongated" toilets. You might want to look into those.
luvn2oxfrd
Original Author
13 years ago
clg7067--i don't think the area in front of the toilet to the far wall is a concern. i believe it is at least 24 inches. i am more concerned about having a toilet block the doorway.

maryll--honestly, i don't even recall! we've never lived in the house, began renovations directly after buying it. i am sure it had to stick out some, but it was a round bowl and maybe not as noticeable?

pricklypear--thank you! i will look into that!
lee676
13 years ago
I was also going to mention the compact-elongated choice - these have a thinner tank, so the elongated bowl doesn't stick out any more than a round bowl normally does. There aren't as many style choices, and some manufacturers don't offer them at all, but enough do that you should be able to find one you like. And yes, the elongated bowl is worthwhile.
herring_maven
13 years ago
luvn2oxfrd, if you read the spec sheets, you will find that there are greater variations among brands and models of round and elongated toilets than there are between round toilets as a group and elongated bowl toilets as a group. We recently replaced a round-bowl Eljer with an elongated-bowl Toto Vespin II and the replacement Toto is an inch and a half shallower from the rear wall than the replaced Eljer was.
dilettante_gw
13 years ago
I think you'd regret installing a toilet that extends past the doorjamb, even if there's enough floor space in front of the toilet to meet code. There may also be a regulation that says you can't block a doorway. It would make the bathroom impossible to use by anyone who uses a walker.

Is the Memoirs elongated toilet you mentioned the two-piece model or the one-piece? If you were considering the two-piece Memoirs (30.38" front to back), you could gain some space by getting the one-piece model instead, which is almost 3" shorter (27 3/4" front to back). The only problem is that the one-piece Memoirs is much more expensive than the two-piece. (The reason I know this is I've been considering getting the one-piece for a tiny powder room that currently has a roundfront toilet.)

If this isn't in your budget, there are less expensive one-piece toilets out there (though none that of I know of with the styling of the Memoirs). Almost any one-piece would be shorter front-to-back than an elongated two-piece, although probably not shorter than the Memoirs.

If you don't mind doing extra construction & plumbing work, your best option would be a wall-hung toilet (with the tank in the wall), which should save about 7" over a typical two-piece elongated. This would be quite a bit more expensive, both because of the extra work and because wall-hung toilets and tanks are expensive, but the bathroom would feel much more spacious and be easier to clean.
User
13 years ago
If you're used to the round forget the enlongated, I wish we had. We thought the new higher enlongated was the right choice for us and it's been horrible. I wish we would have stuck with what we were used to. :c(
gsciencechick
13 years ago
We have 1.5 small bathrooms,both with Kohler Memoirs two-piece toilets. We also did not go with the elongated bowls due to clearance from the opposite wall.

My sister and BIL just renovated their bathroom and did not use the elongated toilets due to space either. I think they went with a Kohler Cimmaron.

Elongated toilet stick out too far?

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