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RenovatingDesign DilemmaBathrooms
ruthpc

Bathroom layout advice

Roo
4 years ago

Hi All,


We live in a 1930's house with a small bathroom. 170cm x 200cm. Currently the layout isn't working as all 3 amenities are very close together.


I've been trying to free up some space and have created a few layouts. I have had 2 builders round and they have said not to put the bath into the cupboard area (IDEA 4). I personally don't see what the issue is as you would have a screen for the shower on one end anyway, but happy to be told why it isn't a good option. I understand this one would be costly.


I think we could be happy not doing too much work to it, but just don't want the toilet right next to the sink. It's important to mention that I have 2 small boys in the house so the further these two items can be from each other the better!


Thanks very much,

Roo


ORIGINAL LAYOUT


IDEA 1



IDEA 2


IDEA 3



IDEA 4





Featured Answer
  • Roo
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    Hi Jennifer,

    We went for idea 4 in the end and I love it. It’s so much more spacious. I’ve attached photos of it just before we moved in. I spent ages trying to get a bespoke screen and found that we didn’t need one, as water doesn’t spray out that far. Our fitters Sean from SJB Plumbing Services, N12 were excellent. They pushed the bath as far as they could without compromising landing space. They also measured us for shower heights and did an amazing tiling job. Also when sat in the bath I have my back to the rest of the room which I find very relaxing. Completed almost a year ago and it’s still one of the best rooms in the house.




    Comments (22)

    • rinked
      4 years ago

      What options do you have downstairs for your soilpipe?

    • Tani H-S
      4 years ago
      Do you know for definate if you WC can be moved to the opposite wall? Ie the one on the right as you walk in the room? If so then I would run your bath under the window with your WC next to it on the right side then put your sink in the cupboard space.
      Presuming the cupboard is at least 800 wide is it?

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    • Tani H-S
      4 years ago
      Otherwise idea 4 (putting your WC back the way it is now so it faces straight ahead) seems good if you must not have the sink and WC together.
      Ours will be but then I don’t have kids so don’t know what issues it causes. Ha ha.

      Re putting it into a cupboard .... if that end is going to be the shower and it forms a cubicle and it’s not too deep then it could work. I looked at doing it myself as got a similar room shape.
      Roo thanked Tani H-S
    • PRO
      Brandler London
      4 years ago

      I agree with the comments above and am not really sure why your builder's are against option 4.


      It is obviously more work and they will have to make absolutely sure that they seal the floor underneath the bath properly, but other than that there is no obvious reason that I can see.


      The plumbing seems to work and a 1930's house should have floorboards that can be easily lifted for the pipework relocation/extension that may be required for the water supplies and waste to the bath.


      Just one thing about option 4 which you need to bead in mind is the shower screen; what type do you want and based upon that, how would it be installed?

      Roo thanked Brandler London
    • Roo
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Thank you for your comments. Really appreciate it.


      The cupboard on the outside of the bathroom is 71cm wide. The current bath we have is 68cm. There is a power outlet on the other side.

      I've been told that the area is too small for idea 4, however I don't see why the wall on the other side of the door can't be moved to accommodate it.


      I've had reasons of it'll be difficult to clean when installed or that I wouldn't want to sit in a 'tunnel' to have a bath. Actually I disagree with both. I would love to be enclosed down that end in a bath (esp if a child is needing the toilet!). I would like to have taps on the wall to fill the bath no taps will be digging in the back.


      Rinq - The soil pipe goes straight outside from where the toilet currently sits.

      Tani - In idea 4 I did mean to keep the toilet in it's original position! I don't know if it can be moved to the opposite wall. I had a builder say you can move an internal soil pipe anywhere (really?). I would rather try and keep the toilet where it is, so idea 4 is my favourite, but understand space may be an issue.

      Brandler London - We are lucky that the floorboards are easy to lift as we haven't done any work yet. I will investigate a shower screen for that area too as I don't have a clue about what type I would like.


      Here are some photos to help visualize...








      Argh!! ; )



    • AMB
      4 years ago
      How about:

      Put the bath under the window.

      Toilet on the left wall (when looking in from the door) - this means the soil pipe can be boxed across and under the bath.

      Sink opposite the toilet.

      Shower where the cupboard is.

      Would that work?

      I think if your builders are very reluctant then get rid of them - it might be that the job is a bit ambitious for their skills or resource so they are reluctant to do it.
      Roo thanked AMB
    • AMB
      4 years ago
      I think I prefer idea 1. Idea 4 wastes a lot of spaces and cramps all the bathroom furniture into the end of the room. in ideas 2&3 I think the sink and toilet need to be directly opposite each other for balance.
    • rinked
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Could you post a floorplan of the bigger whole please? (adjecent rooms)

      Note: Idea 4 leaves too little space between toilet and sink.


      Idea 2 is quite good, center the sink a little more (on a vanity). Add a long shelf quite high up the toilet wall for towels and storage baskets.


