Very small bathroom remodel (Wetroom?)

13 years ago

Hi, I am remodeling my very small bathroom in my master (so there is another main bathroom for guests, etc). The bathroom is an L shape where my closet is the adjacent part taking up the space in the bathroom. Here is a rough sketch with how the dimensions look like (SORRY! I can't take pictures at the moment):

The 32" opening is the entry without a door from the bedroom. And so I don't have room for a 5' shower like I want and now wondering what I should do. Is this a prime candidate for a wetroom convert? Any tips from others who have had small bathrooms?

Thanks much in advance.

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Comments (11)

davidro1
13 years ago
beautiful challenge.

yes it could be "wetroom-ised" (I heard an Englishman say this once so I'm spelling it with an "s").

is there going to be a problem sinking the floor level down into the joists or is this going to be easy? Depends on what you say next. If it will be difficult, you could place a linear drain channel across the 42" width somewhere between the sink and the back wall (the 42"w. wall).

it could be a regular shape shower floor with a central drain. If you don't care whether or not the shower Curb is high or low, you have tons of options.

--

There are sinks that take up very little space. It will work.
chicagoans
13 years ago
This one is the same shape as yours. The door is in a different spot but the design would still work for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiny L shaped bathroom
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Well, your bathroom is twice the size of our little 3/4 bath. First of all, the location of the doorway makes a big difference. With ours, it is in the middle of a 8.5' long wall, with the tiled shower to the right and the compact 1.24 gallon flushing toilet at the other end. It has a ceiling exhaust fan and an a/c vent, my DH built a couple of 10" deep shelves on the toilet end of the space. The floor is tiled in the same tile as the shower. There is beadboard wainscoting painted semigloss latex enamel white. The top is painted in a Behr satin latex enamel, all painting was over alkyd/oil primer. The ceiling is the same color, which is LILTING LAUGHTER, very soft and pale. The sink is the smallest I've ever seen, with the faucet mounted on the right side, not along the wall. I used a Price Pfister ORB pump style single hole. The sink does not have an overflow, but that has not been a problem. It is wall mounted, and is absolutely precious! We opted to omit a medicine cabinet in this bath, since the toilet in the other bath was located behind this wall, so I put an oval ORB mirrow that was the prettiest I could find. We also put in a pocket door. The toilet I chose was the Cadet 3 by American Standard, and it has many great features to recommend it. We've used it since about September and NEVER have had a failure to totally and cleanly flush. Never had to flush twice either. It is the 1.24 gallon Water Sense version of the COMPACT Cadet 3. Our contractor is pleased as punch with the way this tiny bath turned out. It is the smallest he's ever built, he said, and it does everything you need a bath to do. The pocket door does subtract some space from width of the room. If I could do it over, I'd probably install one of those by-pass barn door thingys, which would look fine if you have enough flat wall beside the doorway on one side. You buy the door you want and then mount it with a track over the doorway and down the wall. For our use, I'd have it mounted in the hall on the wall shared with this tiny bath. I use robe hooks instead of towel bars. I also have a wall sconce beside the mirror (ORB of course) and inside the shower I used a water proofed marine fixture which has an o-ring for the clear glass globe. Here is the toilet and sink half of the "room" before it was finished. The sink is the Porcher Elfe model. I dare you to find one smaller! :) The pocket door and the hallway. And the shower, being used but the niche for bottles etc is covered up while the grout dries. Love the Pulse Showerspa Hana model! This little bath was created from two closets and a piece of space from the other bath, and the door was the entrance to that other bath. Now, there is an ensuite bath for the master bedroom and it is still under construction.
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Bathroom Reveal, Thanks to the Bathroom and Remodel Forums! (pic
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This old thread got revisited. @dani_m08 to answer the question about extra probe, I believe I ordered an extra one when I bought the set up. The probe wire is just setting in the junction box I think but honestly I cant remember. When I laid out the underfloor heating and the probe, I just ran another probe near the first probe, and it was then sealed into the floor self leveling compound as per instructions. then the end was just threaded into the wall like the one that would be live, and not connected, but just laying there in the box. Regarding the tile layout. I just decided to run it this way, after getting instructions on the 90Degree way, IIRC. The herringbone that I love is from my childhood and the side walks in my neighborhood that all ran at 45Degree. so that to me is herringbone. I know you posted on @sochi thread about her amazing bathroom and a wall mounted faucet. I would totally do it if I had the right sink for it. In my case I had made my sink out of soapstone and an integrated backsplash. The pictures of this bathroom reveal are no longer available because of the use of photo bucket, when it was Gardenweb. I did not keep my account with photo bucket. I'll add some of the reveal pictures so you can see the sink and floor. Regarding the sink there is no ledge for water to drip from my hands when using the faucet. The water drips right into the sink. In my other bathroom with a deck mounted faucet I am always wiping up drips and it is a nuisance. I much prefer the setup for this sink. Below: I love the flush finish from the faucet to the bottom of the sink. nothing drips on a counter or edge of a sink. Below: looking in from the doorway. Below: Here I am finishing up the sink. the backsplash was epoxied on as a separate piece. The whole soapstone install in the room took next to nothing to buy as they were all small pieces that I epoxied together with a 3 part stone epoxy. Below: this is the counter at the tub, and is in 2 long pieces but I was able to epoxy them together at there edges to make a wide slab for the top. All the soapstone was finished with a 60 grit sandpaper to be rough and this lovely soft tone of blue/green/gray/white. I did not oil it so this color tone would remain light. Below: If I recall correctly @sochi helped me decide on this Hubberton Forge Mirror. I have 3 different metals in this room, but they are all a cool silver to black color. Below: the center of this tower shares space with the kitchen on the other side of the wall. there is also some extra space that houses some electrical wiring. this is an old simple house. this bathroom was an add on when it got move to the farm in the 30s IIRC. The plumbing was all rearrange and some of the details that were orignially there I kept but updated it, such as this tower feature. The old one went and the carpenter did a wonderful job with this one. Below: This feature was another thing I kept from the old bathroom but flipped it from the other end and had the carpenter put drawers in it. Before it was a hell hole. things got lost and the build was soooo old and creapy I didn't like using it for storage. Now it is perfect for storage.
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Take heart! Here is an even SMALLER bathroom (67" x 43") that was made over to spectacular effect ... Could something along these lines work for you?! Good luck with your project! Ruth Here is a link that might be useful: Small bathroom makeover
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You could also use a corner vanity to save space and have a cabinet. They do make corner medicine cabinets that could go above this and give you a tiny bit of storage, too. Or, you could get a shallow vanity with a semi-recessed sink to save floor space, yet have some cabinetry. Love that drawer! I did a sink and cabinet like this one (except from Home Depot) in my last house. We also had a cabinet above the toilet, so I used a piece of windowsill cultured stone on brackets just above the wall plug to give us a ledge to hold the electric toothbrush and anything we needed to set down while grooming. I added a thin piece of wood on top of each bracket before painting that left a gap between the wood bracket and the wall, so that there was room to hold the toothbrush cord up under the ledge. I could lay the cord in this slot before putting on the windowsill stone and the cord became almost invisible, tucked up below the ledge. I just dremeled a slot into the stone to let the cord go above the stone ledge so I could plug in the toothbrush base. It added a very usable "counter" space above the sink that did not protrude far enough to interfere with the use of the sink. I wish I had a picture, but I don't.
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lascatx
13 years ago
I'd rather not have the toilet directly across from an open door. Could you do a floating toilet in the center (thinking but not sure that they would stick out from the wall less) and have the sink facing the door. That also makes it convenient to wash hands, shave or do makeup and keeps the wettest features together so the water is mainly at that end. A floor drain in the center would protect the flooring before it gets to the bedroom door.

