Tiny master bathroom, 59.5" x 69.5"
Trying to figure out what if anything I can do with this small space. It is original 1950's. The tub and tile were refinished many years ago and it is now peeling off. We would like to convert the tub to a shower and maybe take out the pedestal sink and put in a small narrow vanity. Fortunately the door opens to the outside of the bathroom, but the window encroaches on the tub area. I've drawn a picture of the area, although not quite to scale. We busted the budget on this whole house reno and are trying to reign in some of the expenses, so moving the window may not happen. We will probably be in the house for another five years. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas?
(87) kommentarer
PROJudyG Designs
5 år sidenSidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år sidenHelen, I see you are new to houzz.
I am sharing a space saving suggestion, not with you, but with danslack.
Feel free to do the same.
danslack thanked JudyG Designs
felizlady
5 år sidenDanslack, you want to be able to stand inside the shower with your elbows out and hands on your head like you are shampooing. That's one measurement. You also want to be able to bend to reach your feet if you don't have a small seat to balance a foot on. If you stand in the tub and try those positions, you will have a decent idea of how much space you need for your shower.danslack thanked felizladyfelizlady
5 år sidenA pedestal sink is only useful in a powder room. In a daily-use bathroom, you need all the storage you can fit.danslack thanked felizladyRobin Morris
5 år sidenYou should definitely spring for a wall hung toilet and wall mounted faucet if you can. It will save you so much space. A wall hung toilet can save you 9"! In our tiny powder room we are doing one... my research led me to buy a gerberit 2x4 tank with a toto aquia toilet as gerberit is supposed to have the best tanks. Also in our other bathrooms we are doing 18" deep vanities with wall mounted faucets to give us a more spacious feel. Something like this:
Waverley · Mere informationdanslack thanked Robin MorrisSusan
5 år sidenWe recently installed the Godmorgon sink form IKEA. A bit deeper than the one posted above with a wall mount cabinet. It is awesome in our small bathroom and goes well with the 50's vibe if you are planning on maintaining that.
danslack thanked Susankafehausdiva
5 år sidenMake a wet room. Waterproof the entire floor and make a little pitch to a linear drain. I did this and love it. Now I have a large showering space in a tiny bathroom.
danslack thanked kafehausdivaLinda Case
5 år sidenYou may want to rethink that barn door. Every sound made in the room is heard outside the door. Love the look, hate the reality.danslack thanked Linda Case
K Waite
5 år sidenAgree about the barn door. Previous owners put one on our bathroom for some reason and its just strange. I’m still not used to it after a year. No privacy and no lock (we have a toddler so maybe that makes it worse).danslack thanked K Waite
Nancy in Mich
5 år sidenDanslack, thanks for letting me know about the links not working. For me, the ones not working are the two PDF links I made. For you to reach them, go to the shower link and when you are looking at a shower, see how there are tabs for "Description", "Specification," and "Reviews"? Click on "Specification" and when you are on that page, see the red link for "spec sheet"? Click on that. That is the PDF I was trying to link to. It has a much better photo of the shower itself, plus lots of measurements, stud placement, and just about all the information you need for installation.
If there are other links that are not working besides the spec sheets, you might try another browser, I guess. The rest work for me.
danslack thanked Nancy in MichNancy in Mich
5 år sidenIf you give measurements for the walls and door placement and toilet placement and drain placement, I can do a more exact drawing and you can see what your options are.
You may HAVE to consider an in-wall tank and small bowl toilet if your municipality does inspections on remodel work and if they don't grandfather in exceptions once you make changes. The rule is that you need 24" clear in front of the toilet rim. I can't imagine that you have that now and I am not sure that you can achieve that with a shower in front of the toilet. It may be necessary to even switch the toilet to the window wall if you live in a warm climate (that is not possible in a cold climate). In that case, your vanity may be limited, too.
danslack thanked Nancy in MichLyndee Lee
5 år sidenisnt toilet clearance required at 21 inches? certainly, 24 is preferred but old bathrooms are often too smalldanslack thanked Lyndee Leedanslack
Forfatter5 år sidenYes, we probably will do the updates on our own as we do not have the space for 21" or more between the toilet and the shower/tub right now. Originally talked to the contractor we used for some of the other renovations and she mentioned that doing the plumbing for a wet room would probably be prohibitive. Part of that is the current location of the downstairs plumbing. I think the least expensive option would be the in the wall hung toilet. Yes, more expensive, if it can be done, but probably less expensive than some other options. Thanks for all the assistance you guys have provided. Waiting for some people to come and give me some estimates for some of the projects so that I can narrow down the options.
