Smallest half bath


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Old 03-26-21, 06:47 AM
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Smallest half bath

We're having our 600 sf basement (30' x 20') refinished and I'm trying to figure out the smallest bathroom we can have built. It has to go in a very particular location due to plumbing. Does not have to be overly nice/fancy, just needs to be functional.

Toilet and vanity have to go on the same (back) wall due to plumbing (utility room with waste pipe is right behind that wall), so we unfortunately can't have, for example, a very narrow space with vanity on left & toilet on right.

Toilet (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) is 32" deep, but I don't know if that fully factors in the pump/how it all gets installed.

If it is truly 32" deep, could we get away with a 4' deep bathroom? Is 16" of free space too little when sitting down in terms of having your face in a wall?

Maybe we go 5' deep but only 4' wide (and have a very small vanity, which is the plan anyway)?

Below is a rough layout of where it needs to go.

Thanks for any suggestions.


 
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Old 03-26-21, 07:35 AM
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In a kitchen renovation in my 1912 house I squeezed a small(!) half bath into the space that could have been a closet or small pantry. It measures 33" X 42" wall-to-wall (above the counter) with a 6.5 " counter over a horizontal soil pipe. It has a bifold door that opens outward. A "normal" sink would not fit so we got creative with a spaghetti bowl as a vessel sink on the counter.


Really small half bath.

Spaghetti bowl sink.

Although it passed inspection the inspector did not think he could list it as a bath for assessment due to the size. He asked how many other baths we had and when I answered "two full size baths on two upper floors" he said, "I will list that you have two above average baths rather than 2.5 average baths."

My daughter has a half bath about the same size as you propose. The sink is at one end and the toilet at the other end both facing to the middle. The door opens out. Having plumbing on the back wall should not be a problem. The vanity can drain to the side and supply pipes will be hidden inside. The toilet supply can run exposed from the back wall to the tank that has the supply on the left side. One of my "above average" baths has a toilet supply line running exposed behind the toilet from a wall on the right side to the left-side supply and is not in the way and is hardly noticed when the toilet is in place.


Toilet supply from opposite side wall.

You could also use a pocket door.
 
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Old 03-26-21, 08:02 AM
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Check with your local inspections dept. to see what they will approve. For example code might require at least 15 inches (measured from the center of the toilet) tp any side wall or cabinet and no closer than 30 inches from the center of the toilet to the center to the center of the sink. A 21" clear area is also often required in front of the toilet. But it's something that can be a bit of a gray/fuzzy area depending on where you live and the mood of your inspectors.
 
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Old 03-27-21, 02:22 AM
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We have a small L shaped half bath off of our kitchen. Using a pedestal sink instead of a vanity makes it feel bigger.
 
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Old 03-27-21, 04:37 AM
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I think the smallest it could possibly be is 3 feet deep x about 6 ft wide. (A couple inches less if you had a pedestal sink, but you might not like a 24" pocket door... 28 would feel better.) And that would be if you used a pocket door and then had the toilet and sink facing each other, against your left and right walls.
 
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Old 09-27-21, 04:07 AM
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Originally Posted by newbie0101
Maybe we go 5' deep but only 4' wide (and have a very small vanity, which is the plan anyway)?
Well, when we added a sun room, we managed to fit toilet, sink, and corner shower into 40" x 7.5'-

I've been a Realtor since 1994, and seen some truly bizarre "we can MAKE it fit.." solutions: - wall framed AROUND the toilet tank so all you see is the face of the toilet, somebody mis-measured framing and the toilet is in the middle of the bathroom so they put the sink between the wall and the back of the toilet.... I think the best/worst was the downstairs bar/game room where the bathroom was just a wall mounted urinal with a 1950s bathtub faucet mounted above the urinal. Faucet was 1960s style with the soap dish built into the top of the faucet.

For a really minimal space, consider a corner sink, and triangular corner cabinet above.



or for a REALLY minimalist space- and 'greywater recycling'
 

Last edited by Hal_S; 09-27-21 at 04:38 AM.
 

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