Bathroom for River Otter (how best to contain the splash!)
We are remodeling a former (small) master bathroom that will now be used by the resident River Otter. I wanted one bathroom with curbless shower in the house and this one got the nod. G.C. says he's done the prep work, but now I'm starting to rethink the curbless part due to tendency of River Otter to soak everything in his path.
Sorry I don't have exact measurements, but here's a rough sketch, not to scale. I'm heading to the property in a bit and will get exact numbers. In the meantime, wondering whether to go glass for the shower, or shower curtain, or a bit of both (one glass wall, one curtain at entrance facing toilet). Obvious concern is whether there will be enough room for a glass door with that toilet so close.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Comments (8)
Mittens Cat
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Finished Bathroom Pics (two bathrooms!)--very pic heavy
Comments (41)Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor....See MoreUpdate - bathroom is finished
Comments (62)Hiya sheesh, can't believe I missed this posting! It looks really nice, great job. I've been working on our upstairs hall bath and I am just doing a couple of tweeks before the "reveal". Have you looked for pretty soaps at TJMaxx? I am now totally hooked on them. They even organize them by color! I've been buying them to put in glass jars in the bathrooms. They are wrapped in gorgeous papers, and as long as you have some sort of common color, they all look great mixed together. You could also consider a bowl with some natural sea sponges, that would look pretty too. Glass jar filled with cotton balls looks kind of fun too. Great job! -bee...See MoreChange of plans...what would you use in a bathroom?
Comments (54)The faucet is 3 holes. A standard placement. Mine is from HD, but same as Lowes and is brushed stainless. Sink must be deep as I have no problem washing hands or anything else. The sink is a square pedestal. Am not terribly fond of the sink, no place to hang a wet washcloth and feel the space underneath is wasted. I've considered building a cupboard for this, just a surround with the sink as the top. The bath is so small that I know this would make things feel cramped. Hmm, just thought, a curtain around it would give me some storage. I'm fairly simple in decorating, so a curtain needs some thinking. Still have the wet washcloth problem though. Love the sound of the water flowing from the faucet, even seeing it...silly things we attach ourselves to....See MoreBathroom materials for slobs
Comments (20)Some things I picked...Wood look porcelain plank floor tile in a mid tone with dark grout ( stick with a mid tone because real dark shows water spots), Toto toilet with smooth sides (no side intestines), and a wall mount paper hand towel dispenser near vanity. My husband is extremely hard on things but really wanted off white cabinetry which I was in great doubt about. Maybe it's because we built and installed them ourselves from high-end RTA's that he is more careful but careful he is and it has worked out nice. I painted the wall mount paper hand towel dispenser the wall color, husband uses it every day by wetting a few with plain water and wiping down his part of the vanity, mirror and countertop. It takes 10 seconds. The only PITA is the glass shower doors which must be squeegee'd after every use. I spent a lot of money on a good fan that continually runs on low but kicks into high once you trip the sensor. We bought the kind that can be installed directly above the shower. That was a great buy! You mentioned white subway tile, I bought the biscuit color with matching grout and have no trouble keeping it nice with a very minimal amount of effort. Oh and...My master bath has a door going into the tub/shower/toilet area and I have the towel bars on the back of that door. The towels that are often in a messy arrangement are hidden behind the door which is open unless one is in that section. I do not have to view that on first entry. Edited to add: The other great thing is single lever faucets mounted close to the sink with a gap behind that fits a hand for easy cleaning and commercial grade under cabinet built-in vanity soap dispensers that fill from the top. Get the kind that have a spout long enough that it is slightly over the sink to catch any drips. It's hard to tell in this picture but the gap behind the faucet fits a pretty good sized hand. having things handy and simple helps with easy clean-up in the vanity area.This floor never ever looks dirty....See More
Nancy in Mich
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoIs the bathroom almost done, or not started yet? What a river otter craves is a wet room! That is a bathroom with a floor drain, tiled walls, and waterproofing under all of it. Then you may hose off anything in there. A squeegee and large microfiber wiping cloth will allow you to keep it looking spiffy.
Really , it is not as big a deal as it sounds to do what I propose. I put in a floor drain in a house with a basement when my handicapped shower went in. When you don't have a curb, you may get overflow from any one of several mistakes or accidents. A floor drain protects the home. My contractor simply used the Kerdi system and got the foam shower floor pieces that will slope the floor toward the floor drain. He used a foam ramp inside the bathroom door to go a little uphill, so then the rest of the room could slant downhill to the drain. It is a small height difference that does not trip me up. My walker will roll toward the door if I park it right inside the door, but it has become a natural thing to cope with it. Here is a photo, the drain is that tile-covered square about 18" in front of the vanity leg:
My shower is made of solid surface (similar to Corian) so things just roll off the walls, which we squeegee most times we shower. Your river otter could be a messy guy and easy to clean up after if you had this kind of set-up with a wall-mount cast iron/porcelain enameled sink without a vanity..Why does the little guy not want a tub? No room? In a wet room, where the room is essentially a shower, it can sit right next to the shower area.
If your bathroom is pretty much done, you can consider something called Caregiver Shower Doors that allow you to reach over the low doors to stay dry and still use a hand-held shower head to spray your otter. You may even be able to towel dry him over the doors, or at least wrap the towel around him.
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You use a short curtain over the doors to contain splashes, but to be able to still reach in.Mittens Cat thanked Nancy in MichNancy in Mich
4 years agoOh yeah, dimensions might help! My bathroom is not all that big. It is an 8.5' x 5' rectangle with the shower itself being another 38" x 63" box on one of the long sides. My shower is by Transolid and it is the largest one I could find without going to a custom ($$$) set-up. I have a 36" pocket door.
You may need to click on each photo because Houzz crops and shrinks them.Mittens Cat thanked Nancy in Mich
Lee Baer