Remodel bathroom? Is this daft? (with images)

[miliop]

Hello all, maybe someone can advise... got a 1930s house with a very grotty bathroom. It also has no storage and a small sink placed awkwardly between two windows. The bath has about a foot gap at the end which is currently dead space. It's a small-ish room and I think moving a few things could work better. However, I know that moving a toilet can be a nightmare....

What I'm thinking about is to:

• Move the toilet to the side a bit
• Create space where the toilet was for a proper sink stand
• Use the wall above the sink for a mirror cupboard unit
• Budge the bath flush to the external wall
• Build a fake wall for the shower unit to attach to
• Build in shelving/cupboard where the head of the bath is, to face the door

I guess anything is possible if you have enough money... which I don't. Can't afford silly money. Don't mind going cheap on basic fixtures and fittings, if we spend money on getting the layout nice and usable. Any advice very gratefully received!

Pics reasonably to scale, just measured up. (it's not showing up yet, awaiting review)

@Zonder I would love it. We have a small kitchen, which I actually like (I know it's not for everyone) but there's no space for a tumble drier. So it would be great if one or the other could go in the bathroom.

@Geneticsbunny this is what we're working with! pic attached

Have you had a bathroom specialist around to have a look? The one we asked gave us some really useful design ideas. Had to move toilet to centralise it on the wall and he used some bendy thing (sorry not very technical!)to help this. 'Floating' toilet also makes the room look more spacious.
Small bathroom here too

If you have a slightly shorter than normal bath (155cm) then you can fit the loo on the same wall at the bath, leaving you the other corner for a shower.

Alternatively if you move the door to the middle of that wall, you could fit a shower into one of the corners.

Where is the electricity supply for a putative washing machine? You have to be very careful ( in UK, fine in Italy!) about a socket hefty enough to run an appliance in a bathroom. I had a w/m in a Uk bathroom once, but it was effectively in a ‘cupboard ‘, that is behind a wall which we put up which separated it from the bathroom proper.

I also think you might need planning permission to block up a window properly with brick, although you could screen it off with plasterboard internally.

I’d thought about putting a washing machine in the bathroom too.

@miliop can I ask what app or software you’re using to generate these designs?

@FranticFrankie as luck would have it (or not) our shower just broke and there's a bathroom fitter coming next week to fix it. He's already been highly recommended by family so I'll get his thoughts.

@Geneticsbunny I'm a slightly shorter than normal person (158cm) so could cope with that!

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen both very good points, and things to look into.

@MagpiePi this is the IKEA room planner. It's a little limited, for example I only have two bath sizes to choose from, there's no corner bath option. Probably better ones out there

This one looks by far the best to me, but (as you say) probably with the basin facing the door would be better. Gives lots of useable floor space, not cramped and could fit in a decent vanity/storage, plus towel rail in right hand wall.

"This one" being option 3. Oubliette

Just another thought if you build a stud wall for your shower… if you do have a smaller bath and there’s room…
We have a stud wall in our bathroom. It contains the shower gubbins and the toilet cistern and we have a wall mounted toilet on the other side of the stud.

Is it possible to move your door, and possibly replace with a sliding pocket door? Then you could put your bath along the wall opposite the windows, keep your loo where it is, and have a long vanity in front of the larger windows. Put a mirrored cabinet on the wall directly opposite the door

If you have the bath running along the window wall, and you intend to use it to shower, you will have an ongoing issue with protecting the windowsill from the shower spray. This is not insurmountable but you need to take it into account. Having the bath but up to a window doesn't have the same issue because the spray doesn't normally go that far.

I really wanted to keep my washing machine where it was and to build around it for a shower room but unless it's in a cupboard and a certain distance away you can't have it in the UK.

Moving plumbing is always expensive (so is having it fitted).

If I were you I'd keep the windows. Maybe a full sized bath with a rainforest shower over it?

Taking your image with the shower cubicle, maybe go for an oblong model - you appear to have room - and ask the builder to incorporate a marble or tiled bench so that you can have somewhere to sit and shave legs, or pamper feet.

When you're thinking about moving things, you also need to be aware of where joists are and which direction they run. Soil pipes are quite large and you can't cut through a joist to fit them in.

A good bathroom planner will talk you through that before you make decisions.

How about this? Or you could swap sink & toilet for the soil pipe to come out nearer the stack 💩

I always wonder about baths and showers along the window wall and a) shower spray getting the window sills wet and b) standing in front of the window for your shower. From the photos of your pipework, it looks like your bathroom isn't at the front of the house. But some houses on our road do have this set up.

Thanks for this thread, OP, as we have boxed in dead space at the end of our bath at the window end. I'm now wondering if we could move the bath closer to the window and build in the storage space as per your third image. Kind of annoyed I didn't think about that at the time.

Another possible way to get some usable space is to hang the door to open outwards rather than swinging in to the bathroom

@seenabeena you've done a good job fitting all that in!

@SparklyGlitterballs love the idea of building in a seat. I also really want little cubby holes for shampoo etc.

@KickAssAngel thank you for flagging that.

To the people who cautioned re shower water next to the window, great point.

I'll talk to the bathroom fitter, find out what's possible. Right now I would sacrifice bath for washing machine but am prepared to be told 'not gonna happen'.

I'll update with his suggestions, for anyone with a similar conundrum. Thanks all!

Your wall that measures 228.4 looks like it could accommodate a bath along it then you could possibly think about a shower on your 212.8 wall with a sink fitted to its stud wall ? Or move your loo and sink where you originally placed it

If your door would hit the bath consider a pocket door or barn style

Just a thought, are you able to have a door that opens outwards (no idea about this personally) as it would open up that wall where the door would need to swing at the moment and you could use that space too for a walk in shower / cupboard space etc.

We have a very small upstairs bathroom so when it was remodelled we had this unit for behind the WC. The cistern is in the bottom bit and the upper bit is a large cupboard.