Smallest/compact bathroom - possible

[Chuckca]

I checked and studied my "Code Check West" field guide....couldn't find an answer.....

What is the SMALLEST possible bathroom your can have that will will meet code requirements (generally speaking of course)....

Bath will have a small shower......

Thanks
Chuck

[John Raabe]

Here are some minimal size bath layouts from Architectural Graphic Standards:



My personal favorite is used in the 20' wide Universal Cottage — a 5x8 (inside) full bath with tub/shower combo and all the plumbing on one wall.

[Bart_Cubbins]

Don't know if it meets code, but this compact cabin has a small bathroom... (click on the plan to enlarge it)...

http://www.vandervort.com/Orcas%20Cabin%20Info%202.htm

I once lived in a basement suite with a similar bath layout, but probably even a bit narrower. It was usable but it really wasn't practical to use the sink without having the door open.

Bart

[jonsey/downunder]

A stepless shower may be an option if you are short on space. These are used in Hospitals and old folk's homes to allow the access of wheel chairs. I am using one in my own plan. There is no shower screen so virtually the whole floor area is usable.
The one I am using is a fiberglass-molded tray that is set at floor level. The whole floor is then covered with a non-slip vinyl overlay. This is coven up the wall a couple of inches, forming a completely waterproof membrane.
I am also using a wall-mounted pan. The cistern can be inside the wall cavity or in the ceiling and operated remotely. This will give another 8" of usable floor area.
Here is a link to the base that I will be using, I'm sure you will be able to find something like this in your area.
http://www.steplessshowerbase.com.au/

[Amanda_931]

Something like the stepless shower (that may be a just Australian term) is the setup I found in Mexico in the early 70's.  Drain somewhere in the (tiled) bathroom floor, shower controls on the wall somewhere.  These were in old hotels in small towns.  They didn't care if you had  to reach outside to get your towels, or got the toilet and sink wet.

Most of them did have a shower curtain, and weren't all that small, but the possibilities are certainly  there.

Is it codes?  Don't know.

[Dan]

Sounds like we're heading for an RV bathroom here.... toilet, sink, and shower all in about a 3'x3' room (if that).   Personally I am contemplating an outdoor shower to add on to my 8x10 micro-cabin.  Would be kinda cold in the winter, but think hot tub and a roll in snow.  

[Amanda_931]

Fine if you have the hot tub.

But breaking the ice in a bucket so you can pour the water over you for a shower and then trot off to work sounds miserable.  Not to mention it wouldn't get you very clean.  I go with baby wipes before I do that.

I don't really think it proves how tough you are.

The old way really was to heat water on the wood stove, pour it into a not-that-big tub that you had brought into the kitchen, soap, scrub, and rinse to your heart's content, then empty the tub outside, and store it under the porch until next Saturday.

(If I can get the water nicely heated, an air temperature in the 40's is not TOO bad for an outdoor shower.  Especially when the best alternative is 10 miles away.  But I never get enough water heated for a really good shower.)

[jb]

some friends of mine lived in Wyoming, in a small cabin in bridger teton forest (I lived in Jackson Hole), and they had an outdoor shower, and actually no running water...they had a black waterbed matress mounted on part of the roof ( supported), kept it filled with water from the spring and stream, connected a hose/faucet rig, and TaDa...outdoor shower...the black absorbed the suns rays, heated the water, worked great...

[Amanda_931]

Yep.  and more water than those things sold as "solar showers."

Unless you got (might not in Wyoming) two weeks of not seeing the sun at all in January.  We not infrequently do in Tennessee.  When I lived in Indiana this might have been accompanied with at least one week of it never above freezing.

there are also some D-Cell operated pump and pound propane cylinder camp showers.  

[james150]

Shower?  Someone said shower?  I use a three-gallon pump-up garden sprayer with a kitchen sink sprayer added to the three-foot hose.  
I put one and a half gallons of cold water in it and then add three quarts of boiling water and then pump it up.  It gives me enough warm water for a real nice shower and can be used indoors or out.  I even have seen one painted black and set in the sun.  I use the boiling method, as I am not sure of sun in winter in SW Wisconsin.  Works GREAT and is cheap too.

Regards,

Jim

[Chuckca]

I have a VW Westfalia pop-top camper....here's what we use for showers:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/purchase/products-found.jhtml?_requestid=25162


We also use the Pett shower enclosure (from www.cabelas.com), shower grate to stand on (also from Cabelas) and Blue Graney wash basin (from www.lehmans.com)...

[hunter63]

With a old camping trailer on the "place" for quite a few years, the closest shower was 5miles away at the "truck stop".  Also was a small city park w/open showers.

Ended up w/ shower made w/plastic 55gal drum, painted to keep water from turning green, sprayer pump(12 volt, w/adapter from cooler), hose to 2-1/2 gal elect hot water heater (do have elect.) then to shower head.

Tried the propane heater, worked good, but YOU had to "work good" to set up, start pump, light (not burn down the curtain) then shower. ( FOR sale)

Was put on a lean-to porch on the side of  the shed, w/ the over flow just running off the floor slats.

Water came from shed roof filling drum w/down spout and gutters( has a over flow type filter).

Why only 2-1/2 gal hot water heater?  Enough to shower with, but won't waste water.
(Sure honey take as long of a shower as you want.)

