Bathroom help

9 years ago

We're building a home and are needing help with our bathroom. The doorway at the top goes to the closet and the one to the right is to the bedroom. Originally we wanted to enclose the toilet but tightening up the plan due to budget made us take that out, so we planned to just have a privacy wall. We were up at the job site yesterday and that is framed. I stood inside the toilet area and it just seems really cramped; plus, with 9' ceilings I'm worried it will feel like sitting inside a tube. We are considering having them change that to a pony wall or removing it altogether (which would give us a little extra elbow room). The shower opposite may change a bit as we're not sure if that will be a 3 walled shower with glass facing the vanity or if it will be mostly enclosed with only a glass door. As it is now the cost will be high due to the non standard shower pan, so we're working on other options. We will need to decide all of these things in the next few days as the plumber is going to be starting to work very soon.

So, my questions: Which would you decorators suggest: Floor to ceiling wall by toilet, pony wall, or no wall? And in each of those scenarios, where do we put bars for hand towels? With a high wall we could put one there, but there's no room on the door side in either circumstance. I've been looking online at bathrooms and have been somewhat amused but perplexed because very few of them actually show a place for a hand towel unless the vanity is butted up against a wall. What to people do--drip dry? :-)

We are open to one big mirror or two mirrors. Thanks!

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

Per code, spacing from the framed wall to the center of the flange is 15.5 inches. Once the walls are up, there is usually about 12 inches from the center of the flange to the wall. So when it's said and done, your basically going to have a 1/2 inch on each side left over from what's code. IMO, it may be ample space for one to do their business, but from a visual perspective it may look closed in or cramped. I'd much prefer an open and airy looking room, so I'd probably opt to just leave the wall out.

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Comments (7)

aprilneverends
9 years ago
I'm poor in reading plans and making fast and smart suggestions accordingly. but i want to point out one important thing to you. empty space always, always feels much smaller than the one that's built already, and has stuff put in. it's a very well known phenomena. i noticed it first when i was a little girl..when they just dig a foundation for a new house you honestly ask yourself: how this house will fit in there, at all?

yet in the end it fits lol, and gets different rooms, and rooms get furnished, and you walk there with ease without bumping in the walls, and even have a bunch of friends for dinner.

so whatever you decide to go with-remember your current feeling from the space is skewed due to it being empty and partially unframed. it's just hard to judge the space correctly.

as for the hand towels. our space does have the wall where the hand towel hook can easily go yet i very consciously didn't want to spoil it LOL..it arches, you see. i didn't want anything in the arch. so i just put a hand towel on the countertop. true we're blessed with nice climate so no biggy. in NYC or Boston, I'd have a permanently wet towel. actually there, on some days, they never dry wherever they are.

9' feet ceilings is a great height.

we have an enclosed toilet too, the ceilings are 8'..i find it pretty roomy. but. yours is smaller. the city code here dictates 3 feet I think when you build the powder room for example. if i'm reading correctly yours is a tad smaller. it won't be as claustrophobic as it feels to you now though. you can go with either height wall. or you can do it partially glass on top as not to loose the light.
housequester thanked aprilneverends
housequester
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, Aprilneverends (love that name. So true) I've been enjoying feeling how things shrink and grow as the build changes. When standing inside there yesterday, my elbows did whack the sides, so it is a little tight, but definitely not as tight as what we have right now with a similar set up (4" narrower and a lower ceiling. ) It would solve the towel problem, at last on that side.
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housequester
Original Author
9 years ago
By the way, in case it matters, my style is transitional/traditional.
dedtired
9 years ago
Could you attach a ring or rod to the vanity itself, on the left end? Looks like the door would easily clear it. If two people actually use the bathroom at the same time, I would stick with the floor to ceiling wall around the toliet.

I remember when my kitchen was demolished. I walked in the room after work and wondered how in the heck it had shrunk so dramatically!

I dislike glass enclosed showers. I love the feeling of being enclosed while showering, plus if someone walks in, they are not treated to a view of my soapy naked body.
housequester thanked dedtired
aprilneverends
9 years ago
umm..i might see what you mean..adding too much glass, right? We were not sure what to do with the shower because of that..the house is traditional and we took it to be even more so to pay more respect to the exterior..so we kinda weren't happy with the glass shower enclosure, we were afraid it'd intervene too much with the feel we're after. but we have low ceiling and not a lot of light, and not to loose this light was crucial. so we put two windows in the bathroom AND didn't put the door between the master and the bathroom so they both get more light..(we also put a skylight in the master, to address that) and I did insist on that glass even though I aesthetically would prefer a different approach. (something like Justina Blackeney did..as I've learned later lol..they also wanted to enhance their Spanish style little house)

And you know what, in the end that glass is not as bad as I thought. Actually it's much better than what I imagined it to be.

but even if you go with a drywall up to the ceiling..i believe you still will be fine. or maybe you want to finish it just a tad under..say not a pony wall and not a full fall either..that might be cool, actually.
housequester thanked aprilneverends
Beth
9 years ago
Our 6' shower is totally glass (two doors with a nonmoving center piece) and we like that.

As for the toilet/pony wall/full wall/no wall question, it's really a personal preference. 2'8" is really narrow. On the other hand, I like to use the facilities in private and so an separate toilet room is an absolute requirement for me. I don't mind the shower being open--but I really prefer to have the toilet private.