Small bathroom layout - am I crazy to try to fit a tub in here?!

3 years ago

We are renovating a small bathroom in a cabin, and I'm trying to do the space planning myself. Unfortunately I need to put a stackable washer/dryer in there, so that takes up a decent amount of space. For many reasons, I think the W/D, 60" vanity and the toilet are in the only places they can really go. So that side of the room is pretty set. (There is a 47" window to the right of the vanity.)

I would REALLY like to have a small freestanding tub, but - I have spent many hours racking my brain trying to figure out how to fit it in, and I'm starting to lose hope that I can actually make it work. (And it would have to be *really* small, as well!) The 12" "wall" by the toilet would be a half wall/cabinet/storage space. As is, I would only have 28" available for a shower door, which I don't think is wide enough. Please excuse the very rudimentary, not-entirely-to-scale layout (tried to teach myself how to use a sketch app with mixed results, lol!), but I would love input to see if there is ANY WAY I can get my tub in here!!

And if not, how would you modify the configuration?? I suppose if I really can't figure out a way to do the tub, I could enlarge the shower, but I'm not even sure how much I could enlarge it and still have enough space between the vanity and the shower. (Perhaps an L-shaped shower?? Is that a thing?) Thank you!

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shirlpp
3 years ago
Where is the entrance?
Gigi E thanked shirlpp
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO use a tub/ shower combo what is the issue. Really a free standing tub needs at least 12” all the way around for cleaning and honestly for visual a lot more than that.
Gigi E thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
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This must be a regional thing because where I live (in the San Francisco Bay Area) a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet is considered a full bath, not a 3/4 bath. My DH is a realtor and I confirmed this with him. I do think people here expect bathrooms that will be used by kids to have bathtubs, but master bathrooms are different. Adults just don't usually take baths. Maybe it's because we don't have time. I used to enjoy baths but haven't taken one in quite awhile. In an area which is prone to droughts, a large tub is wasteful. Even if water were plentiful, it also takes a lot of energy to heat the water for a bathtub. As people become more concerned about their carbon footprints and green building practices, the large tubs that were popular in the '80s and '90s may become obsolete. I had a friend who lived in a Victorian which had one bathroom on the second (bedroom) level with a lovely claw-foot tub and no shower. Her entire family bathed in a little shower off the kitchen, which was quite a trek from their bedrooms. To me, that really illustrates our society's preference for showers. So if you prefer showers to baths, skip the tub and go for that luxury shower.
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Thanks for all the replies! This is our first house, not our "forever" house. We are planning to finish the bath update so we can put our house on the market within the next 8-10 months. Then hopefully we'll be in our "forever" (or at least for a long time) house. :) The tub in the master is somekind of old, original cast iron tub. So I know it will be a pain in the butt for our GC to remove! I'm not much of a bath person except for occasionally, but my hubby likes to take them a little more than occasionally. Really this update is to make our home more attractive to potential buyers and hopefully secure us a fast sale. The master is one of the only things we haven't updated in our home, and we're not planning on spending a fortune. What I DON'T want to do is spend this amt of money period, and then wish I had done the tub. It's in really good condition, but it's so narrow and shallow. I wanted to potentially put in a deeper, wider one, but the walls are an issue. The non-plumbing side is my husband's closet, which is the same size as mine (not very big, but a "walk in," which is the plumbing side.) Moving a wall is an expense I'm not willing to undertake, so that's why I was wondering if we could hack into the wall just a bit where the tub is against my husband's closet. I havent talked about this with my GC yet. I'll do that this week. But y'all have seen that done?? Removing the tub and taking the time/money/effort to create a big walk-in shower is not what I wanted to do. We do have another tub in the hall bath, but not having a tub in the master might make someone not want our house. It's all about resale at this point! At the lowest remodel cost. :)
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Well, phooey. I taped it out in the bathroom with blue tape last night and it looked like it would fit, but with too many nos, I'm back to the drawing board. Interesting thought, Vix. Right now we don't actually have a toilet room, so much as a separate toilet "area" (there's no door, and the closet takes up too much room to add a door), but it's on my agenda to create one. In our house, it's very necessary. I generally use that bathroom to try to FIND privacy, only to have 3 people (and sometimes the dog) follow me into the bathroom. I'm looking forward to having a door that locks and a fan so that I don't have two little people handing me the TP and asking whether I'm doing number 1 or 2 (oh, and the 1 year old likes to flush while I'm ON the pot; so I've got my own special cold water washlet), while DH decides that he absolutely has to shave and brush his teeth at that exact moment. Now if I take a hike to the guest bath on the other side of the house, all three just follow me AGAIN. Sometimes when I have insisted on locking the door in the guest bath (no way to do that with our LOUVERED -- why??? -- pocket door in the master), my one year old plopped down prostrate outside the door and cried until I open the door. For my W/C, I want to put in a LOUD fan; no whisper quiet for me. Maybe I'll even add a radio. :) The way I'm seeing it, I can either get rid of the long vanity altogether and live with a fairly small vanity, plus a tub and shower, I can skip the tub and live with the kids' bathroom on the third level as the only room with a tub, or we can bump out that weird corner jog, which would give us an additional 49'' X 27'' space -- enough to fit a 5X3 tub, 5X3 shower and keep the two vanities. But that sounds very expensive and will require carefully removing and replacing the siding to match the existing. DH's response to all this was "why do we need a tub?"
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Gigi E
Original Author
3 years ago
shirlpp - the entrance is the 40" arc at the bottom left.

