What are the dimensions of the space. You should draw a proposed floor plan.

It's a great idea. You look like you have plenty of room. 1 bath to 1.5 is a GREAT upgrade.

Not sure how to do a floor plan without Excel, but the room is 68" wide, and 71" deep. Including the space under the stairs where i want to put the toilet the room is 98" deep.

Thank you very much for the link and the good advice. The 30" rule is slightly devastating, as that space is only 28" wide. Barring that I could put the toilet next to the washer/dryer and then put the sink where I was going to put the toilet, although admittedly I like that layout less.

I've potentially hit a snag though, as apparently you cannot have your breaker panel in a bathroom. If you haven't guessed my panel is in the cream coloured box on the left wall, which potentially kills this idea. I'm still speaking to a contractor next week as he is a relative of a friend, but if that is the code here then I don't really know how to get around it.

The National Electrical Code references are in [brackets]

In addition, there needs to be a 30" wide by 36" deep clear space in front of the panel with no shelves, counters, fixtures, or even appliances in front of the panel.

You may be able to flip the panel to the exterior with a weatherproof all-in-one panel/meter socket... for 2-3K.

ETA - Sinks are also supposed to have 30".

You only have to have 21" or 24" in some places in front of the toilet, so it may not have to be under the stairs except for the tank... ask the local building dept if they will be lenient.

There are also wall-mounted toilets. Also, the center of the toilet could be 15" on one side and less than that to the doorway on the same wall--a door on the wall with the toilet isn't an obstruction. I'm just guessing because you haven't posted a layout.

Do you have any websites where I could make a layout? Happy to post one, just unsure how. Also I had one change to the room- it's nice to have a working washer again. I'll stack them once I get rid of the cabinets, which I'll do once I decide a plan.

The space under the stairs, i.e. across from the washer (which is the left one) is 28" deep and 28" wide. Not sure if I can expand it, but width seems to be more of a problem than depth, as agreed, a wall mounted toilet is a good idea if they need less space.

You can draw it on graph paper and photograph it. :)

Looks like toilet must go next to w/d. Sink under stairs.

Agreed. Provided I can put a toilet in the same room as the breaker panel it looks like that is how everything will have to work out. I'll do the floor plan in Excel and post it.

To post an image it will need to be a jpeg file.

You might try IKEA website for their drawing program. I don't remember how and if it is easy to save to jpeg. I just remember the program was glitchy to use.

You can flip the panel to the other side of the wall!

It's currently on an exterior wall. Do you mean flip it to the outside? I live in Canada, so not sure that makes sense in the winter, haha

Can it have a box built around it to meet code? My SIL has a small dairy, and her panel was in the wrong place, and she met code by building a box around it. We live in Iowa so winters are harsh here too.

Building a box around the panel is actually a code VIOLATION, unless the box is 30" wide × 36" deep × 78" tall. ... or the box would at least need a full sized door that started at the floor, and opened at least 30" wide unobstructed (2'-8" + with doorstop) and the standard 6'-8" tall

Section E3405

https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/IRC2015/chapter-34-general-requirements

They make Outdoor Enclosures - E3404.4 - that do not require additional protection ... and, a dairy is a separate and unrelated issue with its own challenges.

Fred, it sounds like it needs its own "room" from your picture & dimensions with the floor plan and door you describe. Good to know, thanks.

It does not need its own room, but if you DO build a box around it,....

Shawn, you are essentially asking the wrong question. "The ivory coloured box on the left wall is my breaker panel; not sure if having that in a bathroom is against code."

26-402 Location of panelboards (see Appendix G)

(1) Panelboards shall not be located in coal bins, clothes closets, bathrooms, stairways, high ambient rooms, dangerous or hazardous locations, nor in any similar undesirable places.

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The question should be "what is the definition of Bathroom" and whether the inspector would consider a room with so many humidity producing fixtures together to be a "similarly undesirable space".

Your big concern is still going to be clearances, for which flipping the panel around to outside will help solve. All clearances (plumbing and electrical), unless otherwise stated, are to be from the floor to at least 6'-6" (2M) high. That ivory box is obstructing even a toilet or sink clearance. I believe Canadian codes are more lenient on the width, so 28" for the toilet may be fine without that ivory cabinet.