Slimmest cloakroom basin

[Yoffel]

Just wondering if anyone has found an ultra slim basin for a cloakroom? Having issues due to width of room. The slimmest one I’ve found so far is 18cm in depth - not sure they could come any slimmer than that?

My loo is almost the same as yours OP and I have fitted in an 18cm basin. Adults can use it without soaking the floor, children not so much. Have had a few very large visitors and they haven’t mentioned squeezing past the basin to be an issue. My door is very slightly non central though, so the sink is broadly in line with wall

Have the door open outwards.

I would also consider re hanging the door so it opens outwards, or getting a new door (either pocket door, concertina, or one which has 2 smaller doors next to each other). And I’d also get a second opinion on a basin/ loo combined as your plumber may just have had one negative experience.

Our ( in the process of being constructed)downstairs loo is 80cms x 150cms. The door opens into the hall. It’s under the stairs and the WC has a hidden cistern. The slimline basin is opposite the door.

We have a duravit starck handbasin which is 25cm and I think fine for hand washing

F

Managed something a bit more to scale using the b&q planner. It looks a lot better than I thought to be honest and would be even better with the door opening outward I think.

But then when I go to the actual downstairs loo and imagine it I think ‘god it’s going to be a squeeze to get past’.

Very similar to my layout. Our sink is 22.5cm from the wall. The tile to tile width is 75cm. So just over 50cm to get past. It is fine. If you don't have tiles on the walls then the room is a little wider.

My builder used thicker plasterboard than I asked for (25mm instead of 12) so I lost some of my precious width!

Consider a full wall width mirror on the wall above the sink to give a feel of space. We have a mirror, but wish I'd gone for a bigger one (everything over the tiles).

I wish I'd moved my sink closer to the door so it wasn't so close to your face when you are sat down. Also space for wiping toddler's bums!

Get a wall hung sink without a cabinet underneath - the cupboard is too claustrophobic.

As earlier - no corners!!

This grohe basin looks good:
www.ukbathrooms.com/products/grohe-euro-ceramic-compact-cloakroom-washbasin.html

Or this:
www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/nile-compact-455-x-205mmm-wall-hung-cloakroom-basin

Very similar to our bathstore one (which is no longer available - bathstore went bust).

You might find you burn your knees on the towel radiator. Can you mount it up high? I didn't have a window so put it in place of your window. Maybe you could put it on the wall between the sink and window.

Thanks rollercoaster, those are really good suggestions. I think I will ask the fitter to position the sink and towel rail as far away from the loo as poss without getting in the way of the door. I’ll see how I get in with the door opening inwards and might change it to outward opening at a later date if preferred.

Encouraged to hear that 50cm to get past works for you! I think mine will be similar with the door opening inwards.

I don't think it'll work with the door opening inwards though. It will need space for the handle (both sides) so you'll lose another 15 cm or so. Do get the door fitted to open out into the hall.

One we made earlier. Room is 900x110mm. Door opens out. "towel rail" is a disguised grabrail. Basin is 350x450mm. WC is BO so quite difficult to match into floor outlet. Twyfords E100. With an HO there are some short projecton pans.

Argh! Forgot about door handles 😬. Yes, taking that into account will give 45.4 cm to slither through. Door will have to be changed and then it will give a luxurious 58.4 cm (just measured door handles!).

That looks great PigletJohn - whats a BO/HO wc?
Also, in terms of an extractor fan, there is the window in the room, but also an air vent going into the next room (the right hand wall of the loo used to be the external wall of the house but an extension was later added). Would that suffice?

900mm wife though PigletJohn - I know I’m sounding a bit “4 Yorkshireman” but that sounds so extravagant!

900cm wide

You need a Barbican sink, like this:

m.vam.ac.uk/collections/item/O308003/barbican-hand-rinse-basin-model-wash-basin-hohmann-michael-l/

You don't have to put up with the ugly taps like in this pic, lots of styles and modern takes around. Widely available if you search for Barbican sink. I love mine

You recess into into the wall, then it only pokes out about 5cm

Dansani have lots of options for slimline basins.

www.dansani.co.uk/

@Yoffel

HO WC is Horizonal outlet. So the soil pipe goes out of the back (usually, sometimes sideways) of the pan, through the wall or into a duct. This is most common current UK practice. So there are a great many to choose from, including some "short projection" pans suitable for cramped situations.

BO WC is bottom outlet.
Not what you think, it means that the soil pipe emeges downwards from the trap and goes into a socket in the floor (usually a solid concrete, ground floor).

It is a lot of effort to dig up a concrete floor and move an old clay soil pipe.

So the pan design must have the pipe the same distance from the wall (ish) as the original. In this case IIRC it was about 10 inches/250mm. There are not many BO pans made by reputable British makers now. Armitage make some traditional styles popular in restoration of older houses and hotels.

Makers who are not reputable produce WCs with a poor and ineffective flush. You may have heard people grumbling about their modern toilet.

An air vent into the next room is very unsatisfactory. The occupants of that room do not wisg to detect by their senses the use of the WC.

You can get very quiet modern extractors now. 25db or less, with an airflow of 80 cu.m/hr or more. They can be wired to the ceiling light so they come on when the light is turned on, and run on for an adjustable period afterwards.

You can get an amazingly cheap one that seems to me pretty good

or a really good one with a ball bearing motor that is quieter, more powerful, uses less electricity, and has an integrated backdraught shutter. This is my favourite. The Envirovent 100 T seems identical and is cheaper.

There are some other brands popular with builders because they are very cheap. Even some well-known brands are not as good as the ones I show above. I have been particularly unimpressed with Manrose.

if you buy some other fan, look for noise rating around 25db, and nominal air throughput of 80 cu.m/hr or more

A bathroom with steamy shower needs a more powerful fan.

i also recommend fitting a solid-core or fire door to the WC. These are very solid and dense and block out noise.

Thanks for the extractor recommendations PJ, that’s great! Yes, I see now that I vent into the adjoining room is very unsatisfactory!

Right, I think the current loo set up is definitely a BO as plumber was saying the new loo has to go over the hole where current loo is situated.

Current loo also has a weak flush which is partly why we haven’t used it since we moved in a couple of years ago (got sick of having to deal with ‘stuff’ so just deemed it out of order). Hope new loo is better - will check the make.

Will check out Barbican sink options too - thank you cheeseycharlie.

Yoffel, can you change the door so it opens outwards? It would just give you more space inside the room to position things. You would put the sink on the side where the door hinges are.

My teeny downstairs toilet is a mere 77cm wide and 177cm long but my door is on the side (under the stairs and the door is in the hall) and so it opens opposite the sink. The door opens outward into the hall.

I have a rectangular sink on a cupboard, 22cm deep, the radiator on the right hand wall as you look in from the door and the toilet to the left under the slope of the stairs. It functions. As it is used by guests and for wees no one should be in there for any length of time.

I have a wall mounted soap dispenser as you cannot fit anything on the sink top.

The gap to get past the sink is 55cm on a diagonal.

Get a short projection toilet too. Mine has a concealed cistern to make cleaning easier in such a small space.

This room is 86cm wide, the sink is 28cm at its widest point, the unit is 20cm deep. We actually feel that we could have put a bigger sink in. One thing we did do though was turn the door outwards, but we have another identical upstairs where the room is the same width but longer and the door is fine in that one.