A planned bathroom in a walkout basement has tight quarters.
It is desired that the bath have two doors, one from the public hallway, shown at R in the plan, and one from the adjacent guest BR, shown at bottom.
A tiled shower has a 26″ wide glass door that if swung past 90 and hard, will crash into the toilet. If I move the toilet any more to the L, then I further tighten the space you have to stand when you are taking a leak.
Suggestions?
Join some of the most experienced and recognized building professionals for two days of presentations, panel discussions, networking, and more.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
It occurred to me to try a corner toilet. Eljer makes a couple models, as do others. Here's one.
View Image
And here is how the workout might look.
View Image
View Image
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Gene, can you swap the closet and the turlet? Kind of a reach for your DWV and supply ,though. That and you have the toilet nearer the living space, noise and all.
Just a thought.
matt
edit: I just saw that window, duh. Nothing ain't ever easy!
Edited 12/1/2008 11:44 am ET by matty j
Unless it's a steam shower I can see a couple of spots in the shower where a door (or some of the shower inclosure walls) wouldn't be needed ..
Maybe I,m missing something, but cant you swing the shower door the other way? If not, can you change the angle of the wall?
I thought about that, but for the shower door to swing the other way, one would be required to jamb oneself into that small little space between the shower and the toilet, in order to get in.
That's inconvenient. Usually, one opens a door, turns on the water, closes the door and steps away. Waits for a warm-up, then opens the door again, and if OK, steps in and closes the door.
I like to change that routine by installing a toe-tester spout in the shower, down near the floor, under the shower head. That way, you get in the shower, and turn it on, but water flows out of the toe-tester spout and not the shower head. Your feet might get a little chill from the not-yet ready flow coming out the low spout, but you are inside the chamber. When your toes say OK to the warmth, you flip a lever and the flow is changed from the toe-tester to the showerhead.
But that aside, look at the floor plan again. Those background grid squares are 12x12. You may agree that the door must be hinged as shown.
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
If you make that door by the vanity into a pocket slider, you can move the vanity over to the wall and relocate the toilet far enough toward the middle to allow the shower door clear it.
Moving the toilet would also give more room for access to towel bars on the wall adjacent.
BruceT
Edited 12/1/2008 8:32 pm by brucet9
That was my thought as well.
Seems an awful lot of wasted space to the right of the vanity just to accomodate the door swinging in.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Gene - it's also going to be a dark shower - relatively unusual to have a glass door (only) in an otherwise full 2 x 4 gyp bd wall.
So, I suggest the following:
Make all of the shower 'walls' facing the vanity (into the bath) glass. 'Shorten' the wall that the 5'-0" righthand arrowhead hits to maybe 12" or so and make it glass (shower enclosure aluminum) - the 5'-0" dim. will be more like 5'-6" OR 5'-8". Thus, the shower door slides toward that and swings clear of the toilet.
If there is a light switch issue then re-hand the bedroom door into the bath to the right of the shower - this also affords the 'privacy' of not 'surprising' someone on the toilet so abruptly.
By the way, save the cost of your 'toe shower' and simply leave the head where it should be (on the lefthand 3'-3" wall) and put the controls close to the shower door. Nothing says that the controls need to be right under the shower head ;o)
Make sense?
Jeff
Edited 12/1/2008 8:47 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
A while back I had a shower door with a tough layout. Ended up going with a double-swinging door.
Dorma Glas makes a double-acting hinge (saloon type, swings in and out) that is designed for use on tempered glass doors. Has 90 degrees of swing each way, and when you hit the 90-degree detent on either side, the door is held open at the 90-degree position.
Looking at your diagram there are pluses and minuses to hinging it on either side, but the dual-swinging gives you a few more options.
Just another option.
Mongo
Your text says 8'11", but if the 7'2" is right, the scale is skewed there
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
here's mine
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Why not swing the shower door the other way? I realize it conflicts with the entry door, but here's my thinking:
It would be an unlikely event for both doors to be swung open simultaneously. 99.9% of the time, the shower door would be closed - only swung open when entering or exiting the shower. As long as the entry door is either closed or all the way open at those moments, no problem.
