If you have visited a bathroom accessories store, you have probably noted that different toilets models have varying waste discharge systems. One such system is the rear discharge system. Floor-mounted back outlet toilets set themselves apart from standard toilets. While standard toilets drain their waste through a pipe on the floor, a floor mounted back outlet toilet does so through the back. This guide gives you crucial insights into what floor-mounted back outlet toilets are, their advantages and their drawbacks.
Top Five Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilets
If you are looking for a floor-mounted back outlet, you should note that different models have varying specifications, features and pricing. This review explores the top five floor-mounted back outlet toilets available in the market.
1. Best Overall: Swiss Madison SM-2T120
If you are looking for the top-rated floor-mounted back outlet toilet available in the market, this model is your best bet. The commode has a concealed rear discharge P-trap that links to a sewer pipe on the back wall. The unit’s glossy white finish also gives it an unmatched aesthetic appeal.
Swiss Madison, the toilet’s manufacturer, considered its sturdiness when designing it. The commode’s considerably high weight of 105 pounds gives it extra strength and sturdiness to accommodate heavy people. Additionally, the unit is made of ceramic material, making it significantly rigid and robust. It also comes with a silent-close toilet seat.
Unique Features
- White color
- Rear outlet
- Measures 25.6 inches * 15.4 inches * 33.07 inches
- Made of ceramic material
- Weighs 105 pounds
- Floor-mounted installation
2. Best Runner Up: Kohler K-3652-0
Are you looking for a reliable floor-mounted back outlet toilet with a high customer rating? If yes, then this model is your best possible choice. The toilet’s white color enables it to blend flawlessly into your bathroom’s white interiors. The unit’s two-piece configuration allows for easier shipping and installation.
This floor-mounted back outlet toilet also caters to your comfort needs. The unit’s elongated bowl shape enhances user comfort considerably. Its high weight of 102 pounds makes it steady enough to bear the weight of heavy individuals.
Outstanding Features
- White color
- Measures 28.75 inches * 21.25 inches * 29.25 inches
- Made of Vitreous China material
- Weighs 102 pounds
- Rear outlet bowl
- Pressure assisted flushing system
- Consumes 1.0 GPF
- Elongated bowl shape
- 29-inch rough-in.
3. Best Budget: American Standard Yorkville
This model is one of the most budget-friendly choices for a floor-mounted rear discharge toilet. Despite its relatively low cost, the toilet’s assortment of unique features and specifications give you incredible value for your money. Like most rear outlet toilets, the model has a pressure-assisted flushing system.
The toilet also caters to your bathroom remodeling and renovation needs. Its 29-inch rough-in makes it easy to replace because multiple toilet models have a similar rough-in size. Moreover, the toilet bowl’s rear outlet makes your bathroom renovation simpler and less costly.
Unique Features
- Chrome trip lever
- White color
- Measures 29.75 inches * 20.5 inches * 29.25 inches
- Made of ceramic material
- Weighs 107 pounds
- Elongated bowl shape
- Pressure-assisted flushing system
- Fully-glazed 2.1-inch trap-way
- 1.6 GPM flow rate
- 1.6 GPF consumption rate
4. Best One-Piece Toilet: SANIFLO Sanicompact
This model is your best bet if you are in the market for a top-rated floor-mounted rear discharge toilet with a one-piece design. The model adopts a minimalistic and compact design that suits a relatively small bathroom. The entire unit weighs only 62.2 pounds, making it easy to ship and install.
The manufacturer designed the model with efficiency in mind. The toilet’s discharge rate of 24 GPM makes it highly efficient in eliminating solid and liquid waste. The commode’s relatively low water consumption rate is also a testament to its efficiency. Notably, the toilet consumes 1.28 GPF for a full flush and 1.0 GPF for a light flush.
Unique Features
- White color
- Made of porcelain, plastic, and metal
- Measures 24 inches * 24 inches * 16.5 inches
- Weighs 62.2 pounds
- Dual flush technology
- 1.25-inch trap-way
- 24 GPM discharge rate
- Floor-mounted installation
- Elongated bowl shape
5. Most Stylish: Signature Hardware 941039
Are you in the marketplace for the most stylish floor-mounted back outlet toilet? If yes, then this toilet is for you. A hallmark of the model’s design includes unique lines at the bottom and top sections of the bowl. The commode also has a fine glossy finish that gives it an elegant, contemporary look.
The toilet caters to your water conservation needs. In essence, it has a dual flush system that reduces your household water usage considerably. The system’s full flush has a water consumption rate of 1.6 GPF, while the light flush has a water consumption rate of 0.8 GPF.
Unique Features
- Two-piece design
- White color
- Floor-mounted installation
- Weighs 91.7 pounds
- Made of Vitreous China material
- Rear outlet bowl
Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilet Buyer’s Guide
If you have ever come across the terms rear outlet, back outlet, rear discharge, or back discharge toilet, you have probably asked yourself if they mean the same thing. Well, they do. A floor-mounted back outlet toilet requires floor installation, and its waste pipe connects to a waste line that passes through the rear wall. By comparison, standard toilets have a waste outlet that connects directly to a waste pipe on the bathroom floor.
Floor-mounted back outlet toilets are widespread in high-rise buildings. Private homeowners also prefer floor-mounted rear discharge toilets when remodeling or renovating their bathrooms. Installing a back outlet toilet spares you the effort of having to rip up the bathroom floor.
