The 7 Best 10-Inch Rough-in Toilets

Last Updated on May 18, 2022 by toilethaven

What are The Best 10-Inch Rough-in Toilets?

A toilet rough-in is the distance between the toilets rear finished wall and the center of the drainpipe. If the toilet is already installed you should measure from the wall to one of the 2 toilet bolts.

Care should be taken to make sure that you measure the distance from the finished wall and not the baseboard. The baseboard has a thickness of about ½ inch which may give you an erroneous figure.

The standard rough-in of a toilet is 12 inches. In old homes you will at times find toilets with a rough-in of 10 inches or even 14 inches.

A toilet with a rough-in of 10 inches can only be replaced by a toilet with a 10-inch rough-in. A 14-inch rough-in toilet can be replaced by a toilet with a rough-in of 12 inches but a 2-inch gap will be left between the tank and the wall.

If you are looking to replace your old 10-inch rough-in toilet, of course you want to buy a good modern toilet which apart from just having a matching rough-in has other nice features. These features include better flushing, water-efficiency, better design, comfort etc.

So, why is it important that you buy a 10-inch rough in toilet?

If you replace a 12-inch rough-in toilet with a 10-inch rough-in toilet, a 2-inch gap will be left between the tank and the wall. While this will not affect how the toilet works, it is not an ideal situation and it will also make it uncomfortable to use if the toilet paper holder is mounted on the wall behind the toilet.

You can replace a 12-inch rough-in toilet with a 10-inch rough-in toilet but cannot replace a 10-inch rough-in toilet with a 12-inch toilet. With a 10-inch rough-in toilet, the distance between the center of the drainpipe and the rear wall is 2-inch shorter than that of a 12-inch rough-in toilet.

10-inch rough-in toilets are not necessarily smaller. There are 12-inch rough-in toilets that are more compact compared to some 10-inch rough-in toilets. However, 10-inch rough-in toilets generally have a shorted depth while their width and height varies.

So, what are the best 10-inch rough-in toilets? I have compared many toilets and toilet brands and I believe I have the list of the best toilets with a 10-inch rough-in.

The Best 10-Inch Rough-in Toilets are:

1. Toto CST744EF.10No.01 Eco Drake

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The Toto Eco Drake is a two-piece single flush elongated toilet with a comfort height. It is primarily available in cotton white color.

This toilet uses the Toto Emax flushing system that has a consumption of only 1.28 gallons per flush. This means it is WaterSense certified and can be sold anywhere in the United States. Though it uses little water for each flush it has a powerful flush. How is this possible?

The toilet has a 3-inch flush valve (most toilet have a 2-inch) which means water is dumped in the bowl so fast creating more force and therefore a powerful flush. To complement the wide flush valve, it also has an extra-large siphon jet and trapway (2-1/8 inch). This helps to move the waste faster and forcefully.

The Eco Drake has a bowl rim height of 16.25 inches. If you add the extra inch from a toilet seat it means you will be sitting at a height of 17.25 inches from the floor. This height is a welcome feature for the elderly, tall and people who just don’t like standard height toilets.

The elongated toilet bowl which even though takes more space than a round bowl is way more comfortable. It provides more surface area to support your back unlike a round toilet.

This toilet has a depth of 28.125 inches, a width of 19.875 inches and a height of 30.125 inches. Before you go ahead to buy it make sure it can fit perfectly in your bathroom.

Unfortunately this toilet does not come with a toilet seat. You will need to but one separately as well as a wax ring, toilet bolts and water supply line. You can install a normal toilet seat or a bidet toilet seat on its bowl.

The Toto Eco Drake is well worth your money and is competitively priced too. You will receive a 1-year warranty after buying it.

If you would like a more high-end toilet, go with either the Toto Carlyle II or Toto Vespin II. They are 12-inch rough-in toilets with the unifit adapter.

2. Kohler K-3851-0 Cimarron

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The Kohler Cimarron 10-inch rough-in toilet is a single flush two-piece round-front comfort height toilet. It is available in white, biscuit and almond although at times it’s hard to get the biscuit and almond.

If you have a small bathroom whose toilet you need to replace then this is the toilet to buy. It has a round-front toilet bowl which is 2 inches shorter than the elongated toilet. Normally, elongated toilet are 18.5 inches in length while round toilets are 16.5 inches.

