I'm getting ready to replace two toilets in my home and, being a senior, am considering a taller toilet. My current ones are 15 inches from the floor to the rim and it's uncomfortable getting up. The toilets I'm considering buying are 16.5 inches from floor to rim. One can buy toilets at the home improvement stores as high as 19 inches. I don't want one that high, but wondering if going from 15 inches to 16.5 will make all that much different on my knees. Any of my Thriftyfun senior friends have toilets 16.5 inches and how do you like it?
By weinerdog41 from Ft. Worth, TX
Hubby and I are 51 and not in the best of health. We went from a very low (probably 15-16 inch) dark grey toilet that I loved because it matched the tub. I was putting off replacement because a new custom color one was very $$$. I finally gave in and we bought a 19 inch tall white one from Lowe's. We love it. It's so much easier to stand up from.
I'm not sure of the height, but there are "chair height" toilets available. They're also called "comfort height". I've been disabled for several years, and always find the handicapped toilets in public buildings a blessing. After my hip replacement surgery in 2010, I was sent home with a portable folding commode, which was placed over my regular toilet, and I've been using it ever since.
Several years ago I had my bathroom modified into a handicapped accessible one. Had the tub/shower combination removed and a walk in shower installed and a taller toilet. I just measured my toilet and it is a little over 17 inches. There are times I wish it was taller, but not too often. If you get the 16.5 inch toilet and decide you would like it to be taller you could buy one of those toilet risers that you can set on the seat and they clamp on some way.
I am almost 74 years old. When they redid my shower they put a large heavy duty grab bar on the back wall and before it was remodeled there was a small grab bar on the walls on each end of the tub. The one small grab bar is also next to the toilet which does help. Because of income I qualified to have a non-profit do the remodeling for me.
I am almost 74 and about 10 years ago I had my bathroom modified into what is considered a handicapped accessible one because it was getting too hard for me to step in and out of the tub to take a shower. I just measured my toilet and it is a little over 17 inches tall. There are occasional times that I wish it was taller. They also took out my tub/shower combination and put in a walk in shower that is the same length as the tub was, which works real good with a shower bench. When they did the shower they put in a large heavy duty grab bar on the back wall and there always was smaller grab bars on the walls at each end of the tub. One of those smaller grab bars is also close to the toilet which sometimes comes in handy too.
By all means for an elderly person (like me) a tall throne is the way to go! Before we changed out our toilets we bought one of those seat extenders to fit over the toilet and those are nice. It would be good to try that and see if a tall throne is what you want. We kept ours and used it when we went places where they had standard height potties.
