Bathrooms are… not glamourous….It is a utilitarian room.
Errors cannot be unseen, or distracted by a fireplace, drapes, lamps or statement lighting.
A bathroom is a naked look at every contractor shortcuts, and tells you all you need to know about the rest of the house, the kitchen, the outlets, the layout…
You can gauge the rest of the house… often in a single photo.
Here are 14 things to think about as you design your bathroom.
- LOCATION OF TOILET
- EXIT TO OUTDOORS
- TUB
- ZONES
- WINDOWS
- MEDICINE CABINENTS
- FANS
- NESTED POWDER ROOM
- VANITY
- STORAGE
- ACCESS PANELS
- SHUT OFF VALVES
- FLOOR DRAINS
- ELECTRICAL OUTLETS
1. Location
Put bathroom in a corner with “light on 2 sides”.
Have an access to outdoors.
When you first start to design your dream house, you will put a bedroom the prime spot, the corner room with a view
Stop a minute, and consider reversing this.
The bathroom needs more natural light than a bedroom, which is used at night.
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Toilet
Toilets rules…
Rule 1. Do not have the toilet the FIRST thing you see on entering a bathroom door.
Rule 2. Don’t have the toilet right next to the tub…. Just don’t. Too congested. It is hard to clean all these back corners, and where do you put the plunger? No, not on the “other side” that is where the trash can goes? … See? congested.
Rule 3. Don’t just put a toilet in a small, isolated room, with a door, and think this is “better.” Where is the joy? It feels like a TIME OUT ROOM, a punishment room, not a moment.
Rule 4. Don’t have the toilet 10 feet from bed!
Example of a bad house:
Here is a $15M house they were building down the street. I photo’d the blueprints one day… I saw in the Master Bedroom. But the Master had such a tiny box for his toilet… not even a window…. for $15M! This was a custom designed house… which screams at you, cheap design.
Rule 4. Find a PLACE for the toilet brush and plunger… else it will be RIGHT THERE for the next 30 years. Be creative, inventive… figure this out.
It’s like building a mansion and forgetting to find a place for your trash cans, and leave them in your front yard. You can do better!
Rule 4. Don’t have the toilet 10 feet from bed!
It’s hard to see, but you can see the foot of the master bed, thru the door.
The white door adjacent is a toilet closet… you know… the time out place you send your kids when they are bad. A cramped small room, with no window. Not too glamourous for a $5M new construction house.
See the space below the door? That is where the sound comes out.
See the bathroom entrance door? Well, there isn’t one.
So turning on a light in the bathroom, wakes up the person, baby, dog in the bedroom.
I suspect the contractor could not figure out if this was a door that swings out, or swings in, and just skipped it. Ah…. come on…
Please, don’t think Contractors or Architects know better. That is just lazy thinking.
YOU have to make your own choices and stick to them…
This is WHY you do 3D drawings of your own, THEN pass them on to an architect to draw up.
Solution:Design a nested powder room, have a vanity & mirror, a small table with storage below, and a place to put things down, and some hooks on the wall, for someones purse etc.
But most of all, a nice big window in there…. for light, for air, for views… so this room is a joy like every other room in the house….
Besides, who wouldn’t want fresh air, in a bathroom?
This makes the bathroom more zoned, for multiple users.
Exit to outdoors
Consider adding a door to outside from your bathroom. It just helps with claustrophobia.
It is unexpected, but fun. Anytime to get out in fresh air, do it. Imagine you just washed your hair, and want to go out in the sun and let it dry…whatever.
An entrance to a bathroom lets you clean up, from muddy outdoor chores, without passing thru the house.
It does no harm, costs almost nothing, but can be convenient & clever for decades of use.
tub
The quick and cheap shortcut is a plastic one, light and easy for the plumber to move by himself.
Tap on the tub, and listen to the dull thud of plastic, vs the ring of an iron tub.
An iron tub holds in heat a long time…and you don’t feel it wobble / bounce under your feet.
Why do contractors want plastic?
You cannot imagine the weight of an iron bathtub, just moving it into the house takes a lot of men.
A 500lb iron tub will fight you! But once you get in location, it gives you 30 years of hot water, and a solid feel… nothing is so weird as a tub with spring in it…? will it break? You just never know.
My Experience.
I ordered a nice iron tub, Wayfair… free delivery… great.
But it was so heavy, it was dropped a few times, and delivered it all busted up, in my front yard.
