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Is it worth changing this bathroom layout?

Hi all,

I have posted about our bathroom before with various musings. The most recent (last year!) was whether to have the boiler moved to make way for a separate walk-in shower. We decided against this as the money would be better spent elsewhere. I've also wondered about splurging on the bathroom, or simply making it presentable and spending the excess on an en-suite. We are going for the budget presentable, and spending the extra on an additional bathroom. 

The bathroom is now at crisis point and leaking like a sieve. I have ordered a bathroom suite in a sale and will be fitting it over the next few weeks. With a small room, we are staying with an over shower bath.

My dilemma now is whether to change the layout, or if it really wouldn't make much difference in the scheme of things.

This is the current room (bleugh, I know).  I could square off the room by pinching that corner from the next door bedroom. I could swing the bath round 90 degrees to sit under the window, and move the toilet/sink to other walls (plumbing/structural/drainage are all doable). Which to my mind makes a much better layout.

But....that means the shower bath is by two windows (the other marked with green).  I know showers can go by windows with correct planning and sealing,  but the cautious side of me is thinking it is better to have a waterproof wall, not a window. Am I wrong?



In my imagination, I have always wanted a bath under the window, and a separate shower where the airing cupboard is. But with that not now happening, I'm not sure if it is worth changing the layout  to similar below, or just keeping where it is?

The additional cost to move the drainage/wall to accommodate this would be in the region of £700.  £500 of this needs to be spent anyway to facilitate the ensuite we have planned (sorting a soil stack).  The difference is also quickness and ease of installation.  I am doing everything myself. and keeping the same layout is a much quicker job for me.





In a nutshell, I'm looking for opinions. Replace the suite as it is and be done with it. Or spend extra time/money/hassle to get a better layout (that isn't ideal with the window)?
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Comments

  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 16,886 Forumite
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    edited 3 September at 4:49PM
    If you are knocking wall down. Why not just slide bath further down as it is now next to/ or closer to toilet. Then put sink as per 2nd pic.
    Would not need to much change to the pluming, or require the radiator to be moved.

    Or bath under window where sink is & sink swaps sides, but that requires radiator to be moved as well.
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  • JGB1955
    JGB1955 Posts: 3,665 Forumite
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    I prefer your current layout to your proposed one and would spend the money on replacing that awful (IMO) ceiling strip light.
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  • MikeJXE
    MikeJXE Posts: 3,474 Forumite
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    I prefer the future but can you get the toilet waste to the svp ?
  • kimwp
    kimwp Posts: 2,204 Forumite
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    edited 3 September at 5:07PM
    I prefer the current as I like the toilet being tucked away. I think I'd swap the sink and the bath - sink closer to toilet for washing hands and you wouldn't be looking at the toilet when showering or bathing- instead, you'd have the light of the window. 

    Think windows are fine next to baths, just need to tile the wall and waterproof the frame.
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  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 17,095 Forumite
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    MikeJXE said:
    I prefer the future but can you get the toilet waste to the svp ?

    That's my main concern too, unless the left hand wall is external and the pipe from the toilet can go out there and then to the existing soil pipe.

  • This is the type of bath I am getting (the closest I'll get to my freestanding bath!). Bought at a bargain price while it wa there.

    See, here it being under a window works for me, but I'm not sure if it would work having the shower with the little window next to it, where the spray would be? I have teenagers. They seem incapable of having a shower without flooding the floor......

    born_again said:
    If you are knocking wall down. Why not just slide bath further down as it is now next to/ or closer to toilet. Then put sink as per 2nd pic.
    Would not need to much change to the pluming, or require the radiator to be moved.

    Or bath under window where sink is & sink swaps sides, but that requires radiator to be moved as well.

    I don't think I could slide it along, as the shower end would be on the newly revealed window. It needs the back end against the wall for the shower to sprout from.


    JGB1955 said:
    I prefer your current layout to your proposed one and would spend the money on replacing that awful (IMO) ceiling strip light.
    Interesting (are you my husband?! ;-) ) I've always thought it looks shoehorned in, and the weird alcove in the room next door has always annoyed me. The light will be going forthwith!

    kimwp said:
    I prefer the current as I like the toilet being tucked away. I think I'd swap the sink and the bath - sink closer to toilet for washing hands and you wouldn't be looking at the toilet when showering or bathing- instead, you'd have the light of the window. 

    Think windows are fine next to baths, just need to tile the wall and waterproof the frame.
    The windowsill is too low there, the bath would sit higher so that is a no-go. Shame though as that would work quite well!

    Baths next to windows I like, I'm not sure if a shower is style over substance though? Dunno.


    MikeJXE said:
    I prefer the future but can you get the toilet waste to the svp ?

    Yes, there are two SVPs I can connect to. One the other side of the sink is cast iron and being replace with plastic anyway, to make it easier to connect into when we do the en-suite. So there are no problems there.

    So it looks quite split on whether it would be worth reclaiming that corner or not then. Very interesting. If I don't, then the cost becomes much less and I can refit it out for around £800-£1000. The suite really was a bargain!

    Hubby is most definitely in the 'do it quickly, don't change for the sake of changing it' camp.

  • I’ve just re measured and the bath is 2cm too high for the window sill is it were to swap with the sink!
  • kimwp
    kimwp Posts: 2,204 Forumite
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    I’ve just re measured and the bath is 2cm too high for the window sill is it were to swap with the sink!
    Ooh, so close! Could be a nice shelf next to the bath/shower for shampoo bottles, a glass of wine...

    Could you build the surface up so that the tiles on the window would be flush with the top of the bath? Or would that join the window at a weird place?
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  • Katiehound
    Katiehound Posts: 7,826 Forumite
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    So you have to trail all the way through the bathroom to get to the toilet? (No, I realise it's not a looong way but I just find that a tad strange.)

    Almost free standing bath and teenagers with shower?

    Why can't the basin be on the same side as the WC. That frees up a larger floor area- in the future design I mean.

    When I was doing an interior design course I had the bathroom drawn to scale and all the fittings too so you could move the bits around then you could see what would/ might/wouldn't work..

    if money was no object I would probably replace the 2 windows with one larger one- ledge as high as the toilet window now (or thereabouts) Saying that my friend has her bath along side the window & the ledge often has a puddle! from the shower being aimed too high.
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  • Ectophile
    Ectophile Posts: 7,617 Forumite
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    When I had my bathroom refurbished, I asked the fitter to put the new fittings exactly where the old ones were.  That gave a minumum of fuss.  No ripping up floors to put new pipes in.  It was all completed nice and quickly at the minimum cost.
    The only change was that the new bath was turned around so the taps were at the same end as the shower.
    If it sticks, force it.
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