Niagara N7717 toilet tank too close to wall

[Partsman41953]

Hello,

I just purchased this toilet for my downstairs half bath and when the plumber installed it the tank was sitting right against the wall. He flushed the toilet a couple of times but it did not flush completely. He found out that this type of toilet needs to be away from the wall slightly as the toilet is a suction type toilet that needs air behind the tank. He told me he would have to put an offset flange in to move the toilet tank away from the wall and would have to break up some of the tile I have on the floor in order to do it. Are there any other options or should I just return the toilet and get a different one? Do they make any type of offset flanges that would work so the tile would not have to be torn up? Thanks

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Visit the Niagara website for all rough-in information:

https://niagaracorp.com/toilets/
Most rough-in call for 12" from the wall, but there are a couple of models for tight spaces with a 10". Either you have it or you don't.

 

[shlasko53]

In 45 years of plumbing I have never heard of that.. suction toilet? Air behind the tank? sounds crazy.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

In 45 years of plumbing I have never heard of that.. suction toilet? Air behind the tank? sounds crazy.

Hazarding a guess here that the description was meant for a pressure assist toilet. But they don’t require any more air than anything else; behind the tank, above the tank, below the tank, or anywhere else. it’s kind of a irrelevant because that’s not the Niagara toilets. So who knows what they were trying to pull on the homeowner!

 

[Jeff Handy]

I don’t see anything in the OP saying he has a Niagara toilet.
Maybe there was an edit?

Meanwhile, some clear pics would be helpful, showing toilet and relationship to the wall.
And a pic of inside the tank showing the guts, water level, and the manufacturer info printed or molded there.

Also, the installer may just have screwed up the wax ring, and now it is partially blocking the flange opening, causing a bad flush.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

I don’t see anything in the OP saying he has a Niagara toilet.

OP title says Niagara...

 

[Jeff Handy]

Hah, sorry I missed that!

 

[Jeff Handy]

As has been said above, maybe you have a ten inch rough in, and your plumber goofed and tried to squeeze in a twelve inch by fudging.
You can sometimes cheat about an inch.
The tank might be tight to the wall now, and leaning forward.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

As has been said above, maybe you have a ten inch rough in, and your plumber goofed and tried to squeeze in a twelve inch by fudging.
You can sometimes cheat about an inch.
The tank might be tight to the wall now, and leaning forward.

That’s real easy to measure, and real easy to correct with the proper toilet. Getting an offset flange sounds considerably more invasive than the proper toilet.

 

[Dan the Plumber]

Heres the details on the toilet in question. Note that the trap is vented towards the tank. Possibly speeding the load on its way. My take, that the existing flange is less than 12" from the wall

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

FWIW, every toilet I've had in recent years (four toilets in one house, three in another and four in my present house) are all 12" setback, and all of them have the tank top either touching the wall or within 1/2". A mix of Gerber, American Standard, Kohler and Mansfield.