Jamie Pace
5 år sidenThere is some really good info on compact and space saving toilets on the website toiletfound.com. Maybe it can help in some of your decision making. Good luck with your remodel.
danslack thanked Jamie PaceLyndee Lee
5 år sidenI have a property with similar spacing issues and havent come up with any fabulous answers. In our property, there is an additional rectangle 40 inches wide and 20 long which is the area where the door swings into the bathroom but the main dimensions of 60 x 72 almost match. The missing rectangle of the bathroom is the closet for the bedroom other side of the wall.
I have contemplated whether an additional few inches of extra space would be worth the painful work of moving the bedroom wall a couple inches and turning the studs in the wall so I would end with a very small instead of tiny bathroom. Since it would be mainly my labor, the direct cost isn't horrible but I am not sure the small gain is worth the headache. A better choice might be to use the bedroom closet space for the shower and change the bedroom closet to a 24 inch deep reach in instead of the current 30 inch deep closet. The bedroom behind the sink and toilet side of the bathroom is already quite small so stealing even a few inches there isn't a great plan
My current favorite idea is to run a shallow solid surface countertop from the doorway all the way to the window wall with a fatter portion to slot in a tiny sink where the current pedestal sink sits. My thought is to use a wallmounted faucet or mount the faucet on the side of the sink, not the back. The countertop would be high enough to still access the toilet tank if needed and provide a much needed space to place clothes or towels while using the shower. Another possibility is to reframe the sink area with a header and recess the sink into the plumbing wall which would gain at least 3.5 inches or hopefully 5.5 inches without cutting into either bedroom.danslack thanked Lyndee Leedanslack
Forfatter5 år sidenHi Lyndee, Sounds very similar to my situation. I do have a 24" deep closet on one side of the bathroom, the other closet backs up to the shower and is 30" deep. 24" deep really isn't a problem and we have it built out in addition to hanging for better usage. So at this point I am planning on using a vanity from Ikea that is 14" deep and has a side faucet. We will see how that part works out. Seriously considering the in the space saving toilet as mentioned above. That might give us the space, although tight that may make it a bit more comfortable. The tub will be turned into a shower, possibly with glass block window since it encroaches on the shower wall. I am still considering the barn door option because the door to the bathroom and the vanity share the same space (what were they thinking?) Anyway, the 14" vanity is actually less invasive than the pedestal sink that comes out 22". Great hip exercise. :) We currently have about 12" between the toilet and the tub so any way of getting more space there is the goal. Your idea of re-framing the sink area is a great idea to consider also because we will probably be taking down that wall to re-do some electric which is right over the sink :) Don't think we can move the duct work, which prevents us from using a pocket door. We used a pocket door in our last house and it was great. Our doors are very old, solid wood, thick doors and they collide when using bathroom and closet, so trying to change that part out.
Anna (6B/7A in MD)
5 år sidenHonestly, if this bathroom will be used on a daily basis, please no barn doors. Bathrooms are private places. I hate bathrooms with poor door coverage (barn doors) and public bathrooms with inadequate stall door coverage. As noted above, all sounds will emanate! If I were to look at this house as a potential buyer I would have thought you people were crazy. And then wonder if you were overtaken but the "farmhouse" craze.
