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Discussion Forum

Where to put a new half-bath?

PMH | Posted in General Discussion on October 26, 2003 04:22am

We are looking at buying a house that needs lots of work, and one of the considerations right now is where we’d put a new half-bath that we’d want to add on the first floor.  There is an article in the first issue of this magazine on this, but wondered about some other things that weren’t mentioned:

– Is it bad to have the entrance in the kitchen?

– Is it bad to have the entrance in the dinning room?

– Is it bad to have the entrance straight ahead when you come in the back door/porch?

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  1. Theodora | Oct 26, 2003 06:56pm | #1

    I think the article in IH mentioned that those locations are not preferred, for privacy reasons, but on the other hand, you need to locate it where you CAN locate it, after you've considered all possibilities. Can you put it under a staircase anywhere? Got a closet you can convert anywhere?

    "Our whole American way of life is a great war of ideas, and librarians are the arms dealers selling weapons to both sides."
    -James Quinn

  2. ellen | Oct 26, 2003 07:11pm | #2
    Of these three choices, I'd prefer the back door location - unless that is the main entrance your guests/friends will be using.
     
    I've never liked bathrooms off the kitchen. Probably started that prejudice after living in a house that had been previously owned by a family with 3 boys under the age of 5. It took months to get rid of the smell from the boys missing the toilet.
     
    I wish I could remember the story I heard recently about a bathroom that was directly off a dining room. I just remember that the acoustics left something to be desired.
     
    We also bought an old house that needs work, and we're still dealing with 1 bathroom. Right now we are working on finishing our attic, and will have a full bath with 2 bedrooms and a sitting area on that floor. We also have an attached shed, that is sizeable. We will eventually insulate that (floor, walls and ceiling) and turn it into the back entry/mudroom-laundry-full bath. The fun part about this will be retaining the existing (but out of commission and cleaned) indoor privy. It will be turned into some sort of closet.
    Ellen
  3. Fledge | Oct 26, 2003 07:15pm | #3

    I read that artical too. We added a half bath, off the kitchen in the laundry room.  No one ever knows it's there, so the theory that it is near the kitchen went out the window or mural, take your pick.

    Reality  check.....30 days is up.
    Le Sigh

  4. andybuildz | Oct 28, 2003 02:42am | #4

    You really need to post some photos so I can get an idea of the look and feel of these rooms.

    For instance.....my kitchen has a hallway I created with a closet in it....that will become my powder room...was a simple hallway I built and creates spaces that may not have ever existed had I not needed a powder room (half bath)...its created several spaces for me in a small area I might not have thought of before.

    Theres always a way in "all" rooms as long as you can be creative and open minded.

    Kinda hard just using words here and no photos.

    Its NEVER cut and dry no matter what anyone or any rag says.

    The fun in creating spaces is using my expression, "one thing leads to another". Thats how I've done all my projects....using that expression.

    Some of my work can be seen in my website......WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

    Anyway...pictures are worth a a thousand words or as John Bowles once said, "a bowl of kief in the morning, is worth a thousand camels in the coutyard". Don't ask.

    Be well

             andy

    My life is my practice!

    http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

  5. Perennialguy | Oct 28, 2003 09:14am | #5

    The last choice is the best choice.  Bathrooms should not open directly into a kitchen or dinning area for obvious reasons.  Opening into a hallway across from the backdoor would work, however I'd try to locate the toilet so that it is not in direct view through the open door.  However, if that is the only choice you have, it's better than the other choices you offered.  Is there anyway to carve out space from the kitchen or dinning room, per the suggestions in the first issue of IH?

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