Hello dear forum community,
we are almost finished with the planning of our project, but there is one issue that has concerned us from the start and that we haven’t been able to solve given the current floor plan layout.
I’ll try to keep it brief: We definitely want a built-in shower without a door in the ground floor bathroom (it doesn’t have to be fully walled up to the ceiling; it can also be half-open with, for example, glass extending up to the ceiling). Because of strict building regulations—or rather, regulations that are not favorable for our project—we get very little living space in the attic, so we had to give up on having the bedroom there. Therefore, the bedroom, dressing room, and master bathroom are all on the ground floor. Due to the somewhat limited square footage, we are unable to fit the shower in the bathroom the way we would like. Do you perhaps have any tips or ideas on how we could plan the shower a bit larger or longer within this floor plan so that we wouldn’t need a door for the shower? I was told that a doorless shower only makes sense from about 1.60m (5 ft 3 in) in length.
I’m deliberately not going into further detailed information about the project, the plot, etc., since this concerns only the bathroom. The bathroom is 12.66 m2 (136 sq ft), the dressing room is 9.09 m2 (98 sq ft), and the master bedroom is 15.31 m2 (165 sq ft).
For completeness, here are all three floors.
Thanks in advance for all helpful suggestions.
we are almost finished with the planning of our project, but there is one issue that has concerned us from the start and that we haven’t been able to solve given the current floor plan layout.
I’ll try to keep it brief: We definitely want a built-in shower without a door in the ground floor bathroom (it doesn’t have to be fully walled up to the ceiling; it can also be half-open with, for example, glass extending up to the ceiling). Because of strict building regulations—or rather, regulations that are not favorable for our project—we get very little living space in the attic, so we had to give up on having the bedroom there. Therefore, the bedroom, dressing room, and master bathroom are all on the ground floor. Due to the somewhat limited square footage, we are unable to fit the shower in the bathroom the way we would like. Do you perhaps have any tips or ideas on how we could plan the shower a bit larger or longer within this floor plan so that we wouldn’t need a door for the shower? I was told that a doorless shower only makes sense from about 1.60m (5 ft 3 in) in length.
I’m deliberately not going into further detailed information about the project, the plot, etc., since this concerns only the bathroom. The bathroom is 12.66 m2 (136 sq ft), the dressing room is 9.09 m2 (98 sq ft), and the master bedroom is 15.31 m2 (165 sq ft).
For completeness, here are all three floors.
Thanks in advance for all helpful suggestions.
464!RDO schrieb:
I have lived in my parents' house for three quarters of my life and I know very well that I don’t think in terms of an “apartment.” As a child! You are still quite young... three quarters of your life...
Well then, good luck and enjoy gardening from the sofa.
Wow, that sounds exhausting....
It's great that you can understand how much I know about maintaining a garden. My parents had and still have an 1,800 m² (about 19,375 sq ft) sloped property—not just a simple, easy-to-mow lawn. And I can tell you, the parents rarely took care of the gardening themselves. For this reason, we already have two sons who have to do the same, of course for appropriate compensation—that’s how it was for us as well. And yes: it was fun and it still is fun for me today. For years, I had to mow and maintain the grass (our building plot) every 4 weeks to keep the neighbors happy. And that was definitely more exhausting than the regular gardening back then.
Still, I assure you, I will stand by my arguments.
And now I’m waiting for one last cheeky comment from you, you kind person.
It's great that you can understand how much I know about maintaining a garden. My parents had and still have an 1,800 m² (about 19,375 sq ft) sloped property—not just a simple, easy-to-mow lawn. And I can tell you, the parents rarely took care of the gardening themselves. For this reason, we already have two sons who have to do the same, of course for appropriate compensation—that’s how it was for us as well. And yes: it was fun and it still is fun for me today. For years, I had to mow and maintain the grass (our building plot) every 4 weeks to keep the neighbors happy. And that was definitely more exhausting than the regular gardening back then.
