Here is a brilliant idea. Many people who have difficulty sitting down and getting up, as well as those who have the problem of getting in and out of wheelchairs have always had to install rather unstable special chairs on top of their toilets. Here is a toilet riser and a soil stack extension that very simply lift your whole toilet up.
This is far more stable and aesthetic than the raised seats, and allows you to drop that regular toilet back down to the floor when you want to sell the house.
The first photo above shows when I discovered this great idea at a hardware show in 2000. In 2013 this item is still being made and I went to install one for a friend. It was one of the easiest plumbing jobs I ever had to do.
1-- This shows the too low toilet with common rather flimsy side bars.
2 -- We simply removed the toilet, the bars were attached to the toilet -- gone too. Notice the standard sized bolts on the floor flange.
3 -- The extended bolts came with the installation kit.
4 -- The riser has several bolt holes to allow for proper positioning for holding the toilet base.
5 -- The drain riser extension is also part of the kit.
6 -- Notice the new wax rings made to fit.
7 -- The toilet fits nicely on the top, as easily as bolting down any toilet. The one extra step is to run a silicone bead abound the bottom of the riser and around the bottom of the toilet. This totally prevents any sidewise movement as people shift over onto the toilet from a wheelchair.
8 -- Notce the new very solid raised side bars with their own mounting board on the wall. The 3/4" plywood board is screwed solidly into the wall studs, allowing the bars to go exactly where they should be for maximum support and comfort. Support bars cannot just be screwed into drywall. Getting some real support with solid side bars was as much appreciated as the raised seat.
9 -- What doesn't show here are the solid metal hinges on the toilet seat. They are hard to find but worth the search when dealing with people who are seeking stability. The seat just doesn't start sliding left and right.
10 -- Here we show just one bar down -- the other one stays safely raised.
11 -- Both bars down and everything solid and comfortable.
12 -- We felt that with the long bolts between the floor flange and the toilet, especially in this house that was tile on concrete and the flange was not all that solidly attached down to the floor, that a narrow bead of caulking would be a good idea to lock the toilet to the riser and the riser to the floor. But as it turned out, there was so much sidewise pressure with the transfer from the wheel chair that everything moved a little bit. So we went back and put in a very healthy bead of caulking with a triangular applicator ( technique details here). That is now holding everything solidly in place.
When this person changes houses or appartments, they simply drop the toilet back to its origional position, patch a couple of holes in the wall behind and take both the riser and the bars with them to their next dwelling. This makes the installation every bit as good as a dedicated higher toilet but without extra costs at moving time.
They call it the TOILEVATOR and in Canada you can get it from Hartmobility in Ontario.