Thanks raehelen. I will most probably replace the toilet in my second bathroom with an elongated comfort height for my guests. What happened to you at your mom's house was similar to someone pulling a chair out from under you. Not fun. Unfortunately, I am 4'10" with short legs for my torso. I tried sitting on the toilets on display the other month at Lowes. The group of folks around me stopped and started laughing. For an elongated bowl I have to sit and scoot back past my knee bend in order to center myself over the toilet. And then I have to scoot forward in order to stand up. And they told me I looked like a little kid on the comfort height toilets. So I will stick with the regular round toilet in my MBR since I'm single. If I were to sell my house then I would look at changing it out. So I am not the norm. I remember reading on this forum that one of the members has a house that was formerly owned by a jockey and was slowing changing things out. That is the kind of house that I need. Even my kitchen counter is a little too high for me. I stand on a stool and use my BBQ tongs to get the clothes out of the washing machine. And I like the old fashion stuff, I bought a new Speed Queen that is similar to the old Amana to replace my 27 year old Maytag. I cut the legs down on my kitchen table and chairs. When I have guests over for dinner we use my dining room table. Most everything in life doesn't fit me. This post was edited by Anna_in_TX on Thu, Mar 20, 14 at 15:20

"I have a question about this? What are the rules for final inspection? Can the inspector refuse to issue a CO because the room does not meet code even if it passed the rough-in plumbing inspection?" Yes. If IRC applies to his building jurisdiction, the water closet should have been first flagged when the plans were first reviewed for permit. So "as is", the permit never should have been issued. But that's assuming that the plans were submitted for permit with the too-small water closet drawn as-is. Sometimes changes occur during construction that make what was compliant in the plans non-compliant after changes were made on-site during construction. While inspectors can have a "holistic approach" while doing the subsequent electrical, plumbing, framing inspections, etc, they might simply be looking at the specifics; the electrical specifically, or the plumbing specifically, or the framing specifically. In an office with a large jurisdictional area, the plumbing inspector might simply be concerned with the plumbing: The size of the pipes and tubing that make up the supply system, the size and pitch of the drain system, that the system as a whole is adequately vented. That the proper valves are used, that joints are properly made up, etc. The plumbing inspector may not even know about the non-plumbing issues like the minimum required size for a water closet. When they do the final inspection for CofO and see the too-small water closet, they could then fail the inspection and not issue the CofO despite the plans having been reviewed and a permit issued and despite inspectors having been on site and having passed other inspections. The owner, and the builder, have no real legal "look back" defense, in that they can't claim that the permit was issued "as is" and that previous inspections passed "as is", so the CofO should be issued with the water closet "as is". If it's non-compliant, it can be noted as non-compliant any time during the process. It's the builder's responsibility to know the code and to build the structure IAW code. It's the inspector's responsibility to enforce code. If the inspector doesn't catch a violation and red flag it until the CofO inspection, well guess what...he still caught it.

Well, we decided to go with the aforementioned Gerber Viper compact-elongated WC for our bathroom reno, and since little seems to have been written about it here or elsewhere, wanted to provide my first impressions so others would have a reference point. I would have chosen a Toto Drake II (which we used elsewhere) for this room, but none of the moderately-priced Totos are available in a compact-elongated size - that is, less than 28" from the back wall. It's an impressive piece of engineering. It has a good, strong flush. It cleans the sides of the bowl well, sending a good amount of water down the sides with a slight swirl motion before quickly lowering the water level to flush quickly from a large flume from the front. A good-size area is normally under water, generally a good thing. A convenient front-mounted flush lever is an easier reach than Toto's side lever or especially the Kohler's Wellworth side lever that needs to be pressed in the back, which is unintuitive. It's reasonably quiet. Uses only 1.28 gallons per flush. The Toto Drake II double-cyclone loo we used in another room isn't that much better (although I like the forceful spray that emanates from just two large holes in the rim vs. the Gerber's conventional setup). Still, given the Gerber's lower price - we picked it up for about $245 locally, it's a good deal. I also like it's height - 16-3/8" above ground, slightly lower than most comfort-height commodes, and perfect for my 5'8" frame. Gerber themselves sells a next-model-up Avalanche compact-elongated loo that's a shade shorter front-to-back and slenderer left to right, but is 17" tall before (included soft-close) seat - a bit too tall for me, although I do like it being one-piece yet still affordable. Anyway, with all the love thrown Toto's way in these forums, I thought this Gerber warranted an excellent writeup. Significantly better overall than the similarly-priced Kohler Wellworth (w/class 5 flush) or American Standard Cadet 3, and given Toto doesn't offer a compact-elongated model, I'd highly recommend these. Overall, the flush is as good as a standard Toto Drake (not Drake II, which I've also used in several locations). The Drake is perhaps more impervious to clogs, but the Gerber cleans the bowl better, and fits in less space. 12" rough-in only for the compact models, although the standard-depth Vipers also are available in 10" or 14" rough-in. I'd strongly consider a Gerber Viper of any size if you need a good toilet in the low-$200 range. This post was edited by lee676 on Mon, Mar 25, 13 at 8:13

If your plumber passes on a discount (mine gave 30%) you can get a Kohler one-piece with a concealed trap for $600-$700. I have the Tresham and Kathryn...both look nice from the side view. I passed on the Kathryn for one bathroom's remodel because no one could get me a close-up picture or describe a piece that stuck out from the upper bowl; the toilet side is directly in one's sight line when the door opens. I put the Kathryn in the other bathroom that had a vanity next to it; however, the stuck-out piece is not offensive so the Kathryn would have been fine in the first bathroom. I like my Kohler toilets; if you want pics, I can supply. I rejected the American Standard and Toto toilets because of the open backs...I do not want to see that.