Small full bathroom ideas

[michaelskis]

I just learned yesterday that I am getting a claw-foot tub and a matching sink for free. They both need refinishing but are in otherwise good condition.

The difficulty comes in the bathroom configuration. The current bathroom is very small (6' 3" by 7' 6" with one 24 inch wide window (on a 6' 3" wall) and a 30 inch door way 3" off the corner opposite the window. When our house was broken into apartments, a 2 by 2 section of the bathroom was boxed in for plumbing to the nearby kitchen. They did not open the walls to utilities. They also put in a 30" by 17" boxed area at the end of the tub for the plumbing and for a few shelves. They also used this area to run the gas and electrical lines up to the attic for the furnace. Both of these lines will be enclosed in a wall when we are done.

Because it is old cast iron drains, knob and tube wires, and galvanized pipes, we will be doing a total gut job on it, so in essence it is a blank slate. We will also be removing both boxed in sections to free up room. We do want to us the claw foot tub and from what I have been told, it is a standard size.

Right now, the tub runs along the outside wall with the window, then the toilet is between the tub and the sink. All the plumbing is along the same wall, and the door is right in front of the sink. The door opens into the hallway right now and we kind of like that feature.

Anyone have any suggestions on a layout that would work? Should we just keep the existing layout? Or spin everything so it is not inline with the door? Or should we just move the door? I am open to all sorts of ideas since it will be a gut project.

[PowerMuffin]

I have found that using graph paper to layout the existing bathroom really helps to visualize the space. If you can post even a hand-drawn layout to scale, we can help.
Diane

[michaelskis]

I used Google Sketchup and found out that I the best layout was to keep the sink and tub in the same general location.

However, we would end up moving the toilet onto a different wall entirely. Right now, there is plumbing in that location that was leftover from when the neighboring room was a kitchen, but I fear that it will be greatly undersized and is in the opposite corner of the room as the location of the vent stack (about 10 feet diagonal) Also, since it is a second floor bathroom, (right above the entryway) I am not sure what all I am going to need to to to upgrade the drain line. We plan on using a low flow toilet and I am not sure if we should go with a 3 inch or 4 inch drain and how we should run it so it connects into the drain stack. We also plan on replacing the very old 8-inch cast iron drain stack with PVC. This bathroom is the only thing on the line and it is not actually in a wall, but runs through a servants pass through that goes under the main stairwell from the kitchen to the front door.

Now I guess the question is does anyone have any suggestions regarding what size waste line to use from the toilet to the stack and suggestions on how to run in it under the floor? We plan on stripping everything down to the studs and the joists, so it will be fully open. We want to also want to insulate all the walls and the floors for a combination of noise and temperature balance.

The other new question I have is we currently have the heater vent in the ceiling (furnace for 2nd floor is in the attic) and we are thinking about relocating the heating vent down near the floor for better circulation. I will also be putting an exhaust vent in the ceiling since there is nothing right now. I already found a location that would work great, but I was wondering if anyone else has done something like this before.

[Civil War Seamstress]

I have a very tiny bathroom too but can't offer you much else except on the 4" drain pipe. We have a 3" one and are using the plunger more than we should be. I don't want to sound indelicate, but even when it's just paper its getting stuck or goes down very slowly.
The toilet has a strong enough flush, the plumber says nothing should be giving us trouble, so I will blame a too small pipe.