Still, I assure you, I will stand by my arguments.
And now I’m waiting for one last cheeky comment from you, you kind person.
464!RDO schrieb:
And now I’m waiting for one last cheeky word from you, kind person I’ll chime in: Yvonne is right. That storage block in the middle immediately caught my eye as an eyesore as well.
Your lounge area is a busy thoroughfare. Everyone heading to the fridge will disturb that space. And with kids and their friends, that happens all the time. Additionally, carrying heavy grocery bags from the car to the pantry/fridge will feel like a lifetime punishment.
What’s the reason for the Z-shaped wall offset in the house? Is it a personal preference? Did you see it and want it like that? Does it have something to do with ceiling heights, or is it just expensive unnecessary complexity from your general contractor’s outdated design templates?
Well, you’re in the final stage of planning and this was only about the bathroom. I think @Würfel*’s suggestion is very good if the windows can still be moved.
Well. The route from the car to the ground floor through the stairwell is not ideal either way. However, I have to say that the 4 meters (13 feet) around the corner don’t really matter. We previously had a second door from the hallway into the storage room, but discarded that again. Using the argument about grocery bags to justify the location of the storage room is ridiculous. The problem is the sloping site and the fact that the main living area is not in the basement level at street height. So, the few extra meters of detour don’t really make a difference.
Please plan it properly so I have something to argue with. I still don’t understand how, in an open-plan layout with just one room, people heading to the kitchen area are not supposed to be “disturbed.” If I’m sitting on the couch at the other end of the room, looking toward the open kitchen, it’s impossible not to have eye contact. Sure, they don’t have to walk past me, that’s an argument. But let’s just agree that for us, this is not an issue. Would you then be willing to put this matter aside and get back to the main topic?
Regarding the wall offset: Wow... keep it up! The answers to your questions: Yes! No! Yes! No. So, to briefly summarize: We’ve spent a year looking for quotes and floor plans. Five out of eight builders completely ignored the building regulations for the plot, while the others produced more or less absolute nonsense. This plan was developed based on our previous drafts from other companies, our own ideas, the collaboration with our architect, and—unfortunately the most significant factor—the building regulations. Because the building is located in the second row, we are extremely limited in terms of the house height, number of floors, and eaves height. For that reason, a setback was used and the house was shifted, which we really like, since despite the mandatory pitched roof and eaves height, we could make the house more interesting.
If this offset in the house placement is, considering your possibly somewhat limited perspective, just expensive nonsense—nonsense in the literal sense (worthless, ridiculous, useless)—then I’ll gladly take that as unfounded criticism. This wasn’t expensive at all since our first offer was for a “standard house” design by the architect who impartially tried to realize our wishes, and the price was exactly the same for equal living space. This might also be because the general contractor is family, so we received very honest figures here.
By the way, although we are already quite far along, there is still room for many changes, although I don’t see any necessity for them. As mentioned, the bathroom was the point of discussion; everything else (at least from our perspective) is not relevant. Therefore, my request here: If anyone has another sensible suggestion for the bathroom layout—also involving changes to the bedroom/walk-in closet—I’d be happy to hear it. Everything else can now be set aside and not further discussed.
Please plan it properly so I have something to argue with. I still don’t understand how, in an open-plan layout with just one room, people heading to the kitchen area are not supposed to be “disturbed.” If I’m sitting on the couch at the other end of the room, looking toward the open kitchen, it’s impossible not to have eye contact. Sure, they don’t have to walk past me, that’s an argument. But let’s just agree that for us, this is not an issue. Would you then be willing to put this matter aside and get back to the main topic?
Regarding the wall offset: Wow... keep it up! The answers to your questions: Yes! No! Yes! No. So, to briefly summarize: We’ve spent a year looking for quotes and floor plans. Five out of eight builders completely ignored the building regulations for the plot, while the others produced more or less absolute nonsense. This plan was developed based on our previous drafts from other companies, our own ideas, the collaboration with our architect, and—unfortunately the most significant factor—the building regulations. Because the building is located in the second row, we are extremely limited in terms of the house height, number of floors, and eaves height. For that reason, a setback was used and the house was shifted, which we really like, since despite the mandatory pitched roof and eaves height, we could make the house more interesting.
