Halving our Half-Bath… The Plan
When our house was built in 1852, the area which is now a half-bath on the main floor was actually the end of the stair hall with a door to the rear yard. As best I can tell, at some point in the 1980s, the door to the yard was closed off, a small window was installed and the end of the hall was walled off with a door. With the addition of a sink and a toilet, the options for having a place to relieve oneself in the house was doubled. The luxury of not having to climb the stairs to go to the bathroom was achieved.
[Image: The half bath on the main floor dates back to the 1980s. Before that, it was the end of the hall with a door out to the rear yard where the window is. Original real estate listing image]
[Image: The underside of the half bath floor from the basement. The only thing holding the toilet in place is the cast iron waste pipe. It’s even possible to see the underside of the toilet through the rotten floor.]
After moving in last January, we quickly learned the challenges of having no place to put our coats and winter gear. I added a coat rack in the reception hall, but it became clear that with no closet on the main floor, we needed a place to put winter gear during the rest of the year. After several months of mulling ideas over in my mind, none of which made any real sense, it dawned on me that perhaps in addition to using part of the half-bath as a chase-way for plumbing, I could carve out some of the space for use as storage for winter coats and gear. But it would only work if I was willing to shrink the current half-bath down by about half leaving me with a 3′ by 5′ space to house the toilet and a tiny sink. This begs the question, does halving our half-bath make it a quarter bath?
Anybody who has used the public bathroom in many a Manhattan restaurant can attest to just how small a bathroom can get. Our 3′ by 5′ space is almost generous compared to some of the bathrooms I encountered over my years of living in Manhattan. Because I was initially concerned about the small size, I did some Googling on 3′ by 5′ powder rooms, and I came to the conclusion that it will be tight, but it can be done, with careful space planning.
Looking at the future plan above, the newly halved half-bath (shaded in yellow) is clearly a big change. The toilet is not going to move, so I will be doing some careful planning to make room for a tiny sink in the corner next to the door. On the other side of the plan you can see that the new layout will provide ample space to allow the plumbing and ductwork (shaded in blue) to easily pass through to the upstairs, and I will now be left with about 32 inches of width for a coat cabinet (shaded in pink). Not a huge amount of space, but again, with careful planning, I can maximize it.
[Image: Cordelia is our “Lady in Wating” of the half-bath. She is from the early 19th century and we aren’t entirely sure of her gender (not that it matters). As for the toilet… I blurred it out for your protection from unsightliness.]
Phase One: Aside from the obvious urgency of ensuring the toilet will not fall through the floor when sat upon, we really need a second fully functioning toilet in the house. Admittedly, partly due to our general laziness of not wanting to go upstairs just to go pee. But primarily so that we can finally have overnight weekend guests without them having to schlepp upstairs and walk through our bedroom to answer the call of nature at 3:00AM. The bathroom will be far from finished, but it will at least be functional.
[Image: The ceiling has been here since 1852, it is nearly two feet below the adjacent parlor ceiling which will be perfect for locating a concealed mini-split AC unit for the parlor.]
With the pause button pressed on the half-bath, we want (hope? need?) to get started on the new master bath before next spring. Access to the unfinished half-bath will be important during that time. In addition to running our plumbing and heating ducts from the basement (through the half-bath) to the second and third floor, we also are looking at installing a concealed mini-split AC system above the half-bath ceiling with a direct vent into the parlor.
Once the master bath is completed and we are moved into our master bedroom, I will hit the play button on the half-bath and begin phase two. With all of the necessary work done regarding the plumbing and such, I will be able to finalize my plans and begin the process of creating a new enclosure for the half-bath, incorporating a restored antique pine door (which we have yet to find) and complete the installation of the interior where I plan to incorporate wainscoting around the perimeter of the room and install a removable ceiling to allow access to the AC unit hidden above. Only then can I install the tiny sink on the side wall which will officially make it a half-bath again.
[Image: This is close to the idea I have for creating a coat cabinet which will fit into the history of the house. Source: Two Straight Lines.]
[Image: This is the closest I was able to find to what is floating about in my head for the final look of the half-bath. Source: Pinterest (unable to find original source)]
Did you enjoy this post? Yay! Want to know when new ones come out? It’s super easy… Just scroll to the very bottom of the page, add your email address in the little box on the left and click subscribe! I promise I will never share your email, sell, or spam you in any way. You will always have the option to unsubscribe at any time.
11 Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Wow! What a lot of thought went into that. Great use of available space. So…will the coat cabinet be tall enough to get 3/4 length coats into? I have never thought about doing something like that. It is a really interesting idea – potentially more storage bank for your buck.
If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that you absolutely should live in your fixer upper for at least year before making major changes. This allows for thoughts and ideas to percolate resulting in much better end results (or at least I hope).