For no extra cost, it was retrieved and a new one was delivered.
Pics here.
Eventually a second one was muscled into the front door and dragged into the location…luckily only up 2 stairs. I don’t know how Wayfair made a buck on it.
Finally… Remember, a house is built not just for you, but the next few generations after you…
Most people with kids, generally put their babies in a tub… every single night before bed… this goes on for years.
It can be a happy bonding time, or a drudgery.
Instead of putting the tub in a dead end space with no window, and no place for the mother to sit…make it nice…
My experience:
We had a wide ledge for a Mom to sit on, and located the tub by a door to the deck, so the door can be opened up for fresh air.
Or the imaginary mother can sit outdoors 4-feet away out in the sun and read, while the kids play with their duckies…
But doooo think of future Mom’s comfort… she will be here for 1000 nights!!!! You will never meet her, but she will thank you daily!
Good Karma.
zones
Often a luxurious bathroom will be one huge room. This is a bit lazy.
Consider breaking the room up into different zones… so more than one person can use the space at the same time.
This does not mean just sticking a toilet in a 4x 6 room with a door…
No! Make it nice. Create a 6×10 room with a vanity, side table, and a window that opens.
This becomes a nested powder room… In case this is the public bathroom, no need for a medicine cabinet in here…
There are so many ways to add zones to a bathroom… . keep it in mind…Create harmony, not chaos.
windows
Windows
Add windows…just do it.
Lots of windows.
A bathroom without windows, or natural light just feels institutional. It is cold and harsh, and creepy.
Windows in shower, extra windows on 2 sides, since you located the bathroom on a corner of a house.
Sash or Casement?
Casement windows are hinged on the side and crank open outward to the left or right.
Sash windows are what people have had for centuries, and open upward with a nudge.
The contractor shortcut is …. drum roll…casement windows… so you will see these a LOT.
People THINK casement is fun, and clever, but the only reason contractors use these because they can can be smaller ones (cheaper) & still obey the legal egress size. ..SEE? Cheap.
Sash windows only have 50% opening…so they have to be twice as large….$$$.. DO IT! This is the place you chuck in more cash, not be frugal…!
ME?
I hate casement windows…because they are hard to open and close.
All the pressure is on the delicate treads of the crank… the massive window gets sealed shut, you must bang on it to break the seal, and it pops open.
Then to close it tight, you have to put a lot of pressure on that tiny crank & threads…. Mechanically this will not take 100 uses… till the crank or the treads give out. So, you just stop bothering to use it, unless you really really have to.
From outsider, a cranked out window looks shabby. It is a visual eye magnet… what IS that? But a sash window can hardly be seen to be open from the street…often a sash window is just opened an inch or two, to get some air flow going.
Window in shower, tub
This $5M house gets full credit for natural light on 2 sides, a low window in the shower, and a window near the tub. Well done!
It is really hard to find a house, with a nice window IN a shower…try it…
medicine cabinents
Rarely do you see a nice medicine cabinet in a new house anymore.
It is just a small nicety you get used to growing up, you expect in a nice house… then it is left off.
Most often, a contractor will stick an oversized mirror for WOW power, “to make the room feel larger, brighter” Cheap trick. Just cheap.
Finally, don’t put a medicine cabinet in the public powder room… with every stranger that goes in there, you wonder IF they are looking.
My Experience
We had a lazy plumber that put his sink vent pipes right up the space between 2 studs…. “forgetting” about the embedded medicine cabinet. — Even though we had pictures and signs all over the wall.
Subs are always in a hurry!
With reluctance… He redid all his plumbing… Everyday was a battle, just to get up to zero.
fans
Put one in the toilet area, one in the shower, one in the general bathroom area.
Each fan has a 3- or 4-inch exhaust tube installed by the HVAC guys…. so it takes the work of the electrician to wire them in, and the HVAC to install them to an outside exit. A lot of work.
You do this ONLY in construction, rarely later on.
So plan this out, while it is cheap and easy.
Remember, they do not need to be LOUD noise canceling devices.
If you zone your bathroom right and use good wall insulation a loud “fart fan” should not be needed.
Be cool, add some fans.
nested powder room
Add a 6×10 room, design a nested powder room, have a vanity & mirror, a small table with storage below, and a place to put things down, and some hooks on the wall, for someones purse etc.
