If you are asking yourself this question, you have probably been told by your contractor or designer that the toilet must be placed on an exterior wall. There are good reasons for this, but it is not always necessary. In fact, many bathroom layouts have the toilet on an interior wall.
In general, you can install a toilet on an interior wall as long as there is enough space under the floor to run the drainage pipe to the main line. Since the drainage pipe needs to have a slope, the required height under the floor is a factor of the slope (1:40) and the distance to the wall. If there is enough space, the only other requirement is that you have a wall with the proper studs and cavity for the plumbing.
For this particular task, there is a simple solution, which just requires you to give it the proper attention and care to get the job done right the first time. In this article, we will go into more detail about the method of using wall studs, another common method for installing toilets when your wall is not provided with studs, and share the necessary tools for the job. Let’s get started.
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General setup of the home toilet
As mentioned earlier, the wall where the toilet is located can be an interior wall. The wall just requires the attachment of appropriate structural studs and an open cavity large enough for the toilet piping system to pass through the open wall area and through the rest of the house plumbing system.
While there are a variety of methods you can use to meet these two conditions for toilet installation, there are some methods that are more efficient than others. The most common way to install toilets is also the most efficient method: installing two toilets back-to-back.
Installing two toilets back-to-back with two parallel stud walls in between the two toilets, spaced apart with a sufficient area, allows for enough space for the toilet piping system. Installing two toilets in this way, two of them back-to-back, is the recommended method for two main reasons.
The main reason for installing your toilets in this way is to efficiently utilize your space. The second reason is that this method is cost-effective.
If you use the method of two toilets back-to-back, you will save the cost of reducing the floor area for installing an entire section of new toilet piping in another area of your home. Most houses are already designed with two toilets in mind. So the toilet fixtures are likely already set up for you. So it’s just plug and play.
Most likely, you have already constructed this parallel stud wall somewhere in the apartment and now you just need to take care of installing the toilets.
If you don’t have the ideal conditions
So maybe you find that you don’t have the parallel stud walls in the layout of your home, and you don’t see a way to carry out the method of installing two toilets back-to-back. Or maybe you are looking at this method and simply don’t want to go that route for your home.
Perhaps you want to get more creative, or maybe you have just decided that you want a toilet in a different location in your home. Whatever the reason is for not wanting to go the back-to-back toilet setup route, here is another method that you can implement instead of the recommended approach that also gets the job done.
While the back-to-back toilets with parallel stud walls are an optimum solution for space and cost efficiency, you may not be able to apply this method if your home does not already have a stud in place. If that is the case, you will need to invest a bit more effort.
Regardless of where you are installing the toilets in your home, you will need to provide the wall behind it with the appropriate studs and have the open cavity for the piping. So if you don’t have back-to-back stud walls for the two toilet setup, you can instead use a 6-inch stud wall dedicated to each toilet you install.
If you need to install more than one toilet, you should choose another 6-inch wall in the house. If you want to do a custom toilet installation in a different location in the house, you will need to install the proper 6-inch studs in the wall for the space where you want to set up the toilet.
Additional note: Tools you may need for installing your toilet
Whenever you have an in-home project that you want to do yourself, you should take the time to make sure you have all the necessary tools to get the job done that you want to do. For this, you may just need to rent something or ask a friend to borrow something that you didn’t even know you needed. Below, we outline the tools you will need.
Followed by some tools that are recommended, but you don’t need to complete the job. These recommended tools are just a nice bonus. When it comes to the list of recommended tools, there are definitely tools that you should already have in the house that you can reuse to fulfill the purpose of a recommended tool.
By doing this, you can save yourself the extra trip of having to go through the trouble of buying the tool designed for that purpose. Here are a few of the needed tools without further ado.
Required tools for toilet installation
4-in-1 screwdriver
Instead of a 4-in-1 screwdriver, you can also just have a Phillips and flathead screwdriver, but over time, having a single screwdriver can prove to be an excellent tool to save you some headaches. But if you don’t want to bother with this tool, Phillips and flathead together should be just enough to get the job done.
- Caulk gun
It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. You also need to buy caulk!
- Hand drill
With a cordless drill, you can better come and go, but if you happen to have an outlet near your toilet installation or extension cord, then any plug-in hand drill will do as well. Just a pro tip from personal experience. Better to use a mechanical drill than an electric one. Even though they are not as modern, they have a lot of power to get the job done.
- Level
- Pliers
- Tape measure
- Rags/towels
Recommended tools for toilet installation
- Hacksaw
- Vise-grip pliers
- Slip-joint pliers
- Shop vac
If you don’t have a shop vac, you can replace it with a household vacuum cleaner. But you should be sure to take the time to sweep what can’t be vacuumed with a household vacuum cleaner.
- Utility knife
While a utility knife is the best option for this specific task, you can easily replace it with a razor blade, carpet knife, pocket knife, or any other household knife that is compact, non-serrated, and sharp enough for cutting.
Final thoughts
And there you have it! It may have felt like a lot of information to digest, but now you have all the information you need to equip your home with a new toilet system. Whether your home has the parallel wall you desire for space reasons, or you know how to install the toilets as you see fit.
You can place them in any room for your dream home, and the possibilities are truly endless. By following the points we have outlined in this guide, you will be able to design the home of your dreams in no time.