The Cimarron uses Kohler’s AquaPiston canister flush valve. This flushing systems allows water to be dumped into the bowl faster than in ordinary toilet flapper valves. This creates a better and powerful flush.

The 2-1/8 inch fully glazed trapway also contributes to the effective flushing of the Cimarron. Its water consumption is only 1.28 gallons per flush. This means it can be sold anywhere in the United States.

Just like many toilets these days the Kohler Cimarron is sold without a toilet seat. Apart from the seat you will need to buy the wax ring, mounting bolts and water supply line separately.

Despite having a round toilet the Cimarron is a comfort height toilet. This is a great choice for the tall, elderly and anyone with limited mobility. The toilet bowl rim is at a height of 16.5 inches from the floor.

Kohler’s DryLock tank installation system ensures that installing this toilet is so easy. It comes with pre-installed tank bolts on the tank and all you have to do is mount it on the bowl. The tank has no bolt holes which eliminates any likelihood of leaking.

This Cimarron toilet’s dimensions are 27. 25 inches in depth, 17.625 inches in width and 30.5 inches in height. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

3. American Standard 270AB001.020 Cadet 3

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The American Standard Cadet 3 10-inch rough-in toilet is a two-piece single flush elongated comfort height toilet. It is available in white, bone and linen.

With a 3-inch wide flush valve and extra-large trapway, the cadet flushing system dumps water into the bowl very quickly and the waste flushes just as quick and powerfully. To just emphasize on the flushing power, the Cadet has a MaP score of 1000mg. The PowerWash rim technology is effective in scrubbing and rinsing the bowl.

Cadet 3’s surface. just like most American Standard toilets is coated with their EverClean glaze which inhibits the growth of mold, mildew and odor-causing bacteria. This makes it super easy to clean the toilet.

If you enjoy using a tall toilet then this one should be it. The toilet bowl rim height of the Cadet 3 is 16.5 inches which is ADA-compliant. After installing a seat you should have 17.5 inches in total. The elongated toilet bowl should further complement the comfort.

If unfortunately you are in some areas in the United States like California you cannot buy this toilet. It uses 1.6 gallons of water per flush which is more than the recommended 1.28 gallons.

Another thing you may not like is that the toilet does not come with a toilet seat, wax ring and bolts. You will need to buy those separately. A good thing is that the package contains color-matched toilet bolts caps.

The Cadet 3’s dimensions are 28.5 inches depth, 17.25 inches width and 30.25 inches height. It comes with a 5-year warranty.

4. Toto CST744SF.10#01 Drake

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The Toto Drake 10-inch rough-in is a single flush two-piece elongated comfort height toilet. It is available in cotton white.

This model of Toto Drake uses Toto’s G-Max flushing technology. Water flows from the tank through the extra-large 3-inch flush valve and therefore gets into the bowl faster and forcefully creating a powerful flush. The full glazed trapway which is extra-large as well makes sure the toilet flushes powerfully yet quietly.

The Drakes bowl rim is at a height of 16.125 inches from the floor. A toilet seat will add an extra inch to the height. This is not the highest comfort height toilet buy you cannot compare it to one with a standard height. The elongated bowl is an added source of comfort for this toilet.

Although the G-Max flushing system has no any problem at all, Toto is making their new toilets with their new E-Max flushing system. The only difference between the E-Max and G-Max flushing systems is the amount of water used per flush.

G-Max Toto toilets like this one uses 1.6 gallons of water per flushing while toilets with the E-Max flushing system uses 1.28 gallons per flush. As a result this toilet is not WaterSense certified and can also not be sold in places like California.

You will need to buy a toilet seat separately as it will not be included in the packaging if you buy this toilet. You may choose to install an ordinary toilet seat or a bidet toilet seat. Make sure you also buy a wax ring and toilet mounting bolts.

This toilet’s dimensions are 28 inches in depth, 19 inches in width and a height of 30.25 inches. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

5. Kohler K-3889-0 Highline

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The Kohler Highline 10-inch rough-in is a single flush two-piece elongated comfort height toilet. It is available in white color.

The Highline just like other modern Kohler toilets uses the Class Five flushing technology from Kohler. So what is Class Five technology and how is it different from other flushing systems?

Most toilets use a toilet flapper to seal on the flush opening. The flapper is hinged on the flush valve and connected to the flushing handle via a chain. Kohler on the other hand uses an AquaPiston canister flapper.

