Getting the rough-in right

Attention toilet shoppers. When you go shopping for a new toilet, do not go empty-headed. Know your toilet's rough-in. Because the first question a competent toilet sales associate will ask you is, “What is the rough-in?” That's the distance from the center of your toilet's waste pipe (the pipe your toilet sits on) and the back wall. Most toilets today are made for a 12” rough-in, but 10” and 14” are also available. How do you determine what your rough-in is? Simple. Measure the distance from the wall behind the toilet to the center of the closest closet bolt. In most cases it should be around twelve inches, which is good news. If you get 10” or 14”, you may have to special order, which means extra bucks. It is possible, but not recommended, to stick a 12” toilet in a 14” space, but you will run the risk of cracking the tank if someone leans back too hard. This is an issue only with the traditional two-piece toilets, however. Modern one-piecers don't have this problem.