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Discussion Forum

TOILET SPACING

daholson | Posted in General Discussion on January 29, 2004 03:19am

I have a bathroom wall which is six feet long. I would like to build a four foot vanity , but this would only leave two feet for the toilet.  Two feet seems a bit small and I am wondering what the recommended side spacing for a toilet is.

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  1. SunnySlopes | Jan 29, 2004 03:34pm | #1

    You need at least 30".   That's 15" center of toilet left and right to wall surface.

    "One measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions"
  2. Erich | Jan 29, 2004 03:59pm | #2

    Yep, 30", and that's just a minnimum by code.  A more commodious commode compartment would be 32" or 34".  FHB website has somewhere in it's belly this same info. and mentions that after about 36" things start to feel too roomy, less comfortable for us seeking warm fuzzy feelings of closness during our on the pot experiences.  Good luck...

                         Erich

    1. DaveRicheson | Jan 30, 2004 12:59am | #8

      for us seeking warm fuzzy feeling durring our pot experience.

      Are you per chance a child of the sixties, having canabis flash backs? <g>

      Dave

      1. Erich | Jan 30, 2004 03:40pm | #23

        Dave,

             Good one, I didn't look at it like that!  I wish I could say that I grew up during such an enlightened time.  Things in the 80s, when I grew up, seemed much more boring than things I've heard about the 60s.  Now, I'm imagining thousands of people sitting around at Woodstock having "On the pot experiences," I'll let you wonder which "pot" I'm talking about, but I think the funnier picture might be the "pot" you can pick up at your local plumbing supply house.  Later...

                                          Erich   

  3. User avater
    BossHog | Jan 29, 2004 05:43pm | #3

    I think 18" is desireable.

    The house we live in now had one with a 12" spacing from the wall to the center of the toilet, and I hated it. We eventually got it moved to 18", and I like that much better.

    Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

    1. caseyr | Jan 29, 2004 08:03pm | #4

      A house I rented started out without indoor plumbing.  The toilet was added in a rather large room against the wall to the back, but from the side it was about 4' to the nearest wall.  Created somewhat of an "exposed" feeling at first, but one gets used to it...

      The real adjustment was in Air Force basic training.  Four commodes spaced about four feet apart and four feet from the back wall.  No partitions - no privacy, no secrets...  Even more interesting was a training base outside of Wisconsin Dells we went to one summer in the late '60's.  They still had the old toilets that had no trap under them and emptied into a trough underneath, about four feet down.  No flush - the water ran down the sides of the toilet continuously.  Definitely cooled off the buns in a hurry.  There were two rows back to back with no partitions and close enough side to side so that if someone occupied the one next to you, you would touch elbows.  Not for the kind of guys that can't even use a urinal because they feel too exposed...

      1. mikerooney | Jan 29, 2004 10:40pm | #6

          My uncle told me they had latrines just like that in Korea (during the war). Guys would unravel a couple of rolls of tp and get it to float (like a tp iceberg) then they'd set it on fire and send it down the trench. 

        1. User avater
          NickNukeEm | Jan 29, 2004 11:38pm | #7

          Hot cross buns!

          I never met a tool I didn't like!

    2. stefs3 | Jan 30, 2004 01:17am | #9

      Boss,

      The highways are called interstates so they could get federal funding to build them. They connected Pearl Harbor Navy base with Schofield Barracks Army base, with Kaneohe Marine base. That way we could get troops and materiel out to sea or in the air quickly. Ha!

      After they were built it was still bumper to bumper. Just able to have lots more cars in that condition.

      Aren't you glad you asked?

      Stef

      1. User avater
        GJR | Jan 30, 2004 01:34am | #10

        KMCAS  home of Charlie 1/3,  sure do miss that place."Don't take life too seriously, you are not getting out of it alive"

      2. User avater
        BossHog | Jan 30, 2004 02:23am | #11

        You gotta quit taking my tag lines so seriously...How do you write a zero in Roman numerals?

        1. stefs3 | Jan 30, 2004 02:28am | #12

          It kinda relates to another current thread. This is the only place in my house where Iget to talk. So when an opportunity to show my limited knowledge appears I just can't resist.

          Ask me something tough!!!

          Stef

          1. UncleDunc | Jan 30, 2004 04:27am | #13

            >> Ask me something tough!!!

            How long is a string?

            What's the square root of a duck? What about the cube root?

            If a crocodile can swim in the water, why can't it swim on the land?

            What word denotes the ability of light to be refracted?

          2. gatno | Jan 30, 2004 05:09am | #14

            How Long is a chinaman.

          3. HeavyDuty | Jan 30, 2004 06:55am | #16

            Can't you see the title of the thread? That's the measurement of toilet spacing.

          4. HeavyDuty | Jan 30, 2004 07:01am | #17

            What's the rationale behind elongated bowls? So us guys don't have to sit so far back?

            I thought it was always the lady of the house who demanded an elongated bowl.

          5. caseyr | Jan 30, 2004 07:31am | #18

            So that those of us who are really hung have more room to dangle.  Are you indicating that isn't a problem for you...

          6. HeavyDuty | Jan 30, 2004 07:37am | #19

            Is that the only reason? What the deal with the ladies then? I mean the bowl.

          7. UncleDunc | Jan 30, 2004 07:41am | #20

            How would an oblong bowl help that? Or do you dangle in some other dimension than vertical?

          8. caseyr | Jan 30, 2004 07:51am | #21

            Well, the dip in the water causes the angle of the dangle to, errr, I can't really get into the specifics here as I have heard that this is a family oriented site, so if you don't have this problem I can't really explain it to you...

          9. UncleDunc | Jan 30, 2004 08:31am | #22

            >> ... so if you don't have this problem ...

            Only occasionally, when the weather's really hot. Just often enough to keep me reminded that toilets are apparently designed by women or eunuchs.

        2. User avater
          IMERC | Jan 30, 2004 05:44am | #15

          Thought it was only you that took them serious... 

          Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....

  4. DPS | Jan 29, 2004 08:50pm | #5

    15" is minimum and 18" is the ADA requirements, incase you would ever need anything like that, handrails, etc.

    Dan

  5. Piffin | Jan 30, 2004 03:57pm | #24

    I gaurantee you won't be happy with two feet for spacing.

    I have twive done it at 28-30" spacing for customers who demanded it, trying to fit a powder room into a space that didn't accomadate it. Both of them now complain about it and rarely use it. I never do it less than 36" now.

    .

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