Design dilemma: Off-center bath faucet or knee wall?
We're planning to gut and reno a 1980's bathroom and it's proving to be very challenging due to space limitations and the lack of usable walls for plumbing (top and right walls on the floor plan are exterior walls subject to extreme cold in winter).
We want to get as much bath and shower space as possible without making any drastic layout changes that would unnecessarily inflate the reno cost.
The current footprint and plumbing is pretty much in the same place as the new floor plan layout. We currently have a small 30" x 30" shower with a dividing wall separating it from a space wasting triangle shaped drop in corner tub. The dividing wall is not load bearing and will be removed to open the space for the following fixtures:
1) Shower: 36" x 42" opening on the short side like this one: https://www.oceania-attitude.com/data//california-pr2/1091
2) Bath: 31" x 66" Oceania Loft Right (shown in second pic) but configured as in the diagram pic so deck space will be on the open side ( website specs here: https://www.oceania-attitude.com/data/baths/freestanding/loft-2-sided-skirts/1239 ). This means the faucet will be near the toilet so bather does not have the toilet behind them. Plumbing is currently configured in the same spot at the corner right (centered on the corner tub). I've chosen this bath because it maximizes the interior space with a smaller exterior footprint. The space between the bath and shower is not very wide (wall is 89.5" with tile on both sides, shower will take up 35" once installed and bath will take up 30", so there's about 24.5" between them which is just barely over the the min 21" clearance.
So here's my dilemma: I want to deck mount the bath plumbing since I cannot plumb in the wall but the overflow prevents me from centering the faucet. The faucet can only be placed where you see grid lines on the diagram. I'm not keen on installing the plumbing on the left side given there is minimal open space and am thinking I need to go with a one or 2 piece faucet on the right.
My husband disagrees and thinks we need to install the alcove version of the bath and build a knee wall in between the bath and toilet to run the plumbing. This is doable as the space between the toilet and bathtub is 37", though we'll likely have to opt for a shorter vanity. I'm concerned the extra wall is just going to take away from the open space.
The knee walls I've seen online are really high and unsightly. I cannot find any images of a minimalist knee wall at the end of a bathtub nor of a bathtub with the faucet placed to the right of the short end where I would place it.
I would greatly appreciate any insights or comments.
Comments (6)
bargainstitcher
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThanks RoominessTV. I never considered moving the toilet just knowing it was the most expensive fixture to move, but it does make a lot of sense to move it where it would be more hidden and a knee wall would hide it even more. I will definitely look into it when we do the remodel. The vanity is not an issue as we were probably going to do a single sink 54" vanity anyway (it's 60" right now with 2 sinks).
I showed the plan to my DH and he really liked it. We are also considering making the bathroom door opening smaller as the door currently extends past the wall by about 1.5".
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4 years ago
PROJAN MOYER
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoWhere are the exact dimensions of the entire space? A toilet has a CODE requirement of 15 inches center to any obstruction. Meaning you need NOT less than 30 inches width, and a two foot clearance in front of that toilet.
Inches matter, Where are your inches? There is no "about" when it comes to those inches.
Is this the only tub in the house? The bath is really not large enough for both tub and shower. You have no linen. I would use a tub shower, or lose the tub entirely for a shower,, Either option would result in better.
Below, toilet "privacy," bigger shower,linen storage, better vanity space.
Trying to get too much, gets you less every time.
bargainstitcher
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agobargainstitcher
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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