Should I remove this bathroom wall and make space for linen storage??
I am planning to do a remodel of my small master bathroom. I am thinking about removing the wall between the tub/toilet and vanity to open up the room. The ceilings slop to a max height of 110" on the right of the vanity. I don't have a linen closet, so I was also thinking about adding a linen closet or tower on the vanity. My current vanity width is 52". I'd appreciate any advice!
Comments (19)
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Comments (7)sjhockeyfan, thank you very much for sharing your shower stall's information. So your shower base's width from wall to the step's inner edge is 28". What is your step made up of --- 2 bullnoses or tile and metal trims? Lotteryticket, thanks for your information. raehelen, appreciate your help. My contractor said with two bullnoses of 3" width, the step would be 6" wide. For 4" step, 32" wide shower stall would have a base space of 28" (32 - step width 4). But if I have 6" step, in order to have the base space of 28"(not including step width), I need to have a total width of 34" including step (28+6). So does your rectangular shower stall have a width of 28" not including the step? What are your steps made up of---2 bullnoses or tile and metal trims? Anna-in-TX, thank you very much for sharing the picture. It's a smart option. This post was edited by janesylvia on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 2:23...See MoreWould you take some bathrooms out to increase storage?
Comments (20)Pirula...I can almost bet that the answer to your question is NO LOL And the same for 80's horrific bathrooms with tile, lots of grout, colored sinks and toilets as well as oak cabs. Bleh. The addition of the bathrooms for all of the bedrooms was actually done really well. None are shared and each has at least a shower if not a bath and shower. I could see if it ever did become a B&B again that keeping the one in the wine room would make sense (plus the whole issue of the trip through the kids room to get to the other one now if ya'll have tasted too much wine). But the other on the top floor...it's actually an extra (3 bedrooms on the floor and four full baths). I actually dreamed of a stackable last night after hauling laundry down to the basement yesterday LOL The master suite remodel will probably ruin that half of the 2nd floor for B&B use unless they charge a chit load for the suite LOL But really we don't expect to move and we want a well apointed suite. It's two bedrooms with two baths now and a huge 8x8 foot space between that's empty (probably a skelaton or two....) It used to be one big room with a dressing room and bathroom (I wish we had all of the fixtures...it was written up in the paper at the time). We're going to put it all back as best as we can figure out. Any future B&B user can just figure it out later LOL Funky....I'll mail you a key...Send DH over when he gets grumpy. We'll let him spend the day showering in all remaining bathrooms til he's had his fill :oP...See MoreDid we make a mistake by removing ductwork to bathrooms?
Comments (25)OK, now I'm a little more confused. HVAC guy used 50 sq. ft for both bathrooms which is pretty close and provided the following equation: The heaters have a capacity each of 1275 Btu's. The restrooms are an estimate of 50 sq ft. The manuel J calculation for second floor room with one side exposure to outside is approximately 18 Btu's a sq ft. 50 Sq. ft. x 18 btu's =900 Btu's per restroom. Using BTUs seems to make sense so I did a little more research on using BTUs as a basis. Here's my assumptions because I don't have the Manual J to refer to: Room square foot = 50' Room cubic feet = 400 (8' ceilings) Based on the fact that the nearest heating ducts are in bedrooms and we keep our doors closed and thermostat turned down to 65, I'm going to assume the starting temperature is 65 and we'd want something like 75 temp in the winter, so temperature rise would be 10 degrees. I'm just making assumptions here, so if they seem out of line, someone let me know. I know some calculators use desired temp minus minimum outside temp to calculate the temp rise, but the calculator I've linked to below seems better suited to our needs, as it appears to take into consideration the starting temp which will be set by the house furnace. At this point, I don't know if the primary purpose of these heaters will be to supplement the 2nd floor heating or if they will only be necessary for warming the bathrooms - if they were baseboard a/c units, I would have left them running at full blast this summer to provide some relief to the rest of the 2nd floor. If we're going to need them to supplement the heat, I'd assume they'd be left on most of the winter and the bathroom temperatures would remain fairly constant. But, if the current furnace and existing ducts are able to maintain the house at about 65 degrees, I see them as primarily being switched on in the mornings to heat the bathrooms before morning showers, then turned off before leaving the house. And in either case, I think it's important to take into consideration how long it will take the units to raise the temperature 10 degrees and will that time be different for a unit that's constantly running to assist with maintaining a 65 degree temperature vs. starting from cold to warm a room from 65 degrees to 75 degrees? The calculator below is giving me 3,675 BTUs and 1,077 Watts/hr, which is closer to the recommendations made by the folks here, but conflicts with Manual J calculations. I don't know that much about a Manual J, but it does appear to take into consideration things like 2nd floor room (I assume that also means room underneath is heated), 1 exterior wall. The online calculator does take into consideration factors like insulation type, but doesn't ask if it's 2nd floor. I don't think either wanted to know that the ceiling above is attic space with poor insulation (at this point, anyway) One other thing I discovered in doing more online research is that the thermostats that were installed on the baseboard heaters are single pole, which means they don't actually turn completely off, so does that mean that they will be generating at least some heat year round? Does that mean that they will continually draw electricity year round too? If so, would either of those factors concern you? Any thoughts? Here is a link that might be useful: The Heat Shop BTU calculator...See MoreTiny Bathroom remodel. Open to ideas... and removing a walls
Comments (12)That does not look like a load bearing wall to me. I would expect to see studs in the middle, or a header at the top. Here is a drawing of a small bathroom renovation I am doing right now. The room is only 5'x6' but I am squeezing a shower in there too. I bought a wall mount toilet and wall mount sink to save space and keep the floor open. Combined with large format tiles I am hoping it will make the room look bigger. Just to give you some food for thought. Definitely get rid of that wall to open things up. Also consider a smaller vanity so it doesn't take up so much of the room. Maybe a bigger mirror behind it and some wall shelves to make up the storage....See More
Denita
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI would remove the wall and get a vanity that has plenty of storage. Maybe something like this one. This sink may not work but there are many vanities with a similar style with different sink configurations. This is one suggestion. There are tons of styles that give you storage in your size bath - without the wall.
