Powder Room in a bad spot, what to do?

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nealtw said:
Burn the table, they will have something else to think about.:p
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Burning a table is an awful aggressive solution to having dinner guests over. The smell of burning tables does cover the smell of other things though. :down::hide::)
 
Does powder room door open in or out?

Extending wall B 3’ might make a huge difference and maybe making wall A just come straight out 1’.

I would tape some cardboard or something up and see how it looks


One last idea as long as I’m brain storming here. Make wall A come all the way across and put a door in it. maybe a double swinging split partial door.
 
bud16415 said:
Does powder room door open in or out?

Extending wall B 3’ might make a huge difference and maybe making wall A just come straight out 1’.

I would tape some cardboard or something up and see how it looks


One last idea as long as I’m brain storming here. Make wall A come all the way across and put a door in it. maybe a double swinging split partial door.
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Actually a swinging door is a good idea, I never thought of. It cuts down the visibility. And a full door would be too many doors. I found a good example:

http://www.wearefound.com/house-with-swinging-doors/
 
DenisTheThief said:
Actually a swinging door is a good idea, I never thought of. It cuts down the visibility. And a full door would be too many doors. I found a good example:

http://www.wearefound.com/house-with-swinging-doors/
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I like that style of door for that application also. Some of that type door can be made to open with a full swing in or out. That would be nice when you are making frequent trips to the laundry etc. and when you have company or wish the privacy just close them.

Would be a lot simpler than switching 2 rooms around and the plumbing involved.
 
So if we were to switch the laundry room and powder room, I may need to get a building permit. The city says, removing a load bearing wall requires a permit. Is it hard to determine if a wall is a load bearing wall? Also, it's only about 4'. And while I will be removing a 4' wall, I'll also be erecting a 4' wall.
 
DenisTheThief said:
So if we were to switch the laundry room and powder room, I may need to get a building permit. The city says, removing a load bearing wall requires a permit. Is it hard to determine if a wall is a load bearing wall? Also, it's only about 4'. And while I will be removing a 4' wall, I'll also be erecting a 4' wall.
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You will want plumbing, and wiring permits so an inspection on framing is not a big deal.
 
Any opinions on weather or not I need the permits? I know that's kind of a weird question.

It's just that this wouldn't be a major change. And as long as the job gets done correctly, when I go to sell the house some day it will pass the home inspection.
 
Permits are there for a purpose. Besides just a money grab and causing delays by waiting for inspections.
They are there to protect you from a dumb home owner, dumb contractor and purposely dangerous contractor.

So I will just ask some questions that should be answered before you do anything.
Who decides if it is a load bearing wall?
What have you found if you open a load bearing wall and find 2 or more studs nailed together for no apparent reason?
Is it okay to re route the power cable going to the dryer, if it is long enough?
If not where will you be putting a junction box, if that is allowed?
Do you have a plan for the dryer vent?
Do you have a plan on how to get the toilet drain over there and a lager vent stack if needed?
 
Denis, have you considered just putting in a tension rod with a curtain on it to block the view of the bathroom door from the guests in the dining room? When guests are not around and you want to have it open for people to go in and out, you can just tether the curtains open and out of the way.

And maybe you can play soft music when your guests are over to drown out any sounds from the bathroom.

Another alternative is a decorative standing privacy screen that can be folded up and/or moved out of the way when you need to haul laundry.

I know it is a simple solution, but it is cheaper and less of a headache than trying to switch the powder room and laundry room.

That said, I would still try to finish the basement bathroom as well. That way guests could have two options.

Having a full door that has to be opened to access the hallway might make guests feel awkward if they are expected to go through it to access the bathroom. But a curtain or screen might make it seem less private.

Or another option would be to get very tall bookcases and put them up so they are blocking the view of the bathroom door but are not blocking the passageway (if such a thing is possible).

I hope I'm making sense.
 
nealtw said:
Permits are there for a purpose. Besides just a money grab and causing delays by waiting for inspections.
They are there to protect you from a dumb home owner, dumb contractor and purposely dangerous contractor.

So I will just ask some questions that should be answered before you do anything.
Who decides if it is a load bearing wall?
What have you found if you open a load bearing wall and find 2 or more studs nailed together for no apparent reason?
Is it okay to re route the power cable going to the dryer, if it is long enough?
If not where will you be putting a junction box, if that is allowed?
Do you have a plan for the dryer vent?
Do you have a plan on how to get the toilet drain over there and a lager vent stack if needed?
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That's a good point.

I hope to get these answers, someone's going to have a look at it, hopefully today. I think the electrical is minimum but I could be wrong. The dryer/outlet is in the corner, so it could pretty much stay there. I think the switches are fine. Just the two lights would need to be moved a foot or so.
 
nealtw said:
Permits are there for a purpose, besides just a money grab and causing delays by waiting for inspections.