The drawing with the sink at the end looks good and preserves the space well, but imagine shaving or putting on makeup after showering. The air will still be moist (not good for makeup or hair drying) and you will be walking across the wet floor and back out to the bedroom. Some of this depends on what's in your bedroom and your routine, so just think about how you can make it easiest for your use. The toilet at the open door could be a reasale issue though (some folks can't handle a toilet without it's own door) -- in case that's an issue for your situation.
aa62579
13 years ago
I like the idea of a wall mounted toilet in the center, but don't know if you would have enough room to do it to code. Do you have code enforcement there? If so, how much room do they require in front of the toilet. Some code requires only 21". If so, if your interior wall space is 42", you could have a toilet that stuck out 21" and 21" of open space in front of it.

If that were the case, you could easily devote 30" for a vanity, 36" for the toilet, and have 34" x 42" left over for a shower area. You could even do a half door between the toilet and the shower. (Or shower and sink if you go that route.) This might provide a bit more protection.

Look at the pic by jrtgal towards the bottom of this thread:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg1000243221034.html
maka8
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks every for the ideas so far!

David, a challenge indeed, but not sure I would call it beautiful. I don't think it would be easy to lower the floor into the joists, but what would be a scenario it would be "easy" ? I like the idea of using a linear drain. I guess I don't care if I end up with a curb or not, but would be nice if I didn't need one. Read somewhere I need a 2" drop from threshold to drain. So if I put the drain next to the 42" wall, 4 feet (no more than 1/2" per linear foot) should be about middle of my sink's current location.

Chicagoan, thanks for the picture. I really wish my door was like that in the picture instead.

Lascatx/AA, I agree 100%. I hate the fact that the toilet is facing the entry where there is no door, especially since my bed is directly on the other side of that. I currently keep a heavy curtain over this entry to prevent an eyesore. I'm going to look at the plumbing and seriously considering going with the floating toilet and swapping with the vanity. Any good recommendation on a brand here with a budget in mind? I've never even seen one in person.
davidro1
13 years ago
wall mount toilet carriers Geberit Grohe Caroma Missel "Missel compact toilet cistern"

Several manufacturers make bowls for the Geberit
Some are small bowls

Eljer makes a triangular tank, corner install, floor mount toilet.
weedyacres
13 years ago
I like the arrangement of sink at the entry, toilet at the far end, walk-through-wetroom-style shower in the middle. Raise the floor a tad and curb the door if needed to make the drainage work.
David
13 years ago
I did something similar with inspiration from davidro1 and others.
- curbless shower + linear drain, wall hung toilet, floating vanity.

Having the toilet directly face the door is not such a good idea.

If you do decide to use a wall hung toilet, you'll have to redo the DWV, giving the opportunity to relocate the toilet install a linear drain.

A linear drain would require the use of a waterproofing membrane such as Kerdi. Hot mopping could be more problematic.

Lowering the subfloor is not too difficult for a licensed contractor. Probably easier for them to handle than linear drains and wall hung toilets.
maka8
Original Author
13 years ago
Do you have any drawings of the layout davidtay? I am mainly curious on the placement of the linear drain and spacing around it. Thanks!
David
13 years ago
Yes, the layout can be found
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg041423178983.html

Here is a link that might be useful: curbless shower & questions
blondelle
13 years ago
You didn't say whether it was possible to steal any space from the adjacent closet. If so, then it's a whole new design ballgame.

Very small bathroom remodel (Wetroom?)

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