January 13, 2011

Oh For An Eighth Of An Inch

Everything with our bathroom remodel project has gone fairly smoothly so far: plumbing, wallpapering, wainscoting, and tiling the floor. Even the problems with the baseboard and trims weren't so bad. Our first major glitch came from an unexpected quarter, the toilet.

The old one is perfectly serviceable and the right color. Because of that, we planned to put it back and not buy a new one. Reuse after all. The problem is that the toilet barely fit against the back wall before we took it out to do the floors and walls. The back of the tank was right up against the wall. So much so, that the tank lid didn't quite fit. Add to that, our 1/8th inch thick beadboard panel wainscoting, and the toilet can't fit properly over the waste drainage hole, unless we don't mind the tank leaning forward. Who would have guessed that such a small thing could make such a big difference.

What to do.

Option #1 - Remove the beadboard from that back wall and wallpaper it instead. DH nixed that one before I barely got the suggestion out of my mouth.

Option #2 - Get a new toilet. One that will fit. How do we know what will fit? The old one (in the above photo) has a 12 inch rough in. What's needed is one with a 10 inch rough in.

The rough in is the distance between the center of the waste drainage pipe and the wall behind the toilet. 12 inches seems to be the most common, but they also come in 14 and 10 inch rough ins. A 10 inch rough in would allow a toilet to fit with a little space behind the tank for air circulation. That would actually be preferable, because when Dan took the old one out, the wall was mildewed behind the tank. Some air circulation behind it would help with that.

First we tried to find what we needed locally, but evidently a 10 inch rough in isn't common enough to have stock on hand. After quite a bit of shopping around on the internet, we finally found one with a 10 inch rough in, round bowl, gravity flush, in the color I want (white) and at a price DH was willing to pay (under $200 including shipping). The added bonus is that it is a water efficient model.

Although this presents an unplanned, unexpected expense, the good news is that there were 5 paydays in December! That gave us one extra paycheck, albeit a small one because of the time of year, with which to buy the toilet. Perhaps not how we would have preferred to spend it, but it does represent one of the first big blessings of the new year.

The new toilet only took a couple of days to arrive, and Dan installed it with no problem.

Of course, new toilets don't come with seats (!) so I have to purchase that. The tank on this one is smaller, because it only takes 1.6 gallons per flush, as opposed to the 3.5 gallons of the old one. It also has an improved flushing system, so that 1.6 gallons actually does the job. We opted for gravity flush rather than pressure assisted. The pressure assisted models are not designed to allow repairs by the homeowner, and in fact parts aren't available retail. That didn't go over very well with Dan. Not to mention they are very noisy. That didn't go over well with me.

Next step is the sink, then window covering and some other finishing details. I'm just happy it's finally starting to look like a real bathroom.

Oh For An Eighth Of An Inch © January 2011 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/


  1. Well, glad you found one. It's a blessing as you said, the new water saver toilets are just so much more practical.. So, will that old toilet be the quintessential
    flower planter out in the back yard? ;)

  2. I glad you found a good one! Isn't it funny that they don't come with the seat! After noting reading blogs for a while I went back and I'm so sorry about Charlie. I have heard about that problem before.

    Take care!

  3. It's good you could find the toilet to fit. It's one of those things you don't really want to put off or do without for too long. Having a second bathroom is incredibly convenient even when it's only for a few people. I often marvel at how we managed with one bathroom and 4 kids!
    Looks very nice..

  4. those small things can actually be quite costly - esp. annoying, when the old one was still perfectly usable. but on the positive side, the much smaller tank will save you a lot of water over time. might not be much initially, but normally toilets last quite a log time, so it'll make up for the price eventually.
    btw - we didn't plant the toilet, but we did use the water basin against the house wall to house an ivy, that grows away nicely. nobody has realized so far that it isn't actually a planter:))

  5. Theresa, LOL. Nah, I don't think so. Possibly we could replace the one in the hall bath with it. Or I could try to sell it for a few bucks. Or there's always FreeCycle.

    Julie, so glad you're back online! Yes, failure to thrive is really quite common with llamas. Very sad to have happen to us though.

    Nina, I agree about a 2nd bathroom. This one will be especially important if we incorporate the hall bath into a master suite as planned. If we'd known about the toilet beforehand, we could have planned to put in a corner model. At this point it would have meant tearing out part of the tile work, so that wasn't possible. A corner toilet might have created a little more space.

    Bettina, yes it was annoying,but we decided just to make the best of it. Still not convinced about using any of it as a planter!

  6. No toilet seat? Brrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

    Of course, I now know something about toilets that I never knew before. :)

  7. I think you did the only thing that made sense. Last time I bought a toilet seat, I think it was under $15. Granted, it was the cheapest model Menards had at the time (plastic) but it has held up just fine for 15 years and is comfortable. It's these little (?) stumbling blocks that kinda throw us for a minute, but a couple of months from now, you won't ever think about it again.

  8. Oh good, you went & got a new one- I have dealt with tippy toilets- I lived where it was held down by 2x4's and I had to sit soooo carefully.

  9. Benita, perhaps there's that much individual preferences for toilet seats????

    Mama Pea, yes and until the snow clears I won't be doing much shopping. Especially for toilet seats!

    Peaceful. that's one thing DH wouldn't stand for, LOL.

  10. First, let me say I skimmed back, and your snow was beautiful. I'm so sorry about your llama. It sounds like gave him every comfort.

    As for the new toilet, you're making me think I need to look harder for a new one for our house.

  11. Why is it when you think you have an extra paycheck some thing happens that takes it? Well at least you had it to spend on something very important and lets face it a toilet is very important. I'm glad you found what you needed within reason and hope it works great!!!

