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Toilets come in various colors and materials to suit various types of bathroom decor. But do toilets come in different heights?
They do indeed. Have you ever used a friend’s toilet and it seemed like a long drop to the bowl? Or perhaps the toilet was a bit too high for your liking, leaving your feet dangling.
People come in all shapes and sizes. Because of that, there are some toilets that are higher, and some that sit lower. Hence, houses with more than one bathroom usually have master bathrooms and children’s bathrooms.
Average Toilet Heights
- Adult: 17 to 19 inches
- 3 to 4 year old children: 11 to 12 Inches
- 5 to 8 year old children: 12 to 15 inches
- 9 to 15 year old children: 15 to 18 inches
The height of one’s toilet depends greatly on personal comfort. When it comes to choosing the right toilet there are many things to consider.
The difference in toilet height depends on the distance between floor to seat. Unless you can sit upon the throne comfortably with both feet flat on the floor, the toilet is probably not for you.
Two-piece, one-piece, intelligent, wall-hung, it really doesn’t matter what type of toilet you have, so long as the floor to seat height suits you.
It all really depends on how tall you are, and how easily you can transfer on and off the toilet. Toilets are really just based on individual need.
This is why taller people find standard toilets uncomfortably low. In this case, higher “comfort height” toilets are the more practical choice.
These toilets range between 17 inches and 19 inches from floor to seat. This fits most adults, especially taller people. If your height is unusually tall, you might require a toilet higher than 19 inches.
Custom toilet heights
Technically a toilet larger than 19 inches floor to seat does not exist. However, there are things you can do to make your toilet higher than 19 inches.
- Use a standard height toilet seat on a comfort height toilet.
- Use an enhanced height seat
- Install a toilet pedestal
- Add a seat riser
- Purchase a mechanical seat lift
- Install a wall-hung toilet
If the problem is the opposite you can purchase toilet steps.
While tall people prefer higher toilets, shorter people prefer lower ones. Standard Height toilets give a floor to the seat height of 16 inches or less.
These toilets are ideal for shorter people, as high toilets can cause legs to painfully go to sleep.
Special toilet considerations
Toilet height with wheelchair users is also very important, as wheelchair users need a good seat height for lateral sliding transfers. Therefore the height of the toilet must be level to the height of the wheelchair.
As long as the floor to seat height is equal with the wheelchair, the user shouldn’t have a problem while using the toilet.
So, when looking at things this way it is easy to see that the size of a toilet’s height matters in a unique way for each person using a toilet. A toilets height is a very special thing that takes planning to get the toilet just perfect.
This is why, no matter where you go, or what you may do you will never find two toilets that are the exact same height. Even when you look at toilets that are in the same house.
Learn more about toilets
Now that you’re knowledgeable about toilet heights, there’s plenty more to learn about these important appliances. Catch up on toilet history by learning when toilets became common, how toilets worked in castles, how toilets changed over time, and why toilets used to be outside.
Learn a little about maintenance by learning if toilet tanks are standard and prevent disaster by learning what to do when a toilet freezes.
Finally, dive into some fun toilet legend and lore by finding out if toilets can explode and whether toilets really flush backwards in Australia.