However, the way it is now, the door will hit the toilet every time.
I moved my door over towards the stool so it centers on the mirror and vanity. That way you have full and glorious view of yourself as you enter the room, and the stool has plenty room still unless knees are hanging over the edge.
That shower module is 52" sq
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
why isn't the shelf unit showing up in the mirror reflection? Slacking off a bit are we? ;0TFB (Bill)
Edited 12/2/2008 1:58 am by ToolFreakBlue
Weakness of piffins is view of vanity side through shower glass and much smaller shower.
Don't want door to swing into shower if there's any chance it will get wet - water then sheds down onto the floor.
Jeff
actually both Gene's shower and mine have between 15 and 16 square feet. Mine are more square thou7gh so I think it would be more comfortable, depending on how many people are using it at one time.as for the glass to side of vanity, I was thinking of this as a concept only, so in detailing it, I would probably go to solid low sides on teh shower, glass block above that, and door full view, and knock the top off the thing.What I felt was the weak point on mine was the dead end space in the shelves under the window. I might extend the vanity units all the way to that wall and abut the shelves to it there down in the lower section, then run all the way over up top the window, possibly flank the window with decorative shelves for candles and foo-foo junk. use a Roman blind for privacy on the window.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for the new layout, Paul. It is a big improvement over my meager attempt.
I'll play with it a little, perhaps sizing down that huge corner shower unit, and maybe trying out walls and a louvered saloon door to privatize the stool situation, so that one is not looking directly at another if a second party enters whilst one is enjoying the Sunday Times.
Losing the linen cab is no biggie at all, as there is more than ample storage in the adjacent room that has a laundry setup.
Centering the door so one sees the mirror dead ahead when entering from the bedroom is a great idea.
Your software gives far better room birdseyes than my Chief A.
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
What I like about piffin's version is the shower is not being stuffed into an exterior wall. That tells me it will be a cold shower and energy inefficient.
I can put thew camera and POV and light sources anyplace I want.I'd pictured the open shelves as the towel storage, and stuff like cleaning supplies and TP under sink.There is possibly room there for dual sinks...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
We were just down at the local home improvement store and stopped into the kitchen/bath department, because we're contemplating remodeling bath #2, and they've got some really pretty shower doors with metal surrounds now, not just that gold anodized stuff that looks like you've hit the big time in downtown Las Vegas. Looks like powder coating or some other very durable finish. If you position everything right, it could be the metal surround hitting the toilet, and maybe you could find some way to install a bump stop that would soften the blow.
Does anyone make swing-limiters for shower doors, similar in principle to those swing-limiters that fit on the hinge pin on entry doors?
could you put the shower head on the north wall (assuming top is north) and skip the door entirely, putting in a short curb instead? Shouldn't get much, if any, spray through the doorway.
You made me think more - a low curb threshold and a shower curtain instead of a door solves even more, and makes it handicap accessible possibly - but being a basement situatuion, t5here probably wouldn't be many wheelchaired residents there - or did he say this was a walkout?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
One reason I suggested a curb (to keep the water in if there is no door) was the assumption that no one in a wheelchair would be likely to use a basement bathroom. Probably not enough room to accommodate any code for handicapped access.
My master bath has no door and a curb that is about 3 inches high. The shower heads are directed away from the opening and splash into the room is minimal.
He did say it was a walkout, however.
Shower curtain may be the way to go, unless it is too downscale for the customer.
Matter of taste, not scale - I have some very upscale customers who prefer curtains.
Did you know it is possible to spend over $750 on a shower rod for the curtain to ride on?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Did you know it is possible to spend over $750 on a shower rod for the curtain to ride on?
Appalling, but believable. Probably made in China of melamine.
from the Waterworks store in NYC.
But same to my eye as the Knappe and Vogt heavier grade SS rod.I wonder if the exchange rate between here and England has as much to do with the price as the store location does.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I still like your arrangement, Paul, but am trying out some looks on my variation.
BTW, I figured out how to render exacly as you did. Chief ain't the slouch I thought it was. Light, shadows, mirror reflectance, the whole nine yards.