But most of all, a nice big window in there…. for light, for air, for views… so this room is a joy like every other room in the house….
Besides, who wouldn’t want fresh air, in a bathroom?
This makes the bathroom more zoned, for multiple users.
vanities
Look at the cheap ones at Home Depot….you don’t want those.
This is a contractor short cut.
Figure something out, less obviously cheap.
Same with faucets and fixtures.
When you tour houses for sale, this is another tell….
Hugely important…. have some surface area …and a lot of it, for towels, Kleenex box, toothbrush holders, nightlight cell phone, purse..etc…
Nothing is more tragic than a simple sink without a counter around it…but, you see this in even some most fancy houses…
storage & cleaning
No matter how nice a bathroom is, if there is NO place for the toilet bowl plunger, brush…WTF?
If there is no place for TP, WTF?
If there is no place for cleaning supplies, extra soap, shampoo, medicine… WTF?
It has to be IN your house somewhere…. why not build in a place IN the bathroom?
Every bathroom needs a lot of this stuff, in a convenient place… or you will fight this issue for the rest of your life… or till you move…
MY EXPERIENCE.
I created a huge storage area, with 1 foot of space, 8 foot long. With 6 shelves, creating 48sf of storage… in shallow shelves, so I can see things.
TP and Scott Towels were shoved UP the top shelf and held in by the walls. So, a whole Costco size package of paper goods is put away quickly.
One side of my bathroom was adjacent to a bedroom closet…. that was 3 feet deep. A closet only needed to be 2 feet deep, so I put a wall between the 2 rooms, creating all this free space.
(floor plan here.)
access panels
This too is a fun one… and simple.
Add secret access panels to SEE the valves behind the tile. Almost always, the valves have simple drywall on the reverse side…. this can be cut open, and a door installed.
Then, if you suspect a leak, you can just open the door to check.
Also, the plumber SETS the max heat temperature in this location (behind the tile!) This is a spur of the moment decision made by him… he who you don’t know….
This panel door lets you have access to the set screw to make your own adjustment.
This panel is just covered over by a mirror or painting, so it is “invisible”
flood drain
Just when you thought you were done designing, you realize you did not include floor flood drains in your bathroom, laundry room, hot water tank area.
This adds work to your plumber, the U trap under the drain, and the pipes, and air vents.
It adds work to your tile guy, who has to slope the tile down toward the drain…it’s a small subtle slope, but it is there.
But, again, it is insurance against a flood, and shows a nice attention to detail.
As you look at other houses, see it they remembered… another tell.
shut off valves
Shut off valves
It is wrong to assume all your appliances will have a shut off valve… You can never underestimate the laziness of a plumber, or his idea of cost cutting.
Put this in your bid…toilet, sinks, washer, hot water heaters, refrigerator ice maker…just everywhere you have water flowing,
Then make sure you have 1 EASY ACCESS WHOLE HOUSE turn off valve. Don’t wonder why, or second guess.
Just put this in your bid.
When such a thing is needed… then you’ll know why… (earthquake, sink hole, bomb) …whatever you cannot predict it now, but in the future you will be ready.
It costs NOTHING… just do it!
top 12 contractor shortcuts
A flipper, or remodeler has choices.
When I look at a new house for sale, I go right to the bathroom and observe the shortcuts and flaws…there is always a cheap way or a beautiful way…. Spotting shortcuts in a bathroom, are quick tells, on the rest of the house.
Here are my top 10 contractor shortcuts.
- shower floor….penny tile, lots of grout bad. Large rectified tile good….1/32 grout lines.
- With rectified tile, there has to be a nicely placed linear drain.
- If you are lucky, there will be a stepless entrance.
- Rain shower from ceiling great, shower blasting your face, bad
- Look for lots of electric outlets near the sink. Picture an electric toothbrush, rechargers, night lights, on and on. Each person needs their own sink, and electric outlets.
- Shower curtain, vs glass door. If you see a shower curtain…RUN…. Usually, you just see a bare tub, with no glass, and no curtain….
- No window near a toilet…come on… design it better!
- Hooks, towel racks, TP holder, grab bars
- Make sure there is some surface area to put towels down and stuff…so often there is NO surface area around a sink.
- No shower niche…or one niche….
- Look for ceiling fans, ceiling lights
- Massive tub in middle of room, but no place to put your things.