I have a suggestion for determining the needed size of a shower. When we remodeled our basement bathroom (had cardboard/chipboard walls!) and were deciding what shower size to get, we had a difficult time picturing what would work. We looked at our options and used painter's tape to mark out the size, we each stood in the marked space and pretended to wash our hair, bend down to our feet, I pretended to shave my legs. We ended up choosing the larger size (we have a curved, corner shower). Our initial plan was to get the smaller one and by trying out the sizes available, we were able to see that it would be insufficient.
Good luck and please post updates!
danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenThanks Anna for your thoughts. Can't say I'm throwing out the barn door yet because the bath is in the bedroom and off to the end of the house. I have found a few very contemporary doors and ideas to make it a tight fit. Not sure if I have the space to do that, and if I don't have the space we will stick with what we have or possibly do some thing different with the closet doors. I like the idea of taping off an area and seeing what works. That is what I did for the vanity.. If I can put part of the vanity in the wall that would also help with the bathroom door situation.
svensk7
5 år sidenI'm so glad to read the comments about barn doors as we were thinking of using one in our small bathroom. I guess a pocket door it is!!
PROFlo Mangan
5 år sidenA word on in wall tank for toilet. It is expensive due to sewer line and could open up a ton of plumbing code compliance issues. I know you need space but design shower to be small seat area on window end which will give you more knee room, do as large a shower as you can, that has most payback both functionally and for resale value. In wall medicine cabinet and narrow vanity. No glass block. That looks cheap and unattractive. Don’t do wetroom. Costly and a pain in the neck for daily bathroom. Had one. Hated wiping down everything because everything gets damp. Toilet paper has to be moved. Just not good idea at least for me. I am going to sketch something up for you. Bbldanslack thanked Flo ManganJamie Pace
5 år sidenSidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år sidenWhen you have a wider door that will hit your vanity before it is fully opened and plumbing in the same wall as the door which prohibits a pocket door, a sliding door is the only option-at least for us. We will have a 36 inch opening and a 42 inch wide sliding barn door. Plus, we have a bedroom door that can be closed for additional privacy when we have visitors. Different situations require different remedies.
Danslack, it looks like you are really doing your homework on remodeling your small space. There are many space saving fixtures out there-the hardest part is finding them.
I saw a great space saving idea a few days ago. A shallow cabinet was created between two wall studs, and doors were built to cover the space. They had shampoo, toilet paper, etc. stored in there.
I disagree with Flo Mangan's statement about glass block windows. I have a friend who put one in to replace an aluminum window over their tub/shower, and it's very pretty. She said it's so much easier to clean than the other window as she just uses a squeegee on it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes, I suppose.
danslack thanked Jamie Pacedanslack
Forfatter5 år sidenWas reading through the Geberit link that was sent and they also have a unit similar to the in wall unit, but it is on the outside and has a floor toilet using existing plumbing. Look like it might give us an extra 4-5" of leg room. I'm only 5'1", so I don't have a problem, Hubby on the other hand is 6'3". (12" from end of toilet to tub/shower,) A little more uncomfortable. He usually uses the other bath :) . We have been advised to not put the toilet on the window wall because that is what you see all the time. Crazy thing is, if the bedroom door is open and the bathroom door for any reason, that is the view from the hall entrance :) Seems that that would bother some people. We usually keep the bedroom door open for light at the end of the hall. Sometimes the bathroom door doesn't get closed :( oops. So, have the toilet facing the hall? Keeping it facing the shower? Since I am going to use a 14" deep vanity, I might have a bit more floor space if we put the toilet under the window, but it is still tight quarters and I am not sure I would like that either. At least with the vanity and toilet sharing the wall, there is more open space visually. The glass block window appeals to me because I think I could get away without the trim around it? Since the window trim and part of window are encroaching the shower tile area (looks bad right now because they cut the tile funny when they did whatever), I don't know what other ideas I could use. Would like to use the glass for the shower, probably sliding door to keep the openness. The window may be in the way with that and I am not sure how to handle that yet either.
danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenKittie, sounds like you have an interesting issue also. I did see some different ideas using the barn door instead of pocket door. They have locks available and if you have the space to use a larger door that can cover your trim, that seems to eliminate some of the issues that have been mentioned. Like you, we can close the bedroom door for more privacy if needed and even with the regular door, I prefer to do that :)
Now, I might add more insulation when we take the tile and tub out along that wall because it is next to the LR and Dining room, and face it, drywall is not nearly as sound insulating as the current thick plaster walls we have now :)
- PRO
Flo Mangan
5 år sidenBeen searching for some ideas for you and have found some possibilities that haven’t been posted yet i don’t think. Corner toilet might work and give you mire knee room and not require too much additional complex plumb. The curved shower sliding door could work. Careful measuring would be needed. A narrow vanity and sink finishes room. Barn door needed. Just can’t get around that. Good luck.
Jamie Pace
5 år sidenSidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år sidenDanslack, we will be using a solid core door for our barn door which cuts down on noise, too. I googled "glass block window for shower" and came up with some interesting articles. My friend used bullnose tile for her glass block window trim. The installer used a good silicone caulk around the window at install to keep out any water, and her husband laid the tile. Hers looks so much nicer than the old window plus it insulates much better, and she loves it. If you do a tile shower, that might work for you.
Our bathroom is 5' X 8' and our shower is 31" x 60" because we had to keep it close to the same size as the old tub-shower. We have 26 inches side to side of actual floor space. My husband is a good size fellow, too, and his elbows would hit a glass enclosure. So, we decided to use a shower curtain with a curved rotator rod. I just ordered a curtain 108 inches wide to fit the curved rod and have enough to wrap around and prevent leaks. An 84 inch works, but I couldn't find one I liked. I love the Rotator Rods. It rotates back in to the shower when not in use, and I use it for my drip dry laundry. www.rotatorrod.com
If you are in a cold winter climate, you won't need to install your toilet on an outside wall if your water pipes are in the wall unless you can do some serious insulation. We live in the hot, humid, deep south with mild winters, and ours is on an outside wall that is 6 inches deep with plenty of insulation.
Hopefully, the wall hung toilet tank will work for you. It sounds like less plumbing work than the in wall unit plus space saving. You might consider foam insulation for your wall next to the LR and DR.
Lyndee Lee
5 år sidenIf the major problem is knee room for using the toilet, some of that will go away when the tub goes away. With only a short threshold, the flat floor of the shower can function as extra floor space so you could step back and look in the mirror or allow the spouse to reach in and grab something from thr medicine cabinet. If you use a butterfly folding clear glass door and leave it folded away inside the shower, it won't interfere with a large person's use of the toilet. Another thought is that a clear curtain would keep the open feeling without the cost of a glass door.danslack thanked Lyndee Leeeinportlandor
5 år sidenLate to the discussion. Remodeled a tiny little bathroom -- the only one in my 1928 house -- with the same configuration as yours. It was a struggle to come up with a reasonable design. In the end, I tore out the tub, a built-in cabinet and a hall linen closet. Added a shower that is small by today's standards; included a very small bench, which I recommend. I added a floor-to-ceiling corner cabinet between the shower and the window -- it's not very practical but it at least provides some storage. I installed a small, narrow vanity with a sink that extends over the edge of the vanity. The countertop cantilevers over the toilet, providing a much needed horizontal surface. Finally, I had the doorway widened from 21" to 28" (it's all we could do).
Because every single thing was custom, it was very expensive -- $25k for a tiny room with mid-grade finishes in a mid-priced market -- and that was four years ago. Only one person at a time could work in the space, the shower pan was an odd size so built by hand, the shower doors were custom designed to fit the custom shower space, etc.
It's not my dream bathroom; I really miss my old linen closet. But now a tall person no longer has to sit sideways on the toilet and a large person does not have to shimmy to enter the room. There's a space to set down a toothbrush, I can bend over to take off my clothes and I don't have to risk a hip fracture climbing in and out of a bathtub. What I learned in the process is 1) in a small space every inch counts, 2) focus on function, and 3) never ever put white hex tile with white grout on a bathroom floor.
Good luck with your project.
danslack thanked einportlandorJamie Pace
5 år sidenSidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år sidenWow! You are really getting some great info and ideas. I wish I had known about Houzz when we did our bath remodels. I'm sure it would have made it easier for us.