      Also I'd like to know how big the wish for a bath is. A shower would help open up the space so much more. Kids grow up fast and find it fun to splatter in those tiny (flexible) baths too.

      Roo thanked rinked
    • Fran H
      4 years ago
      Our layout was similar to yours. Our door wall was non-load bearing so was able to move this to give a little more depth to room and utilise part of the cupboard for a shower. Our bath was relocated to window wall with basin on left wall and WC on right wall.
      Roo thanked Fran H
    • Roo
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Thanks for all the comments so far. A lot to think about.


      @AMB I agree with you about the wasted space in IDEA 4. I hadn't considered that. I understand about the need for balance, but I was thinking of when you get out of the shower/bath you'd need some floor space. We could even utilise some of the space from the cupboard in the hallway from the bathroom side.


      @fran11home Thank you. I'm now wondering what the minimum size shower you could have although i think it may be a bit ambitious to fit a shower in there!


      @rinq Always going to have a bath. We are fortunate to have a downstairs shower room, but I couldn't, wouldn't lose the bath. Thank you, but no! ; ) I've attached a layout of the top floor, but also an alt that an architect did as an initial idea. As we may want to go up to the loft one day, I wasn't sure about losing that much space on the landing. Anyway take a look, there might be something really obvious that I've missed. I think we are no heading to IDEA 3...





    • rinked
      4 years ago

      Since another stairs could go up the current one, don't mourn over a bit of landing, especially not when it comes to a functional bathroom. ;)

    • rinked
      4 years ago

      No need to overhaul the entire landing though.. Just move the bathroom door a bit, so the bath isn't halfway in the alcove. Toilet pipes should be as vertical as possible, if there's no sewage pipe straight below. I've tried the sink in the toilet corner below, didn't work. My guess is this layout makes the best use of the available space. Mirror could go next to the window, I've seen it before (natural light is a plus).


    • Fran H
      4 years ago
      We did as rinq has suggested, moved the door as far left as possible. This allowed us to utilise the old cupboard with a 1000x800 shower.
    • Fran H
      4 years ago
      Perhaps a quadrant shower would fit and give more floor space. Might be worth uploading a plan with dimensions.
    • bellehaz
      4 years ago

      Hi,

      what did you go for in the end?



    • Chel Byrom
      4 years ago

      My bathroom is almost identical except for being only the length of the bath plus a couple of inches. I also have an outer cupboard in the same place.
      Rinq is right to utilise the cupboard for the bath. Mine has the electric meter in it so I can't. Your electric line for a socket can be used for a power shower/water pump. Moving the door to the left and as far onto the landing as possible without having to move the bedroom doors will maximise space for minimum effort. Separate the end of the bath from the toilet with a cupboard the size of a low bookcase. A door on the end will hide toilet rolls and cleaning gear. A blocked shelf at the top will take toiletries for the bath with nice plant above. No view of toilet from bath but with daylight. Shower over enclosed end will contain water spray if the bath slope allows for standing there. I've found a shower curtain works better than a screen. A sturdy laundry bin you can sit on is really helpful in confined space.

    • Jennifer Li
      3 years ago

      hi. what did you go for in the end? I am struggling with a similar layout and need a bath and shower.

    • Jennifer Li
      3 years ago

      it's beautiful. I'm trying to accommodate a bath and shower into my room which is 1.93m wide X 3m long with everything currently positioned as it was in your before pics. I'm ripping out the redundant hotpress and forgoing storage for a shower. just not sure I can fit everything in

    • Roo
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      @Jennifer Li I‘ve been involved in my house renovations for a while and the one thing I would say is keep planning. Keep asking yourself why and accept that sometimes you can’t have it all. I really wanted an en-suite in our bedroom. I spent ages researching and planning and it was never going to work. I had to go through that time consuming process and concluded that it would be a waste of space and money. The time spent planning wasn’t wasted. A lot of money was saved and I also didn’t make mistakes that would have been harder to reverse. Good luck!

    • ANGELA Duva
      3 years ago

      Hi Roo, we face an almost identical issue with our bathroom. What did the final dimensions end up as? Really keen to see if we can do the same. Re the point about planning, we’ve just finished a kitchen diner renovation and I can’t agree more. Plan plan plan, and be flexible. It makes the final result so much better.

    • Roo
      Original Author
      3 years ago


      Here are the final dimensions. Our taps were moved further down towards the basin. We did get a slightly larger bath and basin which actually makes it feel bigger too. Our cabinet has mirror inside the doors so when you open the side nearest the window you can get full daylight viewing (not planned!). The shower area was pushed far back enough not to need a shower screen (although we didn't know that until we used it). The cheapest bespoke screen was £300 so I would definitely plan for that if you can't use off the shelf. When it's done, it's such a good feeling. Good Luck to you @ANGELA Duva.

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