RE: The coat closet. There are a lot of details to work out. I concluded that a cabinet would look better in the space instead of a more traditional closet as it would allow for me to include drawers and better overall storage. As for the 3/4 coats… The short answer is no. In addition to the small coat closet, I plan to incorporate about twenty linear feet of shaker pegs along one wall in the reception hall which will provide ample room for guest coats and our day to day coats. The coat closet is going to be too small for us regardless, but will still provide much needed storage.
Perfect! That makes sense, and will be great for parties!
Cordelia will look fantastic in a black room; I think the portrait will take on even more stature in the smaller space! Glad to see the angled wall is going away. Storage is typically hard to come by in a row house – you have to grab every opportunity you have and this looks like a happy solution! While working in a small space can be sometimes challenging, the nice part is that there is just not much surface area to finish. Hopefully the finish work will go quickly once the rough-in is completed. While not traditional, more bathrooms are being built today with the door swinging outward into the hall or adjacent room… some codes even require it. Intended to make entry easier in the event someone is locked inside, the real benefit is that the room feels bigger when the door is open.
I had one of those small bathrooms with an outswing door. It allowed the sink to overlap the door opening a little and fit a full bath in a 5×6 space. However we like to leave the bathroom door open when it is not occupied it sucked that the door was flopping about in the narrow hallway.
I love the idea of using wasted space in a powder room for more practical storage, and yes to getting rid of the crazy slanted wall. Your WC w/o a sink during construction will be quite traditional and I think that’s what would count as a 1/4 bath? We have a similar basement WC and when I get around to adding a laundry sink there will be somewhere nearby to wash hands. I could also tap into the same waste stack again and add a small sink in the WC but it seems extravagant to have two sinks on either side of the same wall.
Dark and moody rooms are having a moment and I’m all in. I assume you also saw House of Brinson’s new powder room?
Hi Ryan, Welcome and thanks for stopping by…
See my comment about the out-swinging door below. I also tend to prefer the door to be ajar by at least a foot or so to allow for movement of air. The WC without a sink will be traditional indeed, but I will look forward to getting a sink back in there. I will also be using the opportunity to run a water line out the rear yard which has never had running water before. That will help with watering plants, etc…
I hate the slanted wall… I find that in old houses you would often find curved walls (we have one across from the stairs) but you rarely find slanted walls unless they are proportional to the room (usually on a 45 degree angle). Our slanted wall was a bit of a hack job, they chopped into the door casings on both the door to the parlor and the door to the dining room which was totally unnecessary. Repairing/replacing door casings in the hallway will be another of my tasks when I get to doing the finish work on the half-bath.
Dark and moody has been a favorite of mine for a long time, if you haven’t already, read my post from last June guest room they finished last year.
When I came across Cordelia on eBay, my plans for a black bathroom were already in play. I am really looking forward to the day when it is completed. I also managed to find a 1940s brass picture lamp which will be installed in the ceiling to light her up.
The idea of the door swinging out has crossed my mind. It would certainly make the tiny space feel larger when entering it. And… The basement door swings into the hall, so why not the bathroom door? My only pause on this would be that the tiny hallway is already a bottleneck between the front parlor and the dining room and kitchen. Having the door swing out could make that bottleneck even tighter…. But then I must consider that issue may really only arise a few times a year when we have parties (assuming we, as introverts, will make enough friends to have parties).
Having the door swing out into the hall would resolve where to put the light switch and would allow me to use 3/4 ply for the wall (with the addition of wainscoting) instead of a stud wall, thereby adding another couple of inches to the space.
Another option would be to do narrow double door with hinges on both sides. I had this in my apartment on W 57th Street several years back where the bathroom was directly off of the living room next to the sofa (it was a studio). I think I called them Doris Day doors. Que será, será!
As for code… A bathroom of that size would definitely not meet code if this were new construction, and I don’t have to comply with ADA (the house is so very non-ADA adaptable), I also won’t need a permit for plumbing as this is an already existing bathroom and we are “replacing” existing plumbing. The same cannot be said for when we do the master bath upstairs, that will entail permits, inspections, a revaluation of the property for tax purposes, etc. 🤪🤪🤪
Oh, that Cordelia gets me every time. She has no effs to give. I rather like that.
I am having a hard time picturing getting all my business done in a bathroom that size, but if there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you know what you’re doing. I can’t wait to follow along with all the bathroom projects.
Funny side note: Andy and I lived in a very run-down trailer for a time. The toilet rocked every time we sat down. I suppose if we had fallen through, we would have ended up by some wheels.
[…] Replace powder room floor. The toilet has been removed, and work is in progress […]
[…] wrote about my plans to halve the half bath in two phases last December, and after setting the goal of getting started in December, I only […]
[…] discussed elements of my vision including my plan to use part of the space in the current first floor half bath as a chase-way for running plumbing, electrical, and such, to the second and third floor last […]