The right distance between the shower and the toilet is very important to maintain. Otherwise, your toilet will not be a comfortable space, neither for you nor for your family.
It is of immense importance to make the most of the limited space in your toilet, so we will help you do a thorough research on how to determine the right toilet distance from shower. Read ahead to learn more about it.
Toilet distance from shower
There should be significant gap between the shower and the toilet. You should keep at least 18 inches space at the side of the toilet. Then in the front of the toilet, there should be 30 inches of space. This will ensure that you can use the shower comfortably.
In order to ensure a comfortable space inside the bathroom, you should make sure that there is enough space between the toilet and the shower. Otherwise, the bathroom will seem too congested and you might even end up hurting yourself while showering.
So when you’re designing a bathroom, make sure that you take enough time to consider the space and design an effective layout. Otherwise, the space will not be utilized properly and your bathroom will seem pretty uncomfortable, for you, your family, and guests.
Always remember that a nice and thoughtful floor plan is the key to a cozy home. This is why you should take experts’ help in order to generate a functional floor plan. Otherwise, it is very likely that the plan will be faulty.
When you are deciding on the space that should be kept between the toilet and the shower, you will need to consider for whom you are making the bathroom. It is very important to analyze the habits of the users who will be using the bathroom.
Say for example, if you are designing the bathroom for your elderly parents, then you will need to keep a larger space between the toilet and the shower. You may even want to add additional facilities in order to help them out if they accidentally fall and sustain an injury in the shower.
However, special considerations aside, if you are trying to build a bathroom for the use of adults, then you should consider installing the average spaces.
Generally the space between the toilet and the shower is at least 15 inches from the center of the toilet to the shower. But you can definitely choose to keep a larger space if you have a larger bathroom.
In addition, you should also make note of the type of bathroom that you re designing. That is, you will need to factor in whether you are making a bathroom for residential building, for a hotel, or for other purposes.
In case of residential buildings, the space does not need to be too small. For an average residential building, the minimum space between the shower and the toilet should be 21 inches.
On the other hand, if you are building a bathroom in a commercial space, then the minimum clearance should be much less than that. In such a case, you should adhere to a minimum space of 18 inches between the toilet and the shower.
Toilet clearance code requirements
You should definitely try to design a toilet per code. It is important that you maintain the right codes while designing and building a toilet because it is considered as one of the most important rooms of the house, so a functional plan is a must.
There are different sets of codes for residential and commercial spaces. The toilet clearance code requires you to keep at least 15 inches space from the center to the walls.
On the other hand, if you are measuring the center to center fixture then the space should be at least 30 inches. In addition, there should be at least 21 inches space between the toilet and any fixtures or doors.
2 factors that affect the distance between toilet and shower
Let’s take a look at two of the most important factors that you should keep in mind while deciding the distance between toilet and shower. Read ahead to learn about the factors in depth:
Users:
The first thing that you should consider are the users of the toilet. You will need a different type of plan if you are designing the bathroom for elderly members of your family rather than average adults.
Again, you will need special considerations if you are designing the bathroom for people with special needs.
In order to add all the necessary facilities in the space between the shower and the toilet, you will need to ensure that you consider who the users are and what their particular needs are.
On the other hand, if you are building a bathroom for people with special needs, then you will need to keep enough space between the toilet and the shower in order to facilitate any special equipment’s that they might need to use while in the bathroom.
The type of bathroom:
Another factor that you will need to pay special attention to is the type of bathroom that you are building. If you are building a bathroom for residential building that you don’t want it to seem too cramped.
While the residential building code only requires you to keep 21 inches space between the toilet and the shower, it will appear too congested inside the bathroom.
So if you have enough space it would be better to allow a few more inches between the toilet and the shower.
On the other hand, if you are working with a commercial space and need to build a bathroom for the commercial building, it is likely that you will be working with a smaller space.
In such a case, you will not need to worry too much about keeping sufficient space inside the bathroom for different categories of users.
Why is the toilet always next to the shower?
There are several reasons why a toilet is always next to a shower. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant reasons behind this. Read ahead to learn more about it:
Efficient use of space:
There is only so much space you can use for plumbing and designing a bathroom. So if you use a common space both for toilet and shower, it will help you save a lot of space in the house.
This is why people usually place the shower and the toilet close by, to make a common bathroom space where you will not have to waste additional space.
Easy plumbing:
If we place the toilet and shower near each other, it helps us install the plumbing materials in a straight line, close by. This also saves a lot of space and money as the two units will be able to share a lot of plumbing materials.
Not only will it reduce the cost of installing plumbing but it will also help you save a lot during maintenance later. It will also make maintenance much easier, so your plumber will not demand a lot of money.
How to install a toilet at a proper distance from the shower?
Let’s take a look at how you can install a toilet at a proper distance from the shower. Read ahead to learn more about it:
Take measurements:
The first step requires you to take measurements between the shower and the toilet that you are planning to adhere to. Also measure the space between the toilet and the walls, doors, partitions, and so on.
Turn off water supply:
Now you should turn off the water supply. Shut all the valves for this purpose. This will help you place the toilet at a proper distance from the shower without making any mess.
Then you should remove the water supply line altogether. Make sure that there are no water lines connected to the toilet.
Fit new wax ring on the flange:
Now you should install new toilet bolts in the flange at the bottom of the toilet. After that, make sure to fit a new wax ring around the toilet.
Place the toilet:
When you are placing the toilet on the flange, make sure that the center of the toilet base is placed over the bolts on the floor. This will ensure that you are placing the toilet perfectly in place.
Tighten the bolts:
Now you should tighten the toilet bolts that are placed at the bottom of the toilet. This step will make sure that your toilet is securely placed on the spot.
Final Thoughts
The right distance from the toilet and shower depends mostly on the type of toilet that you are building. For residential buildings, the minimum space between toilet and shower should be 18 inches. However, for commercial space, you may opt for a smaller space.