Shower over bath which isn't in corner of room

[LeeMiller]

Sorry in advance for how long this is. I would love some advice ! We are rennovating a flat and a small/awkward bathroom which I'd like to improve if possible. We will replace all units. Our budget is lowish!

I've attached a not-to-scale drawing to give an idea of the layout: You enter the narrow room and there's a window at the far end. On the left hand wall are the sink and bidet (non-negotiable as we're in Italy), on the right are the toilet and a built-in (tiled) bath. The area on the right hand side of the door is only 60cm wide (left hand side is even less) so the bath cannot be positioned in the corner at the door end and is currently in the middle of the wall, 20cm-ish from corner. The door hits the bath when open - first thing I wlil replace the door, e.g. with a bifold door opening the other way.

Plan A is to swap the position of the toilet and the bath. However, given the age /type of house it's likely that this wouldn't be possible without creating a weird, tapered step so we need a Plan B (we won't know until we start the works). The plumber and my partner are both strongly opposed to moving the bath under the wooden window (we live in a humid area).

What should our Plan B be if we can't change the position of the bath? How can we add a shower above a bath in the middle of the wall and not get water everywhere/ not have an ugly curtain compromise? 99% of baths seem to be in corners or have separate showers - what do you do when that's not an option?

• Would a freestanding bath be better - look more like a design statement and less awkward?
  
• What about a shower curtain on a circular ring that could be tucked in the corner ? Or are these a pain, clinging to your legs, easy to pull down etc?
  
• Are there ways that look good to put glass screens around the bath that don't totally enclose it?
  

What would you do?

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

Ideally

bath definitely along the window wall.... a free standing one might look nice, but will still give you shower curtain issues

toilet on the same wall as it is now, but next to the bath, then the bidet, basin behind the door on the door wall

big fabulous ladder radiator where the sink is now.

[minipie]

The way this is usually done is to put up a small partition (made of waterproof/marine ply) at one end of the bath.

So in this case you could choose to put the partition at the loo end of the bath (this would also mean the loo is not visible from the door which may be a bonus). The shower plumbing goes up through that new partition. You fix the bath screen to the new partition.

Or you could put the partition at the other end of the bath, and build in some shelves/a cupboard in the gap between the new partition and the bathroom wall.

Is there an option of moving the doorway?

[minipie]

I had a circular shower curtain ring once. Never again!

[minipie]

this picture shows what I mean

[LeeMiller]

Thanks minipie. The partition wall looks good idea, I hadn't thought of/seen that. What was so awful about the circular shower curtain? I do hate curtains generally though...

Not sure about moving the doorway as opposed to having it open the other way - anything that involves changes to the plans registered with the council is very expensive - it costs approx. €1000 just to amend the documents.

Tondelaya I like your idea of all units except the bath on one wall... is it a problem having a bath under a widow if you have a wooden window frame?

[wowfudge]

We removed a circular shower curtain track because it was small and showering was a hideously claustrophobic affair. You can get larger rings but they have to hang from the ceiling so that's whole other palaver. minipie's idea is a good one.

[minipie]

The circular shower curtain thingy was awful because a) the curtain clung to us horribly and b) it was really rickety because it was only attached in one place, and of course people would tug the curtain so it got a lot of strain in that one place - eventually it came off the wall...

[LeeMiller]

The idea of being trapped in a clinging curtain is disgusting! Are they still so bad when they are oval rather than circular? I'm wondering if you would need planning permission for a partition wall like that or if it doesn't count as a wall.

[LeeMiller]

Sorry for the typo . I've reported it in case anyone is offended! Obviously that should say 'if it doesn't COUNT as a wall'.

[minipie]

I'd be surprised if you needed planning permission. It's really not a wall. No idea about the pp rules in Italy though

at the typo

[whois]

I had a circular shower curtain ring once. Never again!
That are so annoying! Too small to shower comfortably in one and it wasn't attached to the wall very securly. Hated that in my sisters house.

The partition is genius.

No pp needed to box out something for the shoer end - its just like putting in a built in cupboard or something!

[LeeMiller]

Thanks minipie! You are so helpful. Yeah, I'm thinking that it would be fine as it's not really a wall. I guess it wouldn't necessarily need to go right to the ceiling either. It would be nice not to have to look at the toilet all the time too... has anyone done this?

[LeeMiller]

Thanks Whois and wowfudge for steering me away from the circular curtains, they are sounding worse and worse.

The partition idea is very convincing. Do you need to leave an opening (door) in it so the plumber can access everything if necessary?

[minipie]

Well it's no different from if you put the plumbing into a wall. You could leave an opening "door" or hatch for access, or not. Up to you.

Actually it's better than if you put the plumbing into a wall because you could put the access door on the other side of the partition - so you could tile the bath/shower side, and still have access from the other side.

[minipie]

By the way - looking at your floorplan again, I would personally put the partition at the door end of the bath, rather than the loo end. That way you still get the natural light from the window while you're in the bath/shower. You could build a storage cupboard on the other side of the partition (a good use for that dead space at the end of the bath, and means any access hatch is hidden).

However I'm not bothered about looking at a loo so depends on your priorities.

[minipie]

On the access door - again, I have no idea what the requirements are in Italy. In England you're not required to build in access to plumbing. If the pipes leak and you've tiled over them it is your problem

[sleepwhenidie]

Rather than replacing the door with a bifold one can you just rehang the door so it opens outwards? Then you can have bath into the corner?

[bombayflambe]

I'd move the bathroom door to the left if possible: shouldn't be necessary to involve the plans held by the council.
Then you'd have 900mm to play with which would allow you to put in a wider shower shaped bath so you've got more standing room.

[whois]

By the way - looking at your floorplan again, I would personally put the partition at the door end of the bath, rather than the loo end. That way you still get the natural light from the window while you're in the bath/shower. You could build a storage cupboard on the other side of the partition (a good use for that dead space at the end of the bath, and means any access hatch is hidden).

minipie has great ideas!

[LeeMiller]

You are all amazing but minipie especially - fancy an Italian holiday to replan my whole apartment?

It hadn't occurred to me to put the partition the other end but yes, a 70cm wide partition with 60cm wide shelves could solve several problems at once.

I'm also going to ask about moving the door in case it's not as expensive as it seems, unfortunately opening outwards is not an option as it's on a landing.

[lalamumto3]

Hi we have had the same problem, we solved it by moving the door slightly and making the doorway smaller, that way your bath goes behind doorway with a shower screen.

We reduced our door to a 27inch, (sorry to mix metric and imperial), got rid of architrave, etc to allow for a 700 wide bath in the gap between door and wall.

The bathroom was 1760 by 2400.

Hope that helps.

[wowfudge]

Yes to having an access panel at the business end of the bath - otherwise it means taking the whole bath panel off if you have a leak or a problem with the taps. Have taps with a shower spray on the bath though - if you just want to wash your hair you can do so over the bath and it makes cleaning a lot easier.

[InTheSandPit]

Fake wall at door end, with shelves behind it sounds ace.
If you can't move the door, could you put a slightly narrower door in, and hinge away from the bath, so the two don't collide?
Otherwise you need door shut to get to new shelves, and could have it opened into your back.....

[WeAllHaveWings]

We put a partition wall in a similar set to yours. Also got the joiner to put in a huge built in shelved storage cupboard behind the partition. Worked really well.

[Blueberrycheesecake1]

Could you move the door to the left to allow the bath to go into the corner?