Score this with Zillow…
Observe the
- Number of outlets near the sink? -none -100, quad or 2 socket? – 50, quad +100Pts
- Medicine cabinet, missing? – 20 Pts
- No storage -30 Pts
- No space by sink, 2 or 3 square feet per sink.- -40 Pts
- Shower niche? Zero = -100, one -50, 1 level? -40 Pts per niche
- Shower head from wall? (Vs. gentle rain shower).- 50 Pts
- No window IN shower .-100 Pts
- No windows anywhere in bathroom at all? – 250 Pts
- Trip in shower or flat entrance? -25 Pts
- Toilet, right THERE?- -40 Pts
- Penny tile in shower? vs rectified -50 Pts
- All glass shower? like fishbowl -50 Pts
- Drain in the center, right where you stand? -50 Pts
- No grab bars?- -30 Pts
- Shower in tub…really? still? -100 Pts
- Shower curtain… well just move on… that’s just creepy. –200 Pts
AND NOW, SHITTY BATHROOMS FROM A $7.75M HOUSE...THAT DID NOT SELL FOR 3 YYEARS AND COUNTING, WIHT A 2.1M PRICE DROP.
I write this not to JUST expose poor design, bad decisions, and silly shortcuts …but to drill into the layman at home, designing their own house… that THEY MIGHT BE RIGHT!
I only want to expose…that the PROS are not that good either!
What you make up for in lack of degrees, you make up for with the huge about of free time, thought, and your own 3D visualizing your house BEFORE it is built.
I cannot emphasize this enough… your time doing drawing while watching TV at night, you think.
As you drive, you think.
As you look at media, you think.
When you go to Estate Sales, in monster large mansions, you think.
As you crawl thru construction sites, empty on Sundays…you SEE, you THINK….and this is added to YOUR design ideas.
How can you ever pay anyone $10/hr or $100/hr to do all this thinking?
Is it hard? Yes,
is it FUN, yes.
Is it Creative, YEA.
But in the year or two of drawing, learning to draw, learning the software, you are at the gambling table, with only $500 worth of software at stake….not $500K or $5M, at stake…
Keep in mind, $500 is 0.1% of the $500K you will eventually gamble on the build.
CHEAP BATHROOM
SHOWER… too small to even bend over, no grab bars, no bench, one layer niche, window too small, too high, standing ON the drain…all clogged up with scum and hair… no place for towel or hooks for things…
No medicine cabinet, main sink has no way to fix leaky faucet without ripping out the walls, cheap lights, trendy sink, no outlets near sink (hair dryer, chargers, electric tooth brush, nightlight.) @7.75M… you think the room would have been finished…especially after 3 years on the market….
2X4 construction, no windowsills.
Errors…standing on clogged up drain hole…hole is so small compared to a 3 foot long linear drain.
No hooks, no place for towels, no grab bars
A prison feeling, you just want to break out and get out ASAP
One niche… for shower for 2…really? niche is too small, with one level
One shower spray
Bench too low to get up on
Penny tile, with eventually dirty grout halo’s
Window too small, too high up to see, and does not open.
Center rain shower is there… good, is the head big enough?
No fans
Bench too low, lower than toilet,
Penny tile, back grout
Central small drain
One outlet, where 2 quads are needed. Hairdryer, clock, electric toothbrush, rechargers, nightlights, electric mirror
Where do you put the trash can, the toilet brush, and plunger?
One niche, with 2 level
No grab bars.
4 different surfaces…wall tile, penny floor in shower, Mexican tile on floor, and B&W quartz on cheap cabinet.
No medicine cabinet, cheap lighting
And this is just from the glamour shots.
Weird shower head, inflexible, will break when you put weight on it (like a towel)
No shower wand
Micro small drain hole, in center where you stand.
Artistic wall tile, for no reason, nothing matches.
Short bench, one niche, one level niche
Stuff just jammed in…
no outlets near sink,
no place to put things down around sink,
no medicine cabinet,
Tile doesn’t get cheaper…penny tile on floor, left over tile on main floor, remanent sale?
No hooks or grab bars, no place for towels.
remember… these 4 bathrooms are from a house built for $7.75M, and still sitting on market 3 yrs later for 5.5M…
If they only saw the house first, and corrected the designs from seeing errors, this builder would not have been destroyed…and this tear down will not haunt any buyer for next 35 years… such a waste in so many ways.
think people! slow down! don’t let your subs design your house…THEY DON’T CARE!!!!!