They are there to protect you from a dumb home owner, dumb contractor and purposely dangerous contractor.
Click to expand...

!!! Hallelujah !!!

Not to mention if something happens, the fire marshal and/or insurance carrier may have a few things to say. Cheaper to cover your a$$
 
zannej said:
Denis, have you considered just putting in a tension rod with a curtain on it to block the view of the bathroom door from the guests in the dining room? When guests are not around and you want to have it open for people to go in and out, you can just tether the curtains open and out of the way.

And maybe you can play soft music when your guests are over to drown out any sounds from the bathroom.

Another alternative is a decorative standing privacy screen that can be folded up and/or moved out of the way when you need to haul laundry.

I know it is a simple solution, but it is cheaper and less of a headache than trying to switch the powder room and laundry room.

That said, I would still try to finish the basement bathroom as well. That way guests could have two options.

Having a full door that has to be opened to access the hallway might make guests feel awkward if they are expected to go through it to access the bathroom. But a curtain or screen might make it seem less private.

Or another option would be to get very tall bookcases and put them up so they are blocking the view of the bathroom door but are not blocking the passageway (if such a thing is possible).

I hope I'm making sense.
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That's a good point. I think I'd pass on the curtain. But when you mentioned bookcase, that could work. And made me think that our China Cupboard could be moved over there. Easy and would help a bit. And part of the sides are glass so it wouldn't restrict as much daylight.
 
Have you looked at just re-configuring the bathroom.
The hall to the laundry only needs to be 36" wide, I don't know if that gives you room at the top of the stairs for a door off the main hall or you could move the bathroom door closer to the laundry door.
 
DenisTheThief said:
That's a good point. I think I'd pass on the curtain. But when you mentioned bookcase, that could work. And made me think that our China Cupboard could be moved over there. Easy and would help a bit. And part of the sides are glass so it wouldn't restrict as much daylight.
Click to expand...
A china cabinet would probably be good. Then it would give guests something nice to look at as they pass it or if they see it from the dining room.
 
nealtw said:
Have you looked at just re-configuring the bathroom.
The hall to the laundry only needs to be 36" wide, I don't know if that gives you room at the top of the stairs for a door off the main hall or you could move the bathroom door closer to the laundry door.
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There's not a lot to work with. The hallway is about 48" wide and very short. One idea is to close-off the current door to the power room and move it to inside the laundry room. So you'd have to enter the laundry room to get to it. Personally I think it's an improvement and it's low-cost but not ideal. And better than a hallway door. What is more of a turn-off, having a powder-room just off the dining room, or being forced to go through the laundry room to get to the powder room. Especially since our laundryroom is small to begin with.
 
A contractor came to have a look. He said that interior small wall is not load bearing.

He had a different idea. Leave the walls and doors as is. But move the laundry room into the powder room. And turn the laundry room into a full bath room (i.e. including shower). It's good because now we'd have 2 full bathrooms. On the other hand it would be more expensive because he was suggesting a ceramic shower. And also the laundry room would be very small. We'd need to replace our washer and dryer with stacked ones (then again our washer and dryer are 10 years old).

Would having a full bathroom on the main floor be a bit odd? Since the main floor is very small and does not have bedrooms.
 
We have a full bath off our kitchen that most would have made as a powder room maybe. It was put in before we bought the house and is a handicapped bathroom. The woman that was there before us became wheelchair bound and they converted a den to a bedroom for her and that is now our home theater. We like the full bath off the kitchen as the patio door in the kitchen leads right out to our hot tub and that bathroom becomes a changing room and pre shower room for guests without going to the private areas of the house. It is also nice when coming in from the garden to jump in the shower. Ours gets used a lot. another strange thing in our setup we grew to like is the laundry is entered thru the first floor bath and that is off the kitchen. It is very covenant to do laundry at the same time you are in the kitchen area. She loves the location and with the hot tub you are dealing with wet towels and such and the place they go is right there.

It also doesn’t surprise me a contractor would find the best and most expensive solution to your problem.
 
That's interesting. Although it wouldn't apply to us. i.e. about people going outside and then needing a changeroom and going inside. Well, maybe occasionally.

OK, maybe a weird question. I suggested to the contractor he do framing, flooring, plumbing etc. But I said afterwards, I could do the drywall, taping and painting. And possibly wall ceramic if we go that route. Since I've done all that before.

Is this not a good idea, to suggest? On one hand if someone wanted to hire me to do "half" the job I might not like that. On the other hand, saving a couple hundred or couple thousand bucks never hurts.
 
They take what they can get. And all the complaints are are about fit and finish so he can get in and out and you look after the details.
 
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