Compact bathroom

Started by CREATIVE1, April 30, 2009, 04:38:38 PM

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CREATIVE1

As I am getting ready to build, I keep looking at my plans (can't leave well enough alone, I guess).  d* I have a small 1/2 bath upstairs, about 5' x 6'.  It just has a corner sink and toilet.  Any chance of putting a drain in the floor and making the whole thing a shower?  Would that pass current code?

ScottA

That would be really hard if not imposible to do. If you have 5x6 you could fit in a standard bath with a tub. Put the tub along the 5' wall and flank that with a toilet and a pedestal lav or a wall hung lav facing each other. The door would need to be centered on the other 5' wall facing the tub. This arrangment can fit in a 5x5 space.


MountainDon

I don't don't see it as impossible to build, but perhaps not possible to get through the inspection process.

I see this as doable if you made a floor with slopes to the drain, just like they do in some commercial restrooms where they can basically hose the room down. You need the inspectors to go along with the concept. You'd likely want to do the entire room from 6 - 7 foot or so down in tile, using a membrane on the floor and partly up the wall I think.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

bayview



   Seems like plenty of room for a tub and toilet.  Can you incorporate the vanity in an adjoining room?


    . . . said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money . . .

Alasdair

I can't talk about whether this would pass code where you are but I have seen the "wet room" arrangement you speak of in even smaller spaces in the UK. (It's the standard set up on smaller boats too.) I see no reason it wouldn't work if you tile as Don recommends - just remember to have a squeegee and shower curtain - no one likes to sit on a wet toilet seat or discover the paper is soggy!


MountainDon

When I get the cabin bathroom completed I'll be posting pictures. We're doing something along those lines. Inspiration came from our RV. 3 ft x 7 ft space approximately. No inspectors are being invited.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

rwanders

I was in a public toilet in Portugal a few years ago----noticed it seemed kind of damp and then I couldn't find anyway to flush the toilet. When I went out the door and closed it behind me I heard loud sounds of water----when you closed the door, the toilet flushed and the entire room was sprayed down---looked back in and found out why the toilet paper was damp and the floor looked recently mopped when I first went in. Amazing!
Rwanders lived in Southcentral Alaska since 1967
Now lives in St Augustine, Florida

tc-vt

Just to give you an idea how the code reads, here is what is required in the 2003 International Residential Code for plumbing fixture clearances (this book is getting old) --

Side clearance for a toilet to a wall or fixture to either side of the toilet is measured from the center of the toilet to the wall or fixture and is required to be 15 inches.

Side clearance for a lavatory to a wall or toilet to either side of the lavatory is 4 inches; it is 2 inches for a tub next to the lavatory.

Front clearance for a toilet or lavatory is measured from the front edge of the rim to a wall or fixture and is required to be 21 inches.

Clearance in front of a shower door opening to wall should be 24 inches.

Shower stalls are to be a minimum of 30 inches wide or long.


Tom



John Raabe

There are many clever solutions that don't bow down to the IRC. Here is one great compact bathroom - this from the Palatin Hotel in Jerusalem



The shower doors fold inward so the same floor area is shared between the toilet and shower.
None of us are as smart as all of us.


MountainDon

 [cool]  I like it!


Nice toilet paper roll holder as well.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

bayview

Quote from: John Raabe on May 01, 2009, 12:06:00 AM
There are many clever solutions that don't bow down to the IRC. Here is one great compact bathroom - this from the Palatin Hotel in Jerusalem

The shower doors fold inward so the same floor area is shared between the toilet and shower.

   This would be very tight for me . . . (300+ lbs)  Get out the can opener! ;D

   I'm guessing you would close one shower door, step in, and then close the other?
    . . . said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money . . .

John Raabe

Yes, you shuffle into the corner and then close the doors from the inside. Actually a spacious shower once inside. I love the way the floor area in front of the toilet does double duty.

The growing size and age of the average American is one of the reasons codes are requiring more room between things and shallower stairs.
None of us are as smart as all of us.

CREATIVE1

Quote from: ScottA on April 30, 2009, 04:46:07 PM
That would be really hard if not imposible to do. If you have 5x6 you could fit in a standard bath with a tub. Put the tub along the 5' wall and flank that with a toilet and a pedestal lav or a wall hung lav facing each other. The door would need to be centered on the other 5' wall facing the tub. This arrangment can fit in a 5x5 space.
I'm 95% sure that with current code, a lavatory and toilet can't face each other??  The designer made the bath wider because of that. Have I been flamboozled again?

I can't make the bath any bigger.  It's upstairs on the skybridge in the Vic Cottage, squeezed in with a dormer.

MountainDon

CREATIVE1, what code are you laboring under?

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


MountainDon

IRC 2008 does NOT list any stipulations as to one thing or another facing or not facing anything. In fact I see no differences in that section R307 from 2003 to 2008.   Maybe IBC or UBC is different?


Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

CREATIVE1

I'm GENERALLY under IBC 2006.  But the written plan review checklist that came with my approved plans, citing IRC Section R307, just says water closet space 30 inches wide, 24 inches clear in front.

FYI, I've had a HUGE problem with people lying to me about what's required because their taste is different than mine--guess they think it's for my own good.  GRRRR >:(

John Raabe

Aren't you just wanting to have a half bath with a floor drain?

I would not define it as a shower and don't dimension it.

This has been done for at least 40 years in Scandinavian countries. Just put a hat on the TP. :D :D :D
None of us are as smart as all of us.

CREATIVE1

Speaking of a TP fedora----

http://www.knobsandhardware.com/ToiletTissue/Recessed-Toilet-Tissue-Holder-with_1316614.html

And I was thinking of a "rain shower" shower head in the middle of the ceiling.  Less splash, I think.

MountainDon

We used a free standing TP holder similar to this one when we remodeled our master bathroom



The hat keeps the roll from free reeling and dumping it all on the floor.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Source_to_Sea

Quote from: John Raabe on May 01, 2009, 09:40:57 PM
Aren't you just wanting to have a half bath with a floor drain?

I would not define it as a shower and don't dimension it.

This has been done for at least 40 years in Scandinavian countries. Just put a hat on the TP. :D :D :D

Wife and I went to an IKEA store a few weeks ago. I was ready to poo poo the whole thing, but they had some great stuff for small space bathrooms. Their model of a 375 sq' house had more storage than we currently have in 650 sq'.

Them Swedes with their semi-disposable furniture have some fine ideas for small spaces.