[https://www.houzz.com/photos/2017-park-city-showcase-of-homes-traditional-bathroom-salt-lake-city-phvw-vp~102638425[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/2017-park-city-showcase-of-homes-traditional-bathroom-salt-lake-city-phvw-vp~102638425)
Here is another solution that may work with the space you have available - very clever storage solutions in this one
https://www.houzz.com/photos/small-space-bathroom-contemporary-bathroom-toronto-phvw-vp~673257
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Jenn
6 years agoDenita
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoWithout the wall, you probably have room. You may need to have a smaller vanity - something like this configuration (tower flipped to the other side for you)
[https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-spa-masterbath-traditional-bathroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~391171[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-spa-masterbath-traditional-bathroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~391171)
Or even something along these lines below (without the second tower on the left)
[https://www.houzz.com/photos/master-bathroom-haverford-traditional-bathroom-philadelphia-phvw-vp~3132704[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/master-bathroom-haverford-traditional-bathroom-philadelphia-phvw-vp~3132704)
Here is one more insp pic
https://www.houzz.com/photos/manchester-master-bath-traditional-bathroom-dallas-phvw-vp~40355988
Jenn
6 years agoDenita
6 years agoScroll through houzz and you will see many different ideas - I used 'storage tower' as a filter in the bath pics. One more for you
https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-bathroom-traditional-bathroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~137744
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoWhy can't you do something like this in the sink-side of the wall? There's room for rolled towels.
Or this:
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Nancy in Mich
6 years agoIf you are replacing the vanity, of course there is room for a tower! Do a single sink on the left side, and a tower on the the right. With 52" of space, you could go even to a 24" wide tower, especially if you sink the backside of it into the wall cavity to get 4" more depth there. Then you can make it a shallow tower with counter space in front of it, as shown in the photos people have posted.
I think that another space you may consider for storage would be the newly opened-up flat wall space where the door to the toilet room used to be. You might consider a shallow, 12" deep cabinet centered across from the wall that you took out. If you sink that cabinet 4" into the wall to the bedroom, it sticks out only 8" and it would hold all manner of bottles, cans, rolls of TP, and even folded hand towels and wash cloths. I was thinking of something shaped like this, but taller.
This one is only 34" high and 26" wide. I was thinking about twice that size! A good drywaller could scribe around the edges on the top and sink this thing right into the wall.
Jenn thanked Nancy in MichJenn
6 years ago
katinparadise
6 years agoJenn
6 years agokatinparadise
6 years agoNancy in Mich
6 years agoYou can avoid the need for door-swing space by getting drawers on the outsides of the vanity. One possibility that you have not discussed here is to get a trough sink vanity with two faucets. Then you do not have to remodel for resale. If you get a vanity with drawers, you will have accessible towel storage in the bottom deep drawers and storage for smaller items in the upper drawers.
Once you remove the wall, you may be able to get a 60" vanity, which will give you many more choices for your vanity. This one is 60" here at Houzz and is one of the few not sold with top and sink, so you may put in any that you choose. The bottom drawers on both sides are double-high, so this vanity has seven drawers!
A wide trough sink like this one would technically make this a two-person vanity.
And it is small enough that all of the plumbing would fit into the door cabinet part. Really, when a second person is there, often they just need to rinse a tooth brush and spit into the sink or wet a wash cloth while the other is shaving, and this kind of set-up works fine for that. My hubby and I managed that with a single faucet with a swivel mount on a tiny 30" Home Depot Euro-style "belly sink" for years.
I don't know what your floor space is going to feel like after you take down the wall, but if you feel you have room to walk around it, they make a matching linen tower. It is 24" wide and 20" deep and 6 ft tall.
A linen tower over across from the end of the vanity will keep the vanity area feeling spacious. It is another option instead of having the tall linen tower on the counter looming over you. With all of the drawers you can get in a 60" vanity, do you need the tower? I have a 60" vanity in our main bath now, and it is pretty useless, but that is because it has no drawers at all.
As I suggested above, if you are short on floor space, you can have any cabinetry sunk into the wall. Simply have the builder do a header to carry the weight of the stud that needs to be removed, and frame around the opening with a bit of wood trim painted to match the cabinet. You can take the drawer front or door in to the paint shop for a match to be made, or have the trim painted the wall color.
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