More detailed measurements and ideas
I know it has been awhile but I've been thinking about this more lately because my bathroom project is almost finished. Also, the laundry area being a cold zone made me think of it. I have sprayed grate stuff into more spaces around the back door but its still not keeping the cold out. I think I need a cat door that keeps the cold out better-- but I still need to put up wall panels.
Most of the wires for the electrical have some slack so things can be moved a bit, but I recently discovered that one of my friends is a certified electrician (although not licensed) and he will work for food (specifically Popeye's chicken). He did the wiring in his own home and had a licensed electrician watch and confirm that it was done properly.
I went back and got more measurements and details. My old sketches were pretty bad. In the new sketches I forgot to include the wall mount light on the north wall (on the east side) of the bathroom. It is above the medicine cabinet and has an outlet on its bottom that I think only one thing can be plugged in to. I don't know if it is a 2 prong or 3 prong outlet.
I also forgot to note that there are two water supply lines for the washer (I think one for hot water and one for cold).
Here is my latest sketch
Some notes:
*The yellow box near the 36" door on the east wall is a light switch. There are actually 2 of them stacked on top of each other. One is to the hall area and the other is to the former exterior light. The box for it is about dead center of the doorway on top of the door (I did not mark it on the diagram). The light was broken during hurricane Rita and we never replaced it.
*There is a light (I think fluorescent) that is above the medicine cabinet. I need my electrician friend to look at it because it blinks the bulb on briefly when I pull the chain, but then it just blinks back off.
*The bottoms of the windows start at about 46.5" from the floor.
*With the 15"H pedestals underneath, the washer and dryer are 53"H.
*The doors on the washer and dryer are reversible so I could switch their positions if need be.
*There is a shelf above/behind the washer and dryer but it is just barely hanging on to the wall-- I think it would fall if the washer and dryer were moved.
*I'm not quite sure where the plumbing for the existing shower is just yet. I'm assuming it may be in that side wall that I want to demolish.
*I believe the westernmost wall is load bearing but the one I want to remove is not.
*There is already somewhat of a door frame just before entering the laundry area. I'm thinking of narrowing it to 24" to use the existing bathroom door-- but I have other doors down in the barn that are wider and could be cleaned up and used instead. I would have to measure them.
*The ceiling fan is a small one that attaches to the ceiling from a rod.
*There is a toilet paper holder embedded in the east wall next to the toilet but I didn't mark it on the diagram.
*I'm not sure on the dimensions of the ventilight yet since I'm too short to reach and can't fit a ladder in there to measure. I
think it is about 12"x13" or 12"x14".
*The ventilight doesn't work at all (none of the 3 switches do anything when I flip them) and I don't know if it is even hooked in to the ductwork or if it just vents into the attic.
*I have a friend who is a certified electrician. He also has experience building doorways & walls and will work for food (specifically Popeye's chicken).
*I was wondering if I could use an Air Admittance Valve for some of the fixtures to avoid having to mess with the vents, but I have read some negative things about them and I think they are not allowed in my state.
I got distracted several times while trying to type this up so I lost my train of thought.
Anyway, on with the sketches and plans.
Plan A
Basically this would use the existing floorplan and just tear out the shower, patch the walls and floors, and
maybe build some sort of storage around the toilet as shown in the previous post.
Because the pipes for the old wall-mount sink came up through the floor, they would interfere with the vanity, which has a drawer. My options to rectify this:
a) Bump the vanity forward and build something around the pipes on the sides and top (the back of the vanity is open). This would make things even more cramped in the room.
b) Move the existing drain and water supplies backward into the wall but leave an access panel for the shutoffs- this would only work if not over a joist and would require changes under the house).
c) Leave the plumbing where it is, but make a cutout in the drawer and bottom of the vanity to go around the pipes. This would reduce storage space and would be sort of a pain.
The laundry room would be left alone.
Pros: It is the least expensive of the plans and doesn't require much work and should not really involve changes to the venting. This one would leave more money for cosmetic fixes-- such as building a frame around the medicine cabinet to try to match it to the vanity and maybe getting a light that doesn't suck.
Cons: Lowers house value by not having a shower and still does not solve cramped laundry situation.
Plan B
This is about the same as Plan A but would involve rotating the washer & dryer clockwise and putting them against the east wall.
Pros: Bathroom- same as Plan A. Laundry area might have more space and it would be easier to access the front of the washer & dryer. It seems it might leave enough room to have some sort of wall-mounted fold-down table or some other form of storage.
Cons: Same bathroom cons. This would still leave unused plumbing jutting out in the laundry room. I'm not certain if there would really be as much room for opening the doors on the washer and dryer since both will be restricted by walls somewhat. The window will be blocked (although it is already partially blocked now). With this plan, the floor and subfloor in the laundry room would have to be repaired. I'm not sure if the power cords would reach the existing outlet so it might need to be moved. The drain for the washer might need to be moved as well.
Plan C
This one involves a lot more work and more money. The west wall of the bathroom would be completely removed. The north wall of the bathroom would be mostly (if not entirely) removed. This would leave more room for the laundry and make it easier to reach the washer and dryer. There might be more room for shelves and possibly for things to sort laundry.
Pros: Uses existing bathroom door (could possibly even recycle parts of the frame). Uses existing plumbing from old removed utility sink for vanity. Maintains value of home by having a shower. Doofusaurus will have his own bathroom to shower in. House guests will no longer have to go through bedrooms to use the toilet. There might even be enough space for a hidden litterpan. Might be possible to just put up shower curtains on long tension rods instead of having to put up walls for shower. Might be able to maintain vent locations and have less alteration to plumbing. Affords a little more privacy for toilet area.
Cons: More expensive and will require a lot of modification to the floor and plumbing. Might require vent changes in attic if ventilight and ceiling fan are swapped. Shower is directly under wiring for ceiling fan so the light would have to be relocated. Would have to walk through the shower to get to the toilet. Might be a tight squeeze depending on how the shower is constructed. If tension rods are used they could fall down unless there is something under them. No support of someone falls. Dryer duct will have to go through the wall into the bathroom (unless I can find a way to route it through the space in the exterior wall, but I doubt it). Vanity might have to be bumped forward or cut because of position of existing pipes.
Note: See
Plan F below for alternate laundry layout.
Plan D
Similar to something ChrisB proposed earlier. This involves having the toilet in the same spot as Plan C, but would move the vanity to the north wall of the new bathroom/former laundry room. For water supply I think there are two options:
a) Use hot/cold water supply that previously served shower for vanity and continue to use the laundry water supply for washer (just turn faucets to face the other direction)
b) Use the water supplies formerly for the washer for the vanity and use the former shower supplies for the washer.
I'm also trying to think of options for the sides of the shower (if we put any up at all). I was considering a sheet of plexiglass but that scratches easily and could break. Another thought would be curtains on a track from the ceiling, but that might get pricey, unless I could figure out how to MacGyver something on the cheap. I would have to move the existing water supply and probably could not use the existing drain from the vanity as I think it would have to be a different size. Anyone know?
Pros: Toilet still has some privacy. Don't have to walk through the shower to get to the toilet. Don't have to worry about the shower spraying the toilet paper. Shower could be used to spray off some laundry if need be. If ventilight is swapped with ceiling fan, it could remain in relatively the same spot. Could allow for longer shower space.
Cons: Less privacy for shower depending on what is used for barriers (assuming any barriers are even used). Might require doing something to the floor to make water go to the drain. Tension rods can't be used unless some sort of structure (albeit small support column or wall) is erected. Might be a tight squeeze to get between shower and vanity IF some sort of covering is used for shower. If not covering is used then people might have to walk on wet floor to get to the toilet. So floor would have to be non-slip but still easy to clean.
Note: See
Plan F below for alternate laundry layout.
Plan E
This one requires more changes I think. It involves moving the shower up against the east wall and bumping the toilet over to the western part of the north wall.
Pros: Toilet can be accessed easily. Don't have to walk through shower to get to toilet and floor is more likely to be dry. Vanity can use existing plumbing in southwest corner. Seems to be plenty of room to walk through the bathroom. There may even be space for some sort of storage on the south wall just east of the vanity. Duct covering could be used as a shelf.
Cons: Same issues with either having to bump out vanity or modify plumbing. Not much room to have something built around the toilet. Would have to find a way to protect the window from water. Would have to cover the dryer ductwork to keep water out. Would require the most changes in plumbing (as far as I can tell).
Note: See
Plan F below for alternate laundry layout.
Continued in next post due to image number restriction