Patricia Colwell - Thanks for your insight! We do have 8.5" on each side, but I had not heard the 12" recommendation! I'm not sure how a tub/shower combo would work with a 4' by 5' shower, unless we create a "wet room"? We do have a tub elsewhere in the cabin, so if we ditch the freestanding tub in this room, we would want to increase the size of the shower so we don't have all that wasted space against the wall.
cd7733
3 years ago
Our walk in shower door is 28" and it's a good size.
Gigi E thanked cd7733
tangerinedoor
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
How long is the diagonal between the shower wall and the vanity? You have to consider how you're getting to the toilet without backing in.

Also, are those the exact internal dimensions of the bathroom? Even an inch off here or there could create an impossible layout or result in a code violation.

Swap the vanity and the tub.

Do they even make a 53" tub? Or is there a miscalculation in the tub dimensions?
Gigi E thanked tangerinedoor
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
A 53” tub IMO is useless so just do the bigger shower I am 5’8” and find even a 60” tub short
Gigi E
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
tangerine door - yes my sketch is rough and I think it is off by an inch... The GC will do a better one; this is just my lame attempt to see if I can fit in the tub! (The window is slightly "off" too...) I will try to figure out the diagonal in that darn sketch software (which is not super intuitive!). Believe it or not there are several 53" tubs! Here is one! Would love to go a little bigger if I could, but again - just playing around with the space at this point. I would like to sit in one of them to be sure it's actually comfortable before committing, lol! If it's too small, it may not even be worth it... The cabin is in the mountains, and I just love to take a hot bath when it's really cold outside!!

And thx for suggestion re: vanity and tub. My husband suggested the same thing last night. It's funny how you can look at something so many times and not see a pretty obvious improvement!! But that'll give more room for shower door. :)
PRO
Greta Interiors
3 years ago
One question-- is this a one person bathroom or a two person? Be honest with yourself. Can you and your mate fit comfortably in this space together at the same time? If the answer is no, I would revisit the vanity and steal some of that space. I have a very pro-tub client at the moment who is remodeling a "train car" bathroom-- long and skinny. She has space for a big vanity and we talked about whether or not this was a 2 person master. Its not. Its one person all the way. If she wants a tub its possible, but that 2 sink vanity will need to go. Sometimes clients think that 2 sink thing is a must have for resale. I can tell you that there is no point trying to shove one in a space where two people can't even comfortably fit.

If you want the tub, go for it, but make sure that you have enough space for it. It doesn't need to be the full 12 inches around as someone suggested. For a soaker you do need space for the fixtures, but I have installed them in smallish bathrooms and they look fine without a big open space around. Just be aware of building codes in your area. Good luck!
latifolia
3 years ago
When you say cabin, are people living there full time? I don't see the point of a small double sink vanity, particularly if you have another bathroom.

Is this your only laundry room? If so, then allow enough space to fold sheets and towels. Maybe a single sink vanity so there is room to fold laundry.
S Melt
3 years ago
it's not quite 53, but I just bought a 56" freestanding tub that, due to its design, actually has a bigger "sitting space" then tubs a foot longer than it is!

I don't think many people argue that you need a full 12 inches around a tub. I've seen 4 as a suggested minimum, and as long as you're willing to make cleaning a little harder for yourself, less than that is possible.

I'm installing my tub next week, but I've sat in it in the garage and I'm very pleased. it has a 19 inch soaking depth and because of the straight rather than sloped sides, you have a big space to sit.

it's the Palmer and I got it from Home Depot on sale for less than a thousand bucks.

Small bathroom layout - am I crazy to try to fit a tub in here?!

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Small bathroom layout - am I crazy to try to fit a tub in here?!

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