My next reno - main bathroom

Hi guys,

I am now looking at doing my next reno, the main bathroom (mainly used by the kids and visitors).

As you can see by the current layout and pictures, the bathroom is quite compact (250cm x 170cm) and there is a separate toilet / linen cupboard area (90cm x 250cm combined) .

The idea is to combine these two areas into one bathroom, which would require the following:

1: Removing the wall that separates the current bathroom with the toilet/linen area
2: Removing the small wall that separates the toilet from the linen cupboard
3: Sealing up the door to the toilet in the laundry
4: Sealing up the door to the small linen cupboard in the hallway

I stuck my head up in the roof cavity and these walls didn’t appear to be load bearing at all, so im hoping its pretty straight forward.

If the above is all good to go, Im going to look at:

1: Removing the current small basin (50cm) and cabinet (80cm)
2: Increasing the length of the current shower from 85cm x 85cm to about 85cm x 140cm
3: Putting in 2 shower heads and 2 x mixers. I have 3 young kids (0,3,5) so I think it will be useful – This is just an idea though.
4: Putting a 900 vanity where the linen cupboard used to be or neat the old sealed up doorway to the toilet.
5: Removing “built in ” bath (1400 x 700) and putting a bigger free standing bath (1680 x 840)

I am going to start looking at this job in the next 4-6 weeks. Luckily, I have just finished a ensuite reno, so im going to keep the style (tiles, tapware, vanity, toilet etc), so the only other thing I need to think about is the bath style / size as well as the wall removals and sealing up of doors.

Would be great to hear your guys thoughts as you have all provided me which such great advice for my last ensuite reno.

Cheers,
Robbie

 

Good summary and photos. Easy to follow.
Sounds like you've got it nearly all planned!
Have you got room for a bigger vanity? Could be useful with the kids and extra storage.
Bath wise I think try and get the biggest you can in there without obstructing the toilet. got any pictures of the free standing bath your looking at?
There are some big conventional baths off ebay, fibreglass and to save space you can set it right against the wall rather than having a tile surrounding the rim. They are so much better and useable than the old school one you have! You may not need the double shower as the kids can use a bigger bath for a bit longer before they out grow it

Do you need to do anything with the windows once you open it up with the toilet?

 

If your not worried about a linen cupboard then I would put the biggest vanity the space will allow. Also instead of putting a double shower head, have you thought of getting a combo shower which has a shower head and also a hand held shower with the hose. I have one of these in my shower and it is great because you can put it on half half so my 2yo can use the big shower head and I can have the little hand held at the same time lol

Also save on extra plumbing and buying extra shower head and taps. If you don't have a budget then go for it.

 

Hey,

The minimum vanity size would be 900, but once the walls are removed I may be able to fit in a 1200, also depends where I decide to put it.. I will have to see.

As I said, I still need do some research on the bath, but after taking a few quick measurements, ill probably need one slightly smaller than I suggested in my last post (I recon around 1550mm).

The one I looked was this one: http://www.renolink.com.au/baths/catolina-bath-tub-1550.html

With these types of baths (above), I thought they would need to be free standing and would look silly if set right up against the windowsill / wall? Wouldn’t there need to be a slight gap between the windowsill /wall and bath? The height of the windowsill is 650mm.

I like the idea of scrapping the double shower (ill still put in a put in a 850 x 1200 shower) and maximising the bath. The main reason I don’t use our bath is because I don’t fit in it! Lol. It also makes sense to stick all the kids in the bath opposed to having 2 showers running.

I plan to keep the windows as is… so one behind the toilet and one next to the bath. I don’t see a need to do anything else with the windows, unless you got any suggestions?

Cheers,
Robbie

 

I actually purchased one of these for my ensuite on ebay and when the plumber tried installing he couldnt as the connections / thread were not to Australian standards and didnt fit and we couldnt even get a connection /adapter for it. It was actually a good thing as its something i would rather have in the "kids shower" and not our ensuite.

 

Yea that's the problem with eBay plumbing accessories.

I found a shop that sells cheap taps etc and they also have an Ebay store so that's a bonus and they aren't far from my house so I can check it out as well.

 

If i had time on my side the ebay seller would have sent me a new product with the correct fitting, but as i had the plumber coming the next morning, i got a full refund and just got a new mixer / shower locally.

Lesson learnt: Always checked the the fittings!

 

get that bath! i got a very similar one. they are actually usable by humans not just small pets and babies!

 

Looks great!

So you recon i should maximise the space and tile around the bath instead of a "freestanding" one which would require a space around the bath?

Also, i see you have your taps on the side of the bath, if i get a 480mm high bath, ill only have about 120mm between the top of the bath and the windowsill to put my taps, probably not enough space, so might need to keep the taps where they are?

Silly question.. the water outlet of my current bath is on the very left side of the bath, i see your bath and most other baths have plugs in the centre, is it easy to move the outlet?

 

With regards to the location of the taps, if i was going to put them on the side (like yours), i just need to check if there would be enough space.

If you look at the attached, my current bath is 42cm high. The new bath (48cm heigh)would leave a 12-13cm gap for new taps. I could also remove the current frame and make a tiled windowsill, freeing up a little more space (5cm).

Would this be enough space?

 

I had an old school bath similar to your one, this bath was about 100mm overall area but 10x the actual bath size! So took up a small amount of extra floor area but big gains.

your taps are coming through that hob so they well need to be moved anyway.I'd leave then on that wall so you can get a deeper bath in.

but what are you're plans for the windows? Leave as is? Once that wall is gone the room will be a lot different.I'd think 2 become 1 window

I'll get on the computer tonight to look at your attachments in more detail

 

Yeh, it makes sense to keep the taps where they are.. gives me more space and options.

At this stage, the idea is to keep the windows as is, I have attached a picture of the windows (side by side) from the outside.

 

Can you keep the existing bathroom and turn the laundry into a bathroom/laundry?

 

What could i add to the existing laundry to make it a bathroom?

 

Good idea. make it all one big room if possible and have the washing mach, dryer tub etc incorporated into the room

 

You could turn the linen into a shower with entry to the shower from the right, dryer over washer.

Lots of room for a bath but might not need it since their is already one in the house.

Possibly block the exit door and install a vanity or a linen. So much room to add things.

It depends if you want to spend lots or if you want your bang for buck.

 

Thanks for the advice guys..

Becuase of the outside brick walls, i will probably keep the windows and external doorways where they are (instead of patching them up) and just work with what i have.

The current Laundry is already quite narrow already (1.75m), so i probably wouldnt want to make it any more narrow than it already is.

With this in mind, i will probably just combine the toilet and linen cupboard into the the bathroom and try maximise the space

 

Have you thought about putting in a double basin? Would be good for the kids when they're older and tryign to get ready at the same time.

 

Yup, Ill definitely consider it. I'm going to try fit in the biggest bath, shower and vanity without making the bathroom feel too cramped.

 

Hi guys..

Well i got my tiler in today to give me a quote, so hopefully things will start happening soon.

I have a silly question regarding the bath.. as you can see from my current bath, the water outlet is to the left (not in the center). As I am not sure what is under the bath or how the plumbing works, i have the below questions:

1: Does my new bath need to have the water outlet to the left too (or can it be in the centre)?
2: Does the water outlet of my new bath need to perfectly aligned with the current outlet or is there plumbing under the bath which will allow me to move the outlet closer to the wall (maximize spaced used by the tiled hob)

Not sure if these question make sense?