You can also install a floor-mounted back outlet toilet in a room where you did not plan to mount a commode during the construction phase. All you have to do is chisel up a hole through the wall and connect the toilet’s waste outlet to an exterior sewer line. Doing so is much easier than digging up and laying pipes on the bathroom floor.
Why Are Floor-Mounted Rear Discharge More Common in Tower Blocks?
Floor-mounted back outlet toilets are common in tower blocks, high-rise buildings, and condominiums because they eliminate the need to set up thick floors to accommodate through-the-floor plumbing. Thinner floors mean that developers save more vertical space. Additional vertical space allows developers to put up more floors without increasing the building’s overall height.
By comparison, single-family homes do not need to save vertical space since most have a single floor. Single-family homeowners can choose between a back outlet and a standard toilet, depending on the position of the sewer line.
How Does a Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilet Work?
Plumbers use a P-trap PVC connector to connect a back discharge toilet’s outlet to a special wall fitting. Every time you flush a floor-mounted back outlet toilet, solid waste passes through the connector to an external sewer line. The toilets utilize either one of three flushing technologies, including pressure-assisted, siphonic, and wash-down technology.
Siphonic Technology
A floor-mounted back outlet toilet that employs siphonic technology works by generating a siphon within the P-shaped trap-way. The siphon creates a sucking effect that eliminates water and solid waste from the toilet bowl. A notable drawback of this technology is its relatively low power. Siphonic technology on rear discharge toilets is problematic because it does not have sufficient power to pull a large amount of solid waste from the bowl. The technology’s low power is attributable to the fact that it does not rely on the force of gravity.
Wash-down Technology
Floor-mounted back outlet toilets that employ wash-down technology rely on the force of gravity to eliminate waste. Once you flush the toilet, water swiftly flows from the cistern to the bowl. The sheer power of the water pushes the solid waste into the back outlet first while the flushed water comes out last, leaving your toilet bowl sparkling clean.
Wash-down technology creates a powerful and effective flush. Back discharge toilets that employ the system do not clog because they have a considerably larger trap-way that can withstand the remarkably high water pressure associated with every flush. Moreover, wash-down technology enables floor-mounted toilets to match the performance of a standard commode.
Pressure-Assisted Technology
Conventional rear discharge toilets with siphonic technology do not generate a powerful and effective flush to eliminate waste in one go. Pressure-assisted technology offers a viable solution to this problem. Back outlet toilets with pressure-assisted technology have a small tank in the primary cistern.
Compressed air in the small tank normally pressurizes an air-water mixture. The pressurized air-water mixture gushes out once you turn the flushing lever, creating a powerful and effective flush. A notable drawback of this technology is that it is noisy and costly to purchase and maintain.
Advantages of Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilets
Floor-mounted back outlet toilets have several advantages over standard toilets, including:
- Suitability for high-rise apartments. In essence, the toilets help save vertical space. Developers do not have to design thick floors to accommodate extra plumbing when installing rear discharge toilets. High-rise developments that deploy rear discharge commodes are more profitable than those that install standard toilets.
- Generates a powerful and effective flush. Most of the back outlet toilet models available in the market utilize a pressure-assisted flushing system. The toilets’ relatively large trap-ways combined with the pressure-assisted flushing system help minimize the risk of clogging.
- Suitability for bathroom renovations. When you want to remodel your bathroom, you do not need to dig up the floor to install a rear discharge toilet. The toilet helps you minimize remodeling costs.
- Versatility. You can mount a floor-mounted rear discharge toilet in a high-rise apartment, condominium, tower block, and single-family home. It is worth noting that you need a back outlet toilet with a macerator to install it in a basement.
Drawbacks of Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilets
Floor-mounted rear discharge toilets are not without their fair share of disadvantages. They include:
- Loudness. Notably, rear discharge toilets with a pressure-assisted system are louder than conventional floor discharge toilets. Pressurized water flows from the cistern to the bowl can be considerably loud.
- Visible trap-way connector. The visibility of the plumbing works at the back of the commodes can undermine its overall aesthetic value. Many people get turned off by a visible P-trap connector on the toilet’s rear end.
Floor-Mounted Back Outlet Toilets versus Wall-Hung Toilets
A notable similarity between the two toilet designs is that their discharge outlets connect to a sewer pipe on the wall. However, a wall-hung toilet is distinct from a floor-mounted back outlet toilet in many ways. The cistern is hidden in the rear bathroom wall while the toilet bowl hangs on the same wall.
Wall-mounted toilets have a sleek, stylish, and contemporary appearance compared to rear outlet toilets. Wall-hung toilets are also cheaper than floor-mounted back outlet toilets. Nonetheless, they cost more to install. Their relatively high installation costs are attributable to the need to purchase a frame and put up a secondary rear wall to hide the cistern. The frame usually supports the cistern and anchors the toilet bowl.
Wrap Up
Floor-mounted back outlet toilets are a cut above the rest. The commodes are particularly suitable for high-rise condominiums because they minimize the need to increase floor thickness. The toilets are also ideal for bathroom renovations because you do not need to rip up your bathroom floor to install them. Our top pick for the best floor-mounted back outlet toilet is the Swiss Madison SM-2T120 because of its unmatched features and specification. The advantages of floor-mounted rear discharge toilets outweigh their drawbacks. So, go ahead and get yourself a floor-mounted rear outlet toilet today.