I would not want a laundry room upstairs, if the washer or hoses leak, you will have a major problem over most of your lower floor. I had a hose break and it got 3/4ths of my basement floor soaked.

I love my upstairs laundry! (There are ways to protect against flooding).

I don't think I'd worry about it being ADA compliant. For all the things that you mentioned, only your mom, in her last months, would have required ADA compliancy (and she may not have been there? Sometimes we have to move them to a care facility when they get to that point). You are much more likely to encounter regular life circumstances of temporary disability (use of crutches, knee brace, etc). I'd put in a shower. As for the doors, I'd not be too terribly concerned about that. I'd put it where it works, then put the appropriate doors on it depending on their viewability.

Maybe post up a space drawing and we can help you figure it out.

I agree that the shower doesn't need to be ADA compliant, but it *can* be accessible to the person with a broken leg or whatever. That's easy to do and likely to be used. Put in a bench (or room for one), and grab rails in the shower and by the toilet. There are some very nice looking ones. You can also put in a raised toilet - really useful and very normal looking.

As for being visible from the rest of the bathroom - why shouldn't it be visible? Many shower stalls are incredibly gorgeous.

I'm attaching the current design of the powder room. I'll post a 2nd message with a design based on the architect's suggestion. The contractor assures me that potential flooding in a 2nd floor laundry can be handled with waterproofing and tile.

The architect's design replaces the current space occupied by washer / dryer with a shower and closet. It also replaces the hot water heater (access from exterior of house) with a tankless heater.

Here's the powder room design suggested by the architect. It switches the toilet and sink - this is because there's a window over the sink in the current design - it's in the way of having of mirror over the vanity.

The contractor suggested an alternate design, where the shower is on the back wall next to the window.

The closet is for hanging raincoats and as a utility closet - storing vacuum cleaner, broom, cleaning supplies.

I'm very tentative about switching from hot water heater to tankless. I've redrawn the layout with the shower against the exterior wall and retaining the hot water heater.

I think this design will be less costly - toilet is moved only a few inches to the side and minimal structural changes. Also, I think it's more functional, as this is a "standard" layout for a 3-piece bathroom.

One change I want to make is to widen the doorways. Currently, the opening from the hallway is 29" wide, and the bathroom door opening is 30" wide.

Depending on your climate, I can understand the tentativeness of moving to tankless water heater.

I like this design. Make sure the shower is "wide enough" though.

And, will you have 2 doors, or just one, into the bathroom from the hall? (will there be a door to the linen area too?). I think you can just have 1.

kirkhall,

Thanks for your input. I'm in Southern California - warm climate - my contractor assures me that the trend is toward tankless heaters. Take up less space and reduce energy costs (although there is a large up-front cost to make the transition).

The room is 74" x 154" (about 6'x12.5'). I have drawn a 3'x4' shower and a 3' wide vanity, while leaving 3' width for the toilet space. If I switch to tankless that gives space for a longer shower. I can widen the shower by narrowing the closet space. What do you suggest for width?

The closet is for raincoats and cleaning supplies, not linens. I plan to use shelving under the vanity for towels.

The existing design has two door openings: one door into the bathroom and bifold louvered doors on the laundry closet. Open entryway from the main hallway.

I considered having the bathroom door open outward, but I think it's safer to have it open inward. Door is closed only when bathroom is occupied, so unlikely that the door would be opened from outside the bathroom against someone standing inside at the sink. More of a risk that someone coming out of the bathroom would open the bathroom door against someone in front of the closet.

I have a couple ideas on how to make the doors distinguishable. One is to use a folding door on the closet. Another idea is to use a frosted glass door with a design or words on it ("el bano") for the bathroom door.

I had a Watts Intelliflow washing machine shutoff with a leak sensor. If the washer was not running, no water could flow, and if the floor under the machine got wet the water would shut off. It worked, I assume, because sometimes when the dryer was running but the washer had been off (It was a combined stack unit) I had to reset it to get the water to fill the machine.

I see you have it redesigned with a walk in tub. This could increase your price dramatically over a shower. Did you design it that way to keep the plumbing inside the wall because it was exterior? If you are looking at more of an ADA or easy access scenario I would recommend a low profile shower base.

Here is a link that might be useful: Low profile shower bases

I like your design far better than your architect's. It is a small space, but you have used it well. Would you consider a pocket door at the main entrance to the space? And would you consider having no door at the threshold between the utility closet and the sink? This might open up the space visually, and make it more accessible.

Would you also consider a more European look in which the floor is all one piece, tiled, with a slight slope toward the shower drain? I do not think you would need an actual shower door, unless you wished to have it. At a minimum, a Euro-screen would be sufficient. Although they have not caught on in the USA, they give a much cleaner, more open look. Arc and Aqua Uno are, to my knowledge, the only companies that supply them in the USA. I've linked one below.

I think you are wise to go with the tankless water heater. My plumber will not install anything else. As soon as mine dies, I will be switching. We have our laundry room upstairs in our current home, something I had always longed for. I love it. Yes, water containment is simple. Not to point out the obvious, but the most effective you thing you can do is to install the best supply hoses money can buy on your faucets, and make sure your water shut off is easy to get to. I have been looking at laundry room renovation, and my plumber tells me this is the biggest mistake he sees people make -- they use basic hoses, and then stack their units with the shut off behind them.

I hope this will be of help to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ark shower screen

I don't really have anything to add on the layout, but I'm wondering what your reservations are about switching to a tankless water heater.

We've had ours for about seven years now and are very happy with it. Ours is even mounted on the outside of our home because we did not have a good location for it in our basement remodel. We live in metro Atlanta so having it on the outside has not been a problem.