Working on a standard "bathroom" in a log cabin.
Main room 16' X 40'. W/ two lofts, (new last summer)

Framed in room 12' X 6' in the back corner.
Will have corner shower, stool, sink and washer and dryer (stackable) along inside 6" studded wall shared w/kitchen. Water heater (larger this time) on back side of the studded wall, under kit/cab.

FYI, hard to put mechs in solid log walls, elect, venting, plumbing.
Wish I had found the Forum before I had started this stuff.

[trish]

My husband and I are in the process of converting a 3 ft x 6 ft powderroom into a bath with a shower stall.  We move one wall two feet and a few inches to make the overall dimensions of 3 x 9  feet.  We did this with permits and met all the code requirements for our town in Southern Calif.  We could have made the bath 3 x8 and still met all the set back requirements, but we elected to add the extra length.  We put in a 36inchx36 inch fiberglass shower.  They also come 30x30 but it might not have met code in our area.  

The main thing the inspectors were concerned about is that there be at least two  linear unobstructed feet in front of the commode so that gentlemen may stand at the necessary time.  That 2 ft clearance was written in a plumbing code book that the planning dept showed us when we were submitting our plans for approval.

Additionally, we had to find a small pedestal sink to fit in the allotted area.  Kohler makes an expensive one that is approx 14x17; but we found one locally that is just a couple of inches larger and a bunch cheaper.

Hope this helps in your planning.

[kc0bus]

Seriously though, why couldn't one use a salvaged bathroom out of a RV? For example, the bathrooms in class B motorhomes are particularly tiny but still very functional.

[trish]

I clicked on the link Bart Cubbins had in his reply dated Jan 28.  The floorplan of the bathroom in his link is the exact floorplan we have in our remodeled powder room.   We can step in, close the door and bend over to use the sink without our 'dupa' hitting the door.   The square footage of our bathroom is about 27 sq feet.  Does anyone have a plan that takes up less sq feet?

[Daddymem]

Here are some from Kohler:
http://www.us.kohler.com/designkb/designservice/floorplan.jsp
If you want a deep jet tub still, they have a model called Cape Constantine that curves in at the drain end to gain some space.  They also have a bathroom designer online.

[Amanda_931]

This 7' 9" x 12' one sure looks like you get to walk through the shower to get to the tub.  Wasn't somebody asking about room as shower the other day?

[SlimJim]

I live in an 18' yurt (home built, I might add). I started with a hot water heater from an RV mounted under the sink. That worked great, except that it froze and busted while I was away this winter.  
Then it was a contraption w/ a kerosene can suspended over a propane burner, with a surflow 12v pump to provide preassure. It worked great too, but was a hassle to fill the tank and re-fill the cylinders for the burner.

My final solution is to "Simplify, Simplify".  I use a 1 gallon milk jug with holes punched in the cap. Heat some water on stove, fill jug, shower. For true luxury, fill two jugs!  I have learned to get CLEAN on one gallon of water. That includes washing hair, shaving, brushing teeth, and washing socks and undies in the bathwater.  

I guess your original question was how big. My "bathroom" is 5' long and 4' wide. It shares space with an open closet-rack, so it's actually a little wider. There is a 5x2 tub and a 2x2 toilet. Wash your hands over the tub. In a house, you could install a toilet cover that works as a sink as well. I have seen some that route the toilet tank fill water through a faucet that pours into a sink-bowl molded into the top of your toilet tank lid. Space saving, water saving!

[Amanda_931]

I just noticed that the bathroom I posted up a  couple of posts ago could be squished down to nothingness by eliminating the tub (a big one, can eliminate some of the length it uses too), moving the toilet into the shower area and putting one of those things replacing top of the flush toilet (if you had one--if you were using a composting/sawdust toilet, put a bath/shower faucet system up at sink height, with or without a sink underneath) where you washed your hands with water that then drained into the tank for the toilet.  I haven't seen one of those in a long long time.  Might have to keep toilet paper in a sealed container.  Anyone for a 3 by 5 bathroom?

If I have to shower with very little non-running water, I have my water in a 5-gallon bucket--not full--and do most of my rinsing with a bowl (or gourd dipper), and when I'm about finished, and the bucket is empty enough to lift overhead, I do that, and luxuriate in that last gallon or so.  I heat the water in either one of those black "solar water heaters" or on a hot-plate (generally propane or butane).

[Amanda_931]

And suddenly compact bathrooms apear on the first page!

Although I suspect that that 18 or 19 foot Airstream has the teensiest of all.  Put somewhere else--probably 200 square foot buildings.

[Chuckca]

I found the small bath room discussion

Chuck

[glenn kangiser]

Thinking about this subject a little more, Chuck---



I think that about covers it.

[John Raabe]

Ahhh yes.

When we get down to satisfaction of the basics in a direct way it CAN be very simple.

100 years ago most families carried and heated water for a bath from an outside well, pump or stream. I think the 2 gallon shower mentioned above is an improvement over the old family tub my grandparents in South Dakota used.

Then the last person in the tub had some pretty dark water to deal with — this is where the phrase "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" comes from.

Of course, living with a bucket shower for a few months will make a five minute standard hot shower seem like such a luxury!

[glenn kangiser]

Reminds me off the old saying about the difference between a rich man and a poor man.  The rich man has a canopy over his bed-- the poor man has one under it.