How hard is it to turn a toilet 90 degrees?

14 years ago

My half bath is little more than a closet, and I just removed the sink and the toilet to put up beadboard and replace the fixtures.

I made the interesting discovery that the toilet rough-in is 12 inches from the back wall as well as the left wall. The toilet was backed up to the left wall, though we always thought it would have made more room to have it the other way.

So, I guess it may be an option to move it after all, but there are two problems. One is that the water supply line is likely too far forward - the pipe comes straight up from the basement and looking at it from the basement, I now think I understand why the toilet is where it is; it won't be easy to get a pipe up near that back wall, through some other pipes.

Assuming that either we can do that, or that the current location is workable, I have a second question - can the closet flange be rotated, or is there any kind of adaptor for such a job?

I apologize in advance that I haven't closely inspected the flange yet, haven't really cleaned it up yet. I'm sure it's a cast iron flange and probably from the 40s or 50s, tops. I guess I should have gotten all the info about its condition for you first, but I'm kind of excited about the discovery that it may even be possible and just thinking out loud about it! How hard is it to turn a toilet 90 degrees, or do I need to change the flange (or hire a plumber)to do that? My dad's pretty handy, thank God.

Featured Answer

lazypup

14 years ago

In order to rotate the fixture 90 degrees you would first need to move the flange forward.

Your flange is currently mounted at 12" from the back wall, but if you rotate the fixture 90deg that wall would then become a side wall and code requires a minimum side clearance of 15" from the center of the flange to any wall, fixture or appurtenance.

In actual service even 15" is a bit close for comfort.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

randy427
14 years ago
Unless your flange is a configuration I haven't seen, you can easily turn the toilet 90 degrees using the other pair of mount bolt slots in the flange,
Related Professionals
Harmony Plumbers · Chantilly Handyman · 20781 Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Boca Raton Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Dearborn Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Idaho Falls Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Lomita Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · New Port Richey East Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · North Arlington Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Patterson Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Port Arthur Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Republic Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Vista Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hewitt Kitchen & Bath Fixtures · Tanque Verde Kitchen & Bath Fixtures
sandsonik
Original Author
14 years ago
"Your flange is currently mounted at 12" from the back wall, but if you rotate the fixture 90deg that wall would then become a side wall and code requires a minimum side clearance of 15" from the center of the flange to any wall, fixture or appurtenance."

Lazypup, I'm not sure I understand you, because I don't have 15" clearance NOW from the other three walls, so I'm sure I'm already against code. As the toilet is placed now, I have 15"+ clearance to the wall on two sides only and 12" on the other two. And if it were turned, I would still have 15+" clearance on those same two sides, and 12" on the other two.

I completely agree about it all being too close for comfort! But the we're talking about a bathroom that's 3 feet wide by five foot long. I had a hell of time finding a replacement sink narrow enough to allow me to close the door!
lazypup
14 years ago
Those dimensions may have been okay when the bathroom was first built, but i doubt it since the code clearances have not changed in about 40 years. On the other hand, if you alter the location of any fixture or drain line, you are required to bring it up to the code that is in effect at the time of the alteration and that would mean you need a minimum of 15" from the centerline of the bowl to any wall, fixture or appurtenance on either side.

In addition, under the IRC you are required to have a 21" clearance from the front edge of the bowl to any wall, fixture or appurtenance directly in front. Under the UPC the frontal clearance is 24".
sandsonik
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, lazypup, the bathroom was built much more than 40 years ago - more like 65 years ago. There are an awful lot of first floor 1/2 baths in even older houses around me which are exactly like this one, with the center of the toilet less than 15 inches from two or even three walls.

I wouldn't be moving the drain line, though I guess technically I would be altering the location of the fixture. By turning it, I would actually meet the 21 inches from the front of the bowl to a wall or aperture, which I don't think it meets now.

But all this may be for naught because I think the water supply line would probably be too far forward of the tank and would be awkward - though everything about this bathroom is already awkward, LOL.
dopeonplastic
14 years ago
"In addition, under the IRC you are required to have a 21" clearance from the front edge of the bowl to any wall, fixture or appurtenance directly in front. Under the UPC the frontal clearance is 24". "

That's great. I had to turn a toilet in a second floor bath when I first bought my house. It appeared that it was a 1/2 bath that the previous owner added a shower stall to at some point because the front of the bowl was about 1 inch from the back of the shower wall.... Yes 1 inch. How could anyone sit on such a toilet? Sideways apparently as evidenced by the fact that the two nubs were broken off the bottom of the seat. I had to open the ceiling below and have the DWV and supply lines moved to turn the toilet so that it fits in the alcove in the right direction....