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Building a Home Bathrooms Design Dilemma

Basement bathroom with small shower and weird layout

last year

We have a weird basement bathroom under the stairs. We bought this 1965 house and it already had some sort of custom shower added.
Our main goal is to figure out how to have a bigger shower.
This shower is 30x30.
The toilet is under the stairs.
The shower has been pushed back into the unfinished area where the washer and dryer are.
Behind the mirror is a cinderblock wall and then the garage.
The door to the right of the vanity is to the on-suite bedroom.
There is a door opposite the mirror which goes to the hall.
The bathroom is on a concrete slab, and drains into a pump. We don’t want to move too much plumbing or walls but are open to all ideas to get the brainstorming going.
Thank you for any advice!

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Comments (8)

Rho Dodendron
last year
All 5' 2" of me suggests you enlarge the shower towards the toilet even if the ceiling is slanted as the steps get lower. My 7' son-in-law would not like that suggestion.

I like your unfashionable floor!
Matthew Parker
Original Author
last year
Yeah, if we move the vent, we could go about a foot towards the toilet and then tile it. Would certainly add room.
The shower head is also low currently. I’m 6’1” and it’s at about my nose and points down from there.
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You are going to want more than 32" for the toilet. 36" is standard (and perhaps even code in some areas???? Not here in Maine but I heard people saying that on other forums...) We have 34" and it feels fine but I dont think I'd want to go much tighter. You could solve that simply by flipping the closet and shower. So, have your shower -rotated 90 degrees and witha glass end wall- at the end of the tub (which is a nice setup you can see in many bathrooms, the tub deck can actually protrude under the shower glass wall and be a ledge or seat in the shower). Then the passageway moves to the left, and you can steal a bit of space from the other closet for the toilet. Either that of have a shorter vanity. 48" isn't a size I'd fight for. It's too short for a double vanity, really (unless you're using one of the new two-faucet 'trough" styles) so why not go down to 42" and have a better toilet area? For resale, though, you should consider a double vanity. Some people I guess expert truly huge ones, like at least 5+' long. But you CAN get smaller ones, Ikea has some great ones for tight spaces. But if you're not selling anytime soon, do what YOU like!! (But I still think you'll want more toilet space...)
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We are also in the process of figuring out a redesign for our master bath so your plans appeared somewhat similar to ours. I would suggest though that if you have the space, rather than a 12" wall cabinet, make your vanity 72" and incorporate the cabinet space into the vanity area. 12" isn't very much room to even put a towel so I don't think it would give you a lot of storage. You could put a knee wall on the side of the vanity and put your toilet on the same wall. Move the shower to the other wall in order to make it larger. Without a tub, I think you have plenty of room for a larger shower.
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I did one house where a previous owner had removed a closet to enlarge the bathroom. We handled it by stealing the coat space at the back entry and inserting a wardrobe cabinet above the bedroom baseboard thus avoiding rerouting ductwork on the back side. Built in cabinets count as closets here to qualify a room as a bedroom. I once was planning a tiny bedroom closet to get a room to qualify as a bedroom and I asked the building inspector if the closet was required. He said that code officials didnt care; if the room was large enough, had a suitable window, and a smoke detector, it was legal sleeping space. MLS rules dictate the criteria for a bedroom and the interpretation varies. Another potential issue is bedrooms in walk out basements, is it a large 1 bedroom with 3 dens or a 4 bedroom house? IKEA had a great sink that only projected about 10 inches into the room as the faucet was at the side not behind the basin. Too bad they discontinued the model before I started anything. That house has plenty of room to add a basement bathroom so that will probably be the first step.
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Mark's changes are so much better! Everything about it is better: more efficient use of space; bigger, more functional vanity; toilet near the window. This is the second bathroom you have posted with really wonky window locations. I know you said that they couldn't be moved or they would look weird from the outside (though one has to wonder if other window placements are also wonky from the inside). In both cases, I would give a very, very hard look at changing the windows. Framing can be changed now - at a cost of course, but it can be done. Living with really poor bathroom design for the life of the house - that seems too high a price to pay.
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Matthew Parker
Original Author
last year
That’s a good idea. Probably one of the two best options. The other option is to go into the bathroom like my rough sketch in the 3rd picture.
bpath
last year
It looks like you don’t need it to be an en-suite, is that right? Then your idea to seal up that door and move the vanity over makes sense. And you’d like a 5’ long shower? That’s a nice size, and room for ledges or a shallow bench to hold shampoo and soap.

Is there anything preventing taking out the dropped ceiling in the shower? Where are the controls and the shower head right now? If the controls can be on the wall under the vent, and the showerhead at the back (on the short wall), that would be nice.
Matthew Parker
Original Author
last year
We are looking to Airbnb the basement. Don’t really need the en-suite door.
So the shower actually isn’t under the stairs currently, it is pushed back into the unfinished space. The controls and shower head are both oddly under the vent which makes it feel even smaller. If would be nice to remove that vent, cutout, and raise the ceiling backup. I think the small wall that sticks out and 1” wall added in the back wall we’re added so that the pre-fab shower would have something to attach to.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
last modified: last year
Can the shower be enlarged into the "unfinished space" that it is "pushed back" into?
Matthew Parker
Original Author
last year
Yes about a foot towards the toilet
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
Enlarging the shower "about a foot towards the toilet" sounds like your easiest solution based on the information provided.

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