Unlike the ordinary flapper which is hinged to one side, the canister lifts of completely once you push the toilet handle allowing water to flow to the bowl from a 360 degrees angle. This allows more water to flow down to the bowl within a short time which creates a powerful flush.

The flush valve is also designed in such a way that the water entry is larger than the exit by a ratio of 3:2. As a result the water builds up more pressure as it exits the flush valve which also enhances the flushing power. It uses only 1.28 gallons per flush.

The tank bolts comes preinstalled in what Kohler calls the DryLock installation system. In this system, the tank has no bolt holes and instead they are hooked from underneath the tank. This helps to prevent toilet tank leaks. All you need to do is mount the tank on the bowl and tightening the 3 bolts.

Kohler Highline is also a comfort height toilet. The distance from the floor to the top of the bowl rim is 16.5 inches. When you add the seat, the height will increase to 17.5 inches which is really nice to sit and stand from. To enhance your comfort more the bowl is elongated and hence you have more space to sit on.

Unfortunately you will need to buy a toilet seat separately because it is not included in the main package.

This toilet’s assembled dimensions are 29.5 inches depth, 18 inches width and 31.25 inches height. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

6. Toto Aquia CST412MF.10#01

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The Toto Aquia 10-inch rough-in is a dual-flush two-piece elongated comfort height toilet. It is available in cotton white, colonial white, Sedona beige, bone and ebony.

The Aquia uses Toto’s Dual-Max flushing system which is basically a dual flush toilet. The main advantage of a dual flush toilet is that it is more water-efficient allowing you to save water and bring down your water bills.

It has 2 chrome flush buttons at the top of the tank lid. The small button is for a half flush which is for flushing liquids while the bigger button is for the full flush for flushing solids. The half flush uses 0.9 gallons while the full flush uses 1.6 gallons of water per flush.

This toilet comes in a skirted design which simply means it has a concealed trapway. The design removes all the nooks and crannies found in other toilets which makes cleaning the toilet so easy.

Its toilet bowl height is at 16.25 inches from the floor. Although this toilet is sold without a seat, once you install the seat you will be sitting on a height of 17.25 inches. If you add the comfort offered by the elongated bowl, this toilet should be a good one to own.

Although the skirted design allows for easy cleaning, it is a lot harder to install than other toilets whose mounting bolts are easier to slot in. You need to therefore give your plumber a heads up so that you can talk about the cost in advance. Otherwise if they see it for the first time he/she might charge extra.

The Toto Aquia measures 27.625 inches in depth, 15.375 inches in width and 31.375 inches in height. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

7. American Standard 221CB104.020 Colony

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The American Standard Colony is a two-piece single flush elongated standard height toilet. It is the best-priced 10-inch rough-in toilet from this list. The colors available are white, linen and bone.

The white toilet is cheaper than the linen and bone ones, if you are interested in a color that’s not white. This is primarily because porcelain occurs naturally as a white substance and it there adds an extra cost to transform it to another color.

If you check at the rim jets of this toilet you will notice that they are facing sideways. The idea behind this design is to make the water to strike the bowl wall at angle which will in return create a vortex. The vortex is an effective way of scrubbing and rinsing the bowl. American Standard calls this the PowerWash rim technology.

The distance between the floor and the top of the bowl rim is 15 inches. This makes the Colony a standard height toilet. Although comfort height toilets are the new thing in the world of toilets, some people still prefer the standard height toilets.

Using only 1.28 gallons of water per flush, this toilet is WaterSense certified. It can therefore be sold in places with tough water conservation rules like California. It also has an elongated bowl for added comfort.

You will be disappointed that this toilet will be sold to you without a seat, wax ring and toilet bolts. It will however have color-matched toilet bolts caps.

The dimensions of the Colony are 27.8125 inches in depth, 18.6875 inches in width and 29.5 inches in height. It comes with a 2-year warranty.

10-Inch Rough-In Toilets Buying Guide?

What should you take into consideration while buying a 10-inch rough-in toilet? As you will notice or already know, most people have different tastes and needs and what may work perfectly for person A might turn out to be a disaster for person B.

Let us then look at how to buy the best 10-inch rough-in toilet. Here are the factors you should consider:

1. Cost

Toilets are not cheap but the good thing is that they last really long when taken good care of. Needless to say, different people have different buying powers. Some people just want a toilet as a means to an end while others want much more from a toilet.

