Bathroom fixtures are difficult to move around once they have been installed.
Getting yourbathroom’s floor planright the first time is crucial.
Learn here the necessary toilet, sink, and counter space for bathrooms.
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The result will be a cramped, cluttered bathroom.
Tip
Consider 21 inches as the bare minimum.
With the popularity of longer bowl residential toilets, you will want to ensure thetoilet flangehas extra space.
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Place the toilet facing an open wall or door, if possible, rather than a fixture.
Generally, this will ensure enough clearance room in front of the toilet.
For other bathrooms, aim for a 30-inch front clearance space for the toilet.
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The favored distance is 18 inches or more to the nearest side wall, partition, or fixture.
If you gotta save room, pushing the toilet side space to a bare minimum is often helpful.
To measure toilet side clearances, measure from the toilet’s imaginary center line to the nearest side obstruction.
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A center line is an imaginary line down the center of a fixture.
The line typically crosses over the drain hole.
The center line takes into account the width of most standard-size fixtures.
If you have items that differ from the standard size, adjust accordingly.
The center line rarely refers to front-to-back placement of fixtures, just side-to-side placement.
A wall-mounted toilet roll holder needs several inches of extra space.
Space is at a premium in a tiny bathroom such as apowder room.
It may only be possible to provide for the bare minimum clearances.
Installing apedestal sinkcan help give the feeling of greater room in these small areas.
Bathroom Sink Space
Placement guidelines differ between single and double-basin sink configurations.
These spacing guidelines mostly apply to countertops where you are making the sink cutouts.
Measure from one center line to the next center line.
This is the recommended minimum distance to allow users to use both sinks simultaneously if needed.
The distance also provides adequate room for the plumbing below the sink.
Bathroom Sink Distance From the Wall
Place bathroom sinks 20 inches from the back wall, recommended.
The bare minimum is 15 inches.
This is measured from the sink’s center point to the wall.
Bathroom vanities with precut sinks should already meet the spacing guidelines.
Bathroom Counter Placement From Front Obstruction
Place thebathroom counterat least 30 inches from any front obstruction.
The bare minimum is 21 inches.
Measure from the edge of the countertop to the edge of the nearest obstruction for this placement.
From here, you’ll need to hire a contractor to confirm everything is up to code.
Minimums may be found in the code, but these measurements are often meager and impractical for most bathrooms.
Yet even NKBA guidelines should be regarded as bare minimums.
If you have extra room, consider increasing the NKBA guidelines by several inches.
One common issue is the amount of necessary clearance in front of a toilet.
Minimum recommendations say 21 inches.
However, that is less than 2 feet in front of the toilet.
The NKBA recommends leaving a minimum of 30 inches.
However, wheelchairs or walkers need at least 30 inches to clear a passageway.
A space of 48 inches is a more comfortable amount of space in front of the toilet.
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Kitchen & Bath Planning Guidelines.NKBA.
