How Much Space Do You Need for a Toilet – 2024 Updated Guide

The most important thing in your house is the toilet so, when you are making your home you should pay attention to every detail of your bathroom because it will make or break the reputation of your house and also very uncomfortable for members living in the house.

Here most people might be thinking that we are talking about the colors, tiles, and other stuff like this but no we are talking about the dimensions of your washroom. How much distance of your toilet from the wall will be suitable or comfortable? Or how much space you would need for the washroom.

These are some questions that we will answer in today’s article so, read it carefully.

How Much Space Do You Need for a Toilet?

When you are going to decide the place for your toilet then make sure you look for one thing and that is there will be nothing in front of your toilet and also on the right and left sides of your toilet. We are not covering the plumbing things here but your waste and other drains should be fixed some distance from the wall because if your drains are very close to the wall then you don’t have space to fix your toilet.

The things that we have told you above are not the things that only we are suggesting but this is the law for your home that your toilet does not have any things in the front and on both sides and it is for your comfortable experience and if you won’t follow it your toilet would be illegal.

If you want your toilet to make a comfortable place and also legal then you should read the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) published guidelines. But these are the general guidelines if you are from other states of America or other countries in the world then you should look into your country or state’s local laws.

When you are making toilets then for whom you are making is the big question because if you are making toilets for the disabled people then you would need more space and then you have to follow the guidelines that are in the Americans in disabilities act.

If you say that, give us a number that shows how much space we need from the wall or the vanity then you have to put your toilet 15 inches away from the wall and 15 inches away from the sanity too. But as we said before this is a general number you should check your local area codes for the exact dimensions.

How far should a Toilet be from the wall?

The decision depends on the space of your washroom but most of the time you can go for the guidelines of the National Kitchen and Bathroom association because that would give you a great idea of how much space your toilet needed in inches.

We follow the guidelines of the NKBA for our bathroom and according to them, you need to clear the space of 30 inches in front of your bathroom. It would give your legs enough room to sit very comfortably.

If we talk about the sides of the toilet then according to NKBA you need to leave space around 18 inches on both sides of your toilet and the space between the center and the toilet is around 30 inches and it would make your toilet very comfortable.

But when looking for the place from the toilet to the wall, the best distance to maintain is around 12 to 14 inches. This way you can easily adjust the drain and toilet in your washroom otherwise your toilet won’t fit.

How much space is needed between the toilet and vanity?

We recently remodeled a washroom and in that the distance between the toilet and the vanity is around 30 inches however the distance recommended in the National kitchen and bath association guidelines is 32 inches but until now the 30 inches seems to be comfortable and we don’t have any problem with it. So, you can change the distance according to your design and thoughts if you think that it would be comfortable.

Minimum space for the Toilet

Many people might have very limited space for the washrooms so, they most of the time find asking that what is the minimum space for the toilet in all three important dimensions so, we will answer it with my our own experience we recently planned and remodel a very limited space toilet so, for that the toilet and the wall space is around 12 inches but you can also go between 10 to 14 inches according to your comfort levels.

Now if we talk about the sidewalls then the distance between them depends on whether they are finished or unfinished so, our wall was finished so, the distance is around 15 inches but if your wall is not finished then go for the 15.5 or even 16 inches on both sides of the toilet.

For the front of the toilet, we follow the guidelines of the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association and according to them the clearance in front of the toilet would be 24 inches so, we did the same and from the center of the toilet to the waste line distance should be 32 inches.

This is what we did for our which was a very small place and if you have too very minimum space of bathroom then you can follow our suggestions and go for the same space that we applied to our bathroom.

These spaces can be different according to your local area or country and also in your conditions. Suppose if you are making a toilet for disabled persons then the spaces would be different, so you should look at all these things carefully before remodeling or making the toilet in your home.

Bowl Shape Differences

This is also a very important chapter of your bathroom designing and most people miss this chapter. There are many designs of toilets in the market but you should select the one that would suit your needs and be comfortable too.

But the problem here is that mostly elongated toilets are more common and they are comfortable too but they take more space in your washroom. On the other hand, you have round-shaped toilets that take up a lot of space but they are not considered to be very comfortable.

If you use the elongated bowls in your washroom then you would need to have at least give them space of 25 to 28 inches from the wall and on the other hand if you are using the round bowls then space from the wall would be 25 to 28 inches.

So, we would recommend that when you are remodeling a master or large washroom then go for the elongated shape bowl, and for the small washroom you will need the round bowl because every inch matters when you are remodeling the small washroom.

According to our experience in the industry, we have seen that most of the old homes have very small washrooms because larger washrooms were not in the trend that time it is a trend that started a few years ago so, when you are going to remodel some old house or if your house is old than go for the round bowls because they will save some inches in your bathroom.

Center Line and Sizing

When you have to measure the side spacing of your toilet you have to consider it from the centerline but most people don’t know what is the centerline so, they are confused in measuring the space. To determine the center line you have to imagine a line cutting your toilet in the middle and from there you have to assess the space in inches.

Centerline does not play any role in the front spacing of the toilet; it is only to determine the side spacing from your toilet. Split the toilet into two parts from the middle and determine the space. This is how the centerline plays its role in determining the spacing from the left and right sides of your toilet.

Distance between Toilet and Tub

You are planning a remodel for your home and you want to install a bathtub in the washroom but you are confused that how far your bathtub should be from the toilet so, we will look at the National kitchen and bath association guidelines and according to the guidelines, the distance between the bathtub and toilet should be around 15 to 18 inches.

This is not that you have to put right after the 18 inches no but this means that you can install the tub anywhere at the distance after the 15 to 18 inches in your washroom. The tubs are mostly in the large or master bedrooms so you can use the elongated bowls of the toilet instead of round bowls.

Distance between Shower and Toilet

In remodeling it does not matter if you are doing remodeling of the old home or new both will have the showers because they are must fixtures nowadays and without it, your washroom is not completed so, when you are planning your washroom you would know where to put the shower.

You have to clear the front 24 inches of the toilet and after that wherever you find the ground clearance of 21 inches you can install the shower there and it would be comfortable for you. There are many cases in which the shower is installed next to the toilet. It is the best option that we can try with our washroom and it looks great too.

If you are planning to fix the shower on the side of the toilet then according to the guidelines of the kitchen and bath association you can fix it after leaving the space of 15 to 18 inches which is done at most of the washrooms but there is one thing that you need to listen to when implementing these rules.

The thing is that you might be living in some other states of USA or you might be reading from some other countries so, there is a chance that in the area where you are living might have different rules for the washrooms so, you have to check your area or country’s laws about the washroom before making your washroom.

Because if you follow our rules blindly you might be making illegal washrooms according to your area and there are chances that after some time you have to face the serious consequences so, prevention is better than cure.

FAQ’s

Summary

This is how you can determine the space for your toilet in most cases when you are remodeling a house or making a new house make sure that you have the guidelines of the National Kitchen and bathroom association and on the other hand, you also know the owners very well who is going to use this toilet because these things are very important in order to make your toilet legal.