Bathroom project - featuring SketchUp + D5 Render

[Participant]

Following my DIY ensuite replacement thread, I'm finally plucking up the courage / impetus / time / money to replace my main bathroom, which is well overdue a complete ripout being est. ~1990.

I wanted to design it properly this time, so to help me with the layout, I came across SketchUp and D5 after it was recommended by a YouTuber I follow called 'Workin with Wolkon'.

After a bit of a learning curve, I managed to create the room structure and give it an initial design.

The software is very easy to work with and it's so helpful being able to show the wife so we can kick ideas around and visualise the result.

This is obviously a top-down view so you can see everything, but the eye-level renders are really fantastic for a free realtime 3D modeller that integrates with SketchUp.

Feedback so far is to sacrifice vanity size for a larger shower, and make the shower glass opening a door so it keeps water in.

Not sure when I'm going to start building it, but I'm getting the itch!

 

[Participant]

I've tweaked the above design to increase the shower to 1200mm x 1200mm and reduce the vanity to 1000mm, as well as adding a full enclosure with a swinging door as wife said she doesn't want the water to be able to splash everywhere (the kids will be using this bathroom). Also moved the handset in the shower to the other wall so it's not pointing at the door.

Any thoughts on this layout, or things you'd do differently?

 

[964rs]

Toilet access looks a little tight from the overhead but otherwise i like it

 

[radderfire]

Nowhere near enough room around the toilet IMO.

 

[Participant]

Toilet access looks a little tight from the overhead but otherwise i like it

Nowhere near enough room around the toilet IMO.

Thanks both, I think that's a fair point. The distance from the curved edge of the toilet seat to that half wall for the bath taps (and loo roll niche) is 540mm; the distance from the window wall to the vanity is 760mm. Here's a snip from SketchUp if that gives a better idea:

The bath is a 1800 so that can be reduced, and the vanity can be reduced to 800. That should give enough room.

For reference this is the current bathroom...rather dated! I did cover the shower area with wall panels temporarily just so the shower was useable as it was leaking.

 

[sigma]

Toilet access looks a little tight from the overhead but otherwise i like it

You can push against the bath to squeeze out a tough one or hang on for life with a fast one

 

[Coran]

Design looks great except the toilet spacing people have commented on.

The shower sounds enormous at 1200x1200. How big is the current?

I have an 800 quadrant shower which feels small and a 900 quadrant which is great. I’m thinking 1200 quadrant plus the extra corner is excessive/potentially squeezing into the toilet area unnecessarily. I’d shrink it and pull the vanity back over.

 

[Participant]

Design looks great except the toilet spacing people have commented on.

The shower sounds enormous at 1200x1200. How big is the current?

I have an 800 quadrant shower which feels small and a 900 quadrant which is great. I’m thinking 1200 quadrant plus the extra corner is excessive/potentially squeezing into the toilet area unnecessarily. I’d shrink it and pull the vanity back over.

Thanks for the comments. Current quad tray is 900 x 900 and it feels very small to me.

I want as big a shower area as possible so I need to balance that against bog and vanity space.

I like to have plenty of space when I'm showering

 

[Mysterae_]

Nice designs! I'll have to try that D5 with Sketchup for my next project. I had thought about doing rough designs in Sketchