The waste stack is directly behind the toilet now. Unfortunately the plumbing in the entire house is subpar and we have to redo all of it. After we finish this bathroom we're gutting and reworking the masterbath under this bath on the first floor, and I'll need GWers' help on that too!

I left out we would be able to move the stack if it would improve things.

I am having a hard time with the step down idea anywhere in the room, even at the door. It seems awkward and dangerous. Since you are redoing the downstairs bath, is it possible to run plumbing from upstairs through a closet or tall cabinets below. I know it sounds crazy, but it would be worth thinking about. Even if the tub was raised and you could only lower the toilet (run the plumbing straight down below in MB), that would be a good solution.

What is the width of the room? You left that out.

cpartist - Sorry, the width of the room is 12'9" which includes the closet. I have the measurements broken down to show the location of the door and its width. I'd like to leave the door where it is if at all possible.

Karenseb - We did think about rerouting the plumbing. The kitchen is directly under the bathroom, and the master bath is kind of catty-corner to the upstairs bathroom, behind the kitchen. Unfortunately the kitchen cabinets are about 5 feet too far behind the current toilet area. We even toyed with the idea of raising the entire second floor a few inches to accommodate the plumbing. My husband is not very keen on that idea.

Can you lower the ceiling under the bathroom and put the plumbing there?

Unfortunately no. This is the kitchen ceiling. The kitchen, dining area and living room are all one open area.

Here is the current set up. Pardon the mess, had to peel back the flooring to dry it out after my son's visiting college roommate forgot to use the shower curtain :( The tub is next to the toilet, but only up one step not two. I thought of coming in the door (on the bottom left of photo) and immediately going up one step, then have a small landing type area big enough not to trip and then go up another step. It's sure not ideal but I don't know any other way, unless we just leave the fixtures up against the walls and raised like they are now. The sink vanity is not raised but the plumbing is running through the exterior wall.

I can see where your toilet is in a very bad location, so close to the door with 2 steps down. I suppose the whole space under the bathroom is the kitchen space and I can see that you would ruin the look of your ceiling to close that in at all. Is there another room or closet nearby that the toilet could be relocated to?

If not perhaps the right side of the bathroom space could be elevated and hold the toilet and bathtub/shower and you would at least have more room in that area so that you would not have such a close step to the toilet. Otherwise, I guess your best option that I can see is what you suggested.

Another idea might be to use the entire space on the left side for the toilet and have it face the window. Wall it off with a door near the window with a couple of steps located in the larger toilet room. So toilet room on the left wall, tub on the bottom right and sink extended where you have it now. So the sink would be about 7 feet long on the window wall and you could have a window to the left and a window between the the two sinks. I guess you'd still have to have a step up for the shower/tub!

I hope someone else has some ideas for you.

Thank you, Karenseb. We've been racking our brains trying to figure out another way to handle this. Maybe there isn't a better way? Here is all I've come up with:

How about this idea. A wall for the toilet on the right as you enter the bathroom and have your door swing into the bathroom against that wall. Then 2 steps up to platform holding toilet and tub on same level. Put the tub under the window or angle in corner. Use a partial wall for toilet concealment.

We stayed at Old Faithful Lodge in a room with a claw foot on a raised platform and it was quite cute. Unfortunately, the picture does not show the step up!

Karenseb, thank you! That's a much better idea than I had come up with.

Thanks. I hope this works out for you.

I had another idea which may give you storage and a slightly more open feel. Not sure about the steps and door . Maybe the steps could be done differently.

Karenseb - I may have come up with a plan that at least puts the stairs where someone shouldn't turn around and accidentally step off of them or fall backwards. This raises the entire floor but has the vanities on either side of the stairs. You still have to watch your step entering the room. I just can't figure out any other way.

What is the height of the ceiling on the first floor?

It's 8'7". The kitchen, dining area and living room are one big area. This is a log home so that's why I can't lower the ceiling, and unfortunately the kitchen cabinets are a few feet too far away to hide the pluming in them.

I like your plan personally. It looks good to me and you get a lot more function and storage. I think you need to draw it out on graph paper and note your measurements. Your toilet room should be a minimum of 36x60 inches and I think you would want at least 36 inches between your vanities and any shower or wall behind them. Don't forget that walls take about 5 inches of space. I'm not sure you have enough room.

Thanks, Karenseb. Those numbers are good to know. I'll measure and graph it later today. We've got to get the plan finalized because my husband is ready to order all the replacement windows for the house. We may have to lose the wall around the toilet but I do think this will work for us. Thank you!

You can lower the ceilings but you'd have a regular ceiling on the first floor. It's not that you can't; it's that you don't want to.

Personally for safety reasons, I'd put a ceiling up on the first floor and hide the plumbing in the ceiling. I think a step up into a bathroom is a huge safety issue. I can see the first time someone decides to walk out of the bathroom with some water dripping and they slip down those steps.

Cpartist - Do you think raising the entire floor is worse than the tubs that are on raised platforms? Right now the tub and toilet are on a platform and the rest of the floor, including the vanity, are lower. My children grew up using that bathroom and luckily we never had issues with the step.