I'm thinking of the shower where I had it, ceiling dropped to 86" with lighting, all the ceramic white or light, carrera marble curb and trim, and a frameless glass enclosure and door with details like as shown in the pic, attached.
Now I gotta figure out how to build it in Chief A.
View Image
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
it looks like you have plenty of room to swing that shower door in, and you could also slide that angled wall away from the commode shrinking the short wall down to a coupla inches, which then you could have a rubber bump stop inside the shower on the wall to prevent the crashing situation.
Dan Lynn, Dan Lynn Construction, Joliet, IL
QUOTES TO LIVE BY: 'The bitterness of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweet taste of a low price....' 'Anything worth doing is worth doing well' "If it was easy......ANYBODY could do it"
Here is a rework of the shower in the "original" corner.
View Image
It has been lengthened, to get the door and its swing even farther from the corner-type toilet.
This overhead view shows in 3D what access to shower and toilet might look like.
View Image
A marble capped curb and glass surround is added, as are frameless 3/8 tempered glass panels and a hinged door. The door is hinged on its R as you face it to open it, and it draws toward you. Reach inside to the near wall and that is where the shower control valve is located. The shower head is on the 39-wide endwall. A shower light is overhead in the dropped ceiling.
Materials such as shown here are used.
View Image
The walls and ceiling of the shower are tiled in white carrera marble, and the floor is tiled in small 2" tumbled squares of the same, for some grip.
One good thing about this layout is that because of the location of the toilet and the swing of the doors, the toilet is not something on clear display as you enter the room from either door. Here is a view from outside the room, looking in through one of the doors.
View Image
I think it might work, but on a room with tight quarters like this, I like to mock up things on a floor with lines and cardboard cutouts, to see how it might feel for real.
Thanks to all who have contributed advice.
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Edited 12/3/2008 3:53 pm ET by Gene_Davis
Gene - what you show is what I was suggesting, except ditch the corner toilet.
Never swing a shower door in. Slide the shower door toward the guest room door so that when it opens it just clears the toilet by 1" or so.
Jeff
Edited 12/3/2008 9:36 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
I have it stuck in my mind that somebody told me once that a shower door has to swing out by code.
Somebody getting scalded could get panic attack trapped, or if someone passed out from heat or a stroke or fell on the slippery and ended up laid against the door, nobody could get in to help.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Just my opinion, but I hate the idea of 2 doors into a bathroom. Had one in my previous house, and while it initially looked good on paper, I never got used to it. Never seemed "private" enough in there. Maybe it's something that bothers gals more than guys.
Hey, you ain't what you used to be. Try living closer to the edge-you might get to like it.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
"I have it stuck in my mind that somebody told me once that a shower door has to swing out by code."
Correct. Code. A fallen body could block an in-swinging door. Scalding water could slow egress with an in-swinging door. The same reasons that you mentioned.
I've used the double swinging hinges on shower doors two times. Once because it was the best solution, the door swinging "in" when entering the shower, the door swinging "out" when exiting. One door was glass the other teak.
The second because even though the bath had all the room in the world, it's what the missus of the house wanted.
In-swinging doors in small powder rooms was also a pet peeve of our old building inspector. It wasn't written into an code, but he'd nix them in the design process, it was one of his peeves. And yup, guess where his father had a stroke, and guess why it took longer for the EMTs to get his father to the hospital...
In the pics in my most recent post, the shower door has its hinges on the R as you view it from without, and it pulls toward you to open. Thus, it is an "outswinging" door, and you are in the broadest part of the room when opening it, with plenty of room behind you. I cannot imagine a shower with a door swinging in, for that or any application.
I won't swing a door into a small bath unless there is full access for the swing inside the room. Tight half baths thus get either a pocket door or an outswing door.
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
One other option I saw once on a display somewheres, was a shower with a rounded corner and the door rolled back out of the way, if that makes sense...it was a radiused door that acted like any sliding door, except slid on a circumference arch instead of a straight track
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I think every one of the custom glass doors we have installed swing both ways.
We instruct the clients to leave them open (in) a few inches when done to help air circulation.