If this offset in the house placement is, considering your possibly somewhat limited perspective, just expensive nonsense—nonsense in the literal sense (worthless, ridiculous, useless)—then I’ll gladly take that as unfounded criticism. This wasn’t expensive at all since our first offer was for a “standard house” design by the architect who impartially tried to realize our wishes, and the price was exactly the same for equal living space. This might also be because the general contractor is family, so we received very honest figures here.
By the way, although we are already quite far along, there is still room for many changes, although I don’t see any necessity for them. As mentioned, the bathroom was the point of discussion; everything else (at least from our perspective) is not relevant. Therefore, my request here: If anyone has another sensible suggestion for the bathroom layout—also involving changes to the bedroom/walk-in closet—I’d be happy to hear it. Everything else can now be set aside and not further discussed.
464!RDO schrieb:
Well. The route from the car to the ground floor through the staircase isn’t ideal anyway. However, I have to say that the 4 meters (13 feet) around the corner don’t really matter. We previously had a second door from the hallway to the storage room but discarded it again. Blaming the location of the storage room on the grocery bag argument is ridiculous. The issue is the sloped plot and the fact that the main living area is not in the basement at street level. So those few extra meters of detour don’t make a difference. The length of the route wasn’t just about the large storage space, but mentioned in general.
464!RDO schrieb:
Plan it properly so that I have something to argue with. I would if you were a bit nicer. Anyone who has read here for a while knows that I actually do. But if I keep reading...
464!RDO schrieb:
If this offset of the house is still just expensive nonsense in view of your possibly somewhat limited horizon... ...I’m done.
I’d rather not throw the same mud back. Considering this statement:
464!RDO schrieb:
I still don’t understand how in an open-plan room people are not supposed to be “disturbed” when they want to go into the kitchen area. If I’m sitting on the couch at the other end of the room, looking into the open kitchen, I can’t avoid eye contact either. Sure, they don’t have to walk past me, that’s a point. ...one has to wonder whose horizon is really limited.
464!RDO schrieb:
Regarding the wall offset: Wow... keep it up! The answers to your questions: Yes! No! Yes! No. That would have been enough.
464!RDO schrieb:
Because the building is located in the second row, we are extremely limited by the building height, number of floors, and eaves height. For this reason, a setback was used and the house was offset, which we really like because despite the requirement for a pitched roof and the eaves height, we were able to make the house more interesting. What the heights have to do with the setback is not clear at first. But if you like it and the planner on site has the terrain in mind, that’s good.
Overall, not a bad design. Our free suggestions are not meant to spoil your concept but to point out weak spots or even offer tips for improvement. What you make of it is your decision.
kaho674 schrieb:
Overall, not a bad design. Our free suggestions are not meant to spoil your plan but to highlight weak points or even offer tips for improvement. What you do with them is your decision.I am very grateful for this, even if, due to the way I expressed myself, it might not have come across clearly, for which I apologize. Perhaps it was also not intended by you in the way I perceived it (regarding the shape of the house).
I have tried to implement the suggestions. The software I used might not be ideal, but I did my best. The storage room was replaced by more cabinets in the kitchen. The bathroom is slightly larger and less awkwardly shaped. I added direct access to the kitchen (and I would also install glass doors here and to the living room). With that, all the points of criticism would be addressed. I would appreciate your feedback.
We would still like direct access to the bathroom from the bedroom/dressing room. Do you think it makes sense to install a sliding door? I have drawn it in. Provided it can be locked from both sides.
And yes: Now it would be time to change the thread topic, as I also see the bathroom issue within the overall ground floor concept. I am somewhat open to criticism as well
Similar topics