Just wanted to let you know that my friend's window is acrylic block, not glass. She said they were told the acrylic was better for insulation.
If you decide to have a tile shower, Tile Redi has shower pans with left, right and center drains. They come in many different widths and lengths. tileredi.com
danslack thanked Jamie Pacedanslack
Forfatter5 år sidenGosh, so many more great ideas to check out. Keeping me busy.will be glad when we nail everything down and can get started. I will most certainly share when we get it going and finished. Thanks so much everyone.Jamie Pace
5 år sidenLook forward to following along on your progress. Wishing you all the best with your decisions.
danslack thanked Jamie PaceAnna (6B/7A in MD)
5 år sidenI want to reiterate not using white grout on the floor with white tile, unless grout has markedly changed since we did our bathroom. I kick myself for choosing white grout every time I scrub the floor. It is also why I am planning to stain the grout to match our shower grout.
danslack thanked Anna (6B/7A in MD)danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenAhh, Anna, white grout. Glad to say that the new grouts have a sealer in them and it seems to be working quite well at keeping things bright and clean. Not sure of what tile I will use yet. Went out yesterday looking and still undecided there :) Thanks for your input.
Anna (6B/7A in MD)
5 år sidenWould something like this work? I'm sure they make ones that are more generously sized if needed. [Curved corner shower[(https://www.houzz.com/products/orbitus-36x36x75-frameless-round-shower-enclosure-stainless-left-open-prvw-vr~25892941?m_refid=PLA_HZ_25892941_186108707&device=c&nw=s&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw7TD7tLo3AIVTIGzCh1t9Q7VEAQYBiABEgJxjvD_BwE)
danslack thanked Anna (6B/7A in MD)danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenInterestingly enough, I do not have the space for a 36" corner unit. Doors and windows keep everything to 30" at max width.
Jamie Pace
5 år sidenI've been thinking about your window encroaching into the shower problem and wanting to use a glass enclosure. If you put in a 30" x 60" shower, could you use a fixed panel of glass 36" wide and leaving 24" for in/out of your shower? The Tile Redi page shows their Redi Screen, and it doesn't appear to have a header or anything that would be fastened to the window end. You would probably need to use a rainfall shower head. We stayed in a Home Away rental a few years ago that had this instead of a shower curtain. A little water escaped outside the shower, but was only on the bathmat. Just a thought.
danslack thanked Jamie PaceNancy in Mich
5 år sidenAdding on to the previous comment, I could see using a bit of shower curtain at the end of the glass screen to keep the water in. The glass screen is much nicer to shower with than a full curtain (no “attacking” shower curtain for the majority of the length of the tub). The smaller curtain is easy to launder and replace, as well. Just something to consider.
I wanted to point out a possible issue with the in-wall toilet tank on the same wall as the window. Dan, do you live in a climate with cold winters? If you get freezing weather, you probably cannot put the tank in the wall. Check with Gerberet. In general, though, no wet walls on exterior walls in freezing climates.danslack thanked Nancy in MichJamie Pace
5 år sidenSidst ændret: {last_modified_time}5 år sidenNancy, their problem is a window that encroaches into part of the shower if they install a 30 X 60 shower. A full glass enclosure would have to be secured on both ends-same with using the small curtain with the fixed glass. How would a header and side rail or a curtain rod be secured to the window? They have new siding and probably don't want to disturb it to change the window size or location. They are trying to do this as cost effectively as possible.
