Need help with 2nd floor hallway BR

14 years ago

Hello everyone. There is so much creative energy here that I thought I would ask..I was wondering if you could all view our following blog site and check out our plans which we up loaded tonight(I was not sure how to just input it in to here...):

http://thefirsttimehomebuilder.com/

We need help with the hallway bathroom on the second floor. It will be shared by our 2 boys and so I wanted it to be roomy....the architect drew in both a tub and shower stall which I am not sure of. Can you guys make any suggestions?

I am thinking of just keeping a tub/shower combo, taking out the solo shower stall. Flipping the toilet to the wall next to it on the left and creating an enclosed wash closet. Also making the two sinks/ counters a bit bigger. what do you all think? TIA

(If you have time, what do you think of the remainder of the house? It is 4429 SF in total). THX

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bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
14 years ago
I agree that, as drawn by your architect, that bathroom definitely does not seem "roomy'. Your suggestion sounds like a huge improvement.

But if I might offer another option? If I'm reading your plans correctly, it looks like you have 10'8" by 10'4" of space floor space in that room. Have you considered the possiblity of dividing the space into two smaller bathrooms so each boy could have a bath of his own? Don't know how old your boys are but, in this day and age, teenage boys can spend nearly as much time in the bathroom primping as teenaged girls!

If you divided the space horizontally, each bath would be 5'0 x 10'8" and each could open directly off one of the two bedrooms. This would also give you a 10'8" long unbroken wall in your hallway where you could put bookcases, or a small sitting area/reading nook, or your kid's computer desk, or something like that.

The bathrooms in my current home are only 5'x 7'. Each contains a 5' tub/shower combo, a toilet, and a 32" wide vanity. While my bathrooms certainly aren't particularly "roomy", DH and I have managed to share that 5'x7' space for 25 years with no problems. So, a PRIVATE 5'0" x 10'8" bath would definitely feel nice and roomy to me. LOL!

The bath serving BR 2 would not be able to have a window but you could use a solar light tube there instead. Since the two baths would be back to back, the additional cost ought to be pretty minimal and if I were a teenager, I'd happily give up having a window in my PRIVATE bath rather than have to share a bathroom with my brother.

Just another idea...

By the way, I really like the rest of your home! I'm drooling over the master bedroom and the second en suite (bedroom 4).

Because you don't have any bedrooms downstairs, the one thing I would recommend that you don't have is a home elevator. If elderly relatives come to visit, or this is your "forever home" or even, God forbid, someone in your family should break a leg or have to have knee surgery, getting them upstairs to a bedroom could become really problematic.

A home elevator is NOT that expensive, especially in comparison to the cost of 4400 sqft house. The one I am putting in my new home cost just $28K installed and we upgraded to the largest size available plus got upgrades on the cab finish. I think your architect could fit in one of the smaller ones without doing too much damage to his design. If you want to look into it, here is a link to the manufacturer (ThyssenKrupp) who made our "Lev".

Other home elevator companies include Savaria Concord Lifts Inc, Matot, and Waupaca Elevator - but I don't have any personal knowledge of their products.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thyssen Krupp
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I have thought more about this. Like Beth said, you could really get a lot more in that bathroom with only one door. I think I drew what she suggested. As far as the door between the two areas, I think it could go either way, but if possible, I think a pocket door that slid into the area by the tub would be better. This would keep the door from being in the way and be almost entirely hidden if not in use. I had one additional thought as well. Assuming later down the line there are additional children or the house is sold to someone with more than one child and bedrooms 3 or 4 are used as bedrooms. Is it going to be fair that the bathroom opens into bedroom 2? Seems like that might cause some disagreements. On that same thought process, the one thing that might bother me would be seeing into the bathroom from downstairs. Although this puts you right back in the same position having bedroom 2 walk around the corner to get to the bathroom, the view from below will be nicer and access will be more even between all 3 bedrooms. If doing something like this, I would extend the vanity the entire length of the room for plenty of storage underneath. (This is the placement of the bedroom door from your first drawing.)
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Need help with 2nd floor hallway BR

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bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz

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