It therefore goes without saying that toilets vary so much in price depending on the features that each toilet has and to some extent the brand name. My advice to people is always not to under budget especially since a toilet is a long term investment.

Having said that, you can’t break the bank over a toilet. You need to go for what you can comfortably afford. In the list of the 7 best toilets that I have written here, all the toilets are in the mid-range region. They are not too cheap and neither are they very expensive.

2. Round or Elongated Toilet

Round toilets have a circular bowl while elongated toilets have an oval bowl. As a result, elongated toilets are longer than round toiles and therefore take more space in the bathroom. The elongated toilet bowls have a length of about 18.5 inches while round toilets have a length of about 16.5 inches.

Round toilets are therefore more space economical than elongated toilets. Most people however prefer the elongated toilets since they are way more comfortable than the round toilets.

You should therefore make an informed choice based on your preferences. In case you would like to further compare and contrast round vs elongated toilets and their pros and cons check out this post.

3. One or Two-Piece Toilet

A one-piece toilet is a toilet that has the tank and bowl manufactured as one piece while in two-piece toilets the bowl and the tank are manufactured differently and only joined during installation.

All the 7 best rough-in toilets that I have reviewed in this post are two-piece toilets. The installation process of 2-piece toilets takes longer than that of 1-piece toilets but it’s much safer and can be done by one person since the weight is shared by the two pieces.

Installing a 1-piece toilet is quick but they are really heavy and sometimes needs two people. Both one-piece and two-piece toilets have their pros and cons. To learn more about this topic check out this post.

4. Water Consumption

Before low-flow toilets were introduced toilets used to consume 3.5 gallons of water per flush. Compare that to the current 1.6 gallons or less. How much money in terms of water bills can you save?

To motivate people to use more environment-friendly toilets, United States’ EPA started a program called WaterSense. WaterSense certified toilets use only 1.28 gallons per flush which is good for both the environment and your wallet. Such toilets have a WaterSense label to help consumers easily identify them.

Another way of saving water using a toilet is installing a dual flush toilet. It has a button that flushes less water and another that flushes more water. Most people visit the bathroom more times for the number 1 way more than the number 2.

Every time you do the number 1 you push the smaller button which means you will save more water throughout the day. Research has it that dual flush toilets save up to 6000 gallons of water in a year.

5. What is Included?

While buying a new toilet, there is a big chance it will not have everything you need to install it. It will probably miss a wax ring, mounting bolts, water supply line, seat or everything.

I know it is infuriating to buy a toilet only to discover later that it has no seat or wax ring. It’s even worse if you have already called in a plumber whose time will be wasted and need to be compensated.

You should therefore do a thorough research to see what is included and what’s not. Buying this extra things will without a doubt increase the overall price of the toilet.

6. Bathroom Space

Toilets have different dimensions and so do bathrooms. Some people have small bathrooms while others can’t complain about space. You will therefore need to carefully check the actual assembled dimensions of a toilet before buying to be sure that it will fit in your bathroom.

Although round toilets save on space, compact elongated toilets is another choice if you want to save space and also enjoy the convenience of an elongated toilet.

7. Standard or Comfort Height Toilets.

Standard height toilets have a toilet bowl height of 15 inches while comfort height toilets have a height of 17 inches or more. Comfort height toilets are also called right height, chair height, universal height or ADA-compliant toilets.

The comfort height toilets are a great choice for tall people, the elderly and people with limited mobility as they don’t have to bend too much. Standard height toilets on the other hand are best for people of average height and children.

If you would like to read more on the pros and cons of standard vs comfort height toilets check out this post.

How to Install a 10-Inch Rough-In Toilet

Installing a 10-inch rough-in toilet is no different from a standard 12-inch rough-in toilet. The process is exactly the same.

Removing and replacing a toilet is actually an easy task which I encourage people to do on their own because I know plumbers are really not cheap. If you are however busy or old or just want to use a professional there is no harm in calling your plumber to install it for you.

Just remember that if you are replacing an old 10-inch rough-in toilet with a new one you will need to buy a new wax ring. Wax rings are not reusable. Better still you can decide to use a rubber gasket seal as an alternative to wax ring. They work just as fine if not better.

For a detailed guide on how to replace a toilet (removing the old and installing the new) please check out this post.