The rotator rod would work well to give additional room in the shower and could be mounted high to clear the window using an extra long shower curtain with weighted bottom if they think the 36" fixed panel would not be sufficient-and it might not in such a narrow shower. Our shower has a 2.5" inside curb, and our curtain hits the floor plus a half inch longer. We've had no problem with leakage and definitely love the extra elbow room in a narrow shower. After showering we just raise the rotator rod to it's tallest rotation to allow the curtain to dry quickly.
danslack thanked Jamie Pacedanslack
Forfatter5 år sidenThanks again to everyone. Over the last day I discovered a toilet that is only 24" from the wall. It would not give as much room as in the wall carrier, but would still be better than what we have now. (10.5" from toilet to tub) Anyway, dh and I also discussed possibly wrapping the tile from the shower across the wall with the window and encasing the window with tile. Doing that wall wouldn't take much tile, and would give a flow with the room. Seems we might be able to still do a glass shower door, carefully because the tile will be all the way to the window. Because they are old wood windows, we have a bit of space there for the tile to maybe wrap around. We are continuing to check with others in the area concerning pricing the two toilets. Sounds like quite a savings with the 24" in labor and materials. We would be able to do the vanity and toilet ourselves and pricing out the tile still. Demo is the difficult part for us because of the thick original tile and the plaster walls. The tub is a monster also.
danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenLyndee Lee thanks for the idea of the butterfly glass door. That sounds like a great solution. Didn't know about those.
Nancy in Mich
5 år sidenKitty, I was talking about the glass screen idea you were proposing. It leaves a 24" opening. I suggested using a part of a shower curtain section in that 24" opening to keep the water in the shower. Windows do not usually go to the ceiling, so there should be wall space above the window upon which someone could mount a rod. There are hinged rods made for french doors that may work in this situation. The rod could also be fashioned from those ceiling-mounted shower curtain holders made for footed tubs. There are many options for creating a rod to hold the 24" of shower curtain needed to fill the hole at the end of the glass screen.
Jamie Pace
5 år sidenGood ideas, Nancy. I had not thought of the hinged rods. For us, glass was just not feasible because our shower was so narrow. My husband's elbows would have constantly been hitting it. When small spaces are involved, you have to be innovative. I'm sure danslack will work it all out. They are certainly doing their homework.
robledol
5 år sidenDon't feel limited by the shower pan sizes that you see advertised. If you have a custom size shower footprint you can get the shower pan through Tile Redi. They have a new line called Redi Your Way, which gets you whatever size, drain location, number of curbs, etc you need for your custom size limitations.
felizlady
5 år sidenBuild the shower bottom left. Shower floor should be small tiles with sanded grout for a non-slip finish. Add cabinetry/storage top left. Replace pedestal sink with a vanity which has a bank of drawers for your daily-needed stuff. Add a mirror the width of the vanity. I hope the scale of the toilet is off because that looks like a huge commode! Make sure you have good lighting: I like a combination of recessed lighting and a downlight sconce over the mirror. You want light to be reflected from two or three directions onto the face in the mirror. Be sure you have enough towel hooks, bars, rings.danslack
Forfatter5 år sidenKitty, got off track for a bit with other things getting in the way and not getting people to return calls etc. Anyway, this project is back on the things to do this summer. Really would like to get it done. All the ideas are great and still thinking this through. We will hire plumbers and electricians to do that type of work because it is complicated where everything is located and getting help for small projects is sort of challenging. Thanks for asking.
Susan Davis
5 år sidenIf only for comfort of users and resale value, move the wall to get the added six inches from the bedroom closet to be used in the bathroom......or use the entire closet area and install free standing closet/cabinets in the bedroom....a bathroom used by everyone is a great selling point and you will get your money back when you sell I am betting.....I am late to the party, but I truly wonder if the original framer of the house put the bedroom wall in the wrong place.....no bath should be that small, should it! Hey this is Houzz, anythig is possible....best of luck and keep posting so we can see the results of your efforts.
danslack
Forfatter4 år sidenThanks Susan. As much as I would like to move the closet, apparently that is
not a possibility (only in my dreams) I have been informed that the closet is over the garage door and there is no room for plumbing to be installed. So we will have to just make it work
with the current floor plan and do what we can to make it work. Scheduling our contractor
to begin work in early fall (earliest we can get them in) Anyway, I will update as we figure
out the final details, which probably won't happen till everything is demoed. Thinking of
trying to add extra lighting in there to keep it bright, and maybe appear a bit larger than
it really is.
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K Waite