Half bath off front entry or none? (layout help)

14 years ago

We're adding a small entryway addition to the front of our house by closing in the old concrete front steps.

The house has just one bathroom. It's in a back hallway that requires you to walk past two bedrooms to get to it. Fine for us, but it'd be nice for company to not have to enter the bedroom area. And, a second bathroom anywhere in the house would be wonderful!

My husband's calculations for the new entry were off. I thought I'd have a 4x6 area in which to put a half bath. He forgot to account for walls. (Gotta love being your own contractor sometimes.) It's framed, roofed, etc. - no changing it now. After seeing it and really measuring it out, I'm not sure we have the room - or the layout - to realistically add that half bath.

Here's the whole house overview:

{{!gwi}}From Craft & Building Projects

Here's the proposed half bath:

{{!gwi}}From Craft & Building Projects

I'd kill for another bathroom, but I'm also feeling like this might not make sense. You can see the bathroom from the living room. It's on the wall directly behind the dining room. Door would have to always remain shut or it interferes with the entry door.

So...add the half bath or live with what we have?

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Comments (8)

chisue
14 years ago
Can you reverse toilet and sink? (Insulate against sound.)Can you use a pocket door? You could even have an in-swing door, despite that not being *as* safe in case someone gets sick inside the bathroom.

Our powder room is in the back hall and shares a wall with our breakfast room. You can't hear a flush and barely hear the exhaust fan. Ours is 3' 4" wide; no problem.

I'd add the powder room! Can you change the window to the side, not the front?
kermit4777
Original Author
14 years ago
I could reverse them, but then is it strange to have the toilet RIGHT on the other side of the dining room? (And to have it across from the front entry door?) And, it'd mean no mirror above the sink.

I'm hesitant to do the pocket door for sound and privacy reasons. A swing in door absolutely won't work (no room to turn around to close it).

The window is a high window about 5 feet off the ground and only 2' x 2'. It'll have a decorative stained glass insert that you won't be able to see through. It's already all framed in - no changing it now!
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kirkhall
14 years ago
This is totally doable. It might mean a shallower than normal sink base cabinet (like one of those 12" ones, with the sink out on top), or even a corner sink. But, you need to do it! And, the return for having that extra 1/2 bath alone will be worth a modification or 2.
Don't use an elongated toilet (use round bowl), and use a compact sink base.
Go for it!
kirkhall
14 years ago
The point about reversing their layout--you would also be able to reverse the bathroom door swing. This would be better for 2 reasons. If the door gets left too far open, opening the front door will simply close the bathroom one. Secondly, then, your view, if open too far, from the LR will be of the sink, and not the toilet. I agree that a pocket door would be optimal, but if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit (I wouldn't worry so much about sound in that instance. You can get a more solid pocket door).
kermit4777
Original Author
14 years ago
kirkhall, that's a good point. We had also talked about reversing the entry door swing with various layouts.

Given that we have a window on that side, what about a mirror above the vanity (I've never seen one without a mirror)? I wouldn't be able to put one in because it's right where the window is (no changing that window).
kirkhall
14 years ago
If you had a corner sink, you could put it on the other wall (the "side" wall).
kirkhall
14 years ago
The other thing I want to point out once more is, if the choice is no 1/2 bath or 1/2 bath; it is well worth it to move your framed 2x2 window to the side wall to get the 1/2 bath. The minor cost of moving the window compared to the value of an extra 1/2 bath in a 1 bath house is minimal.
A H
4 years ago
This sounds similar to what I want to do but I can’t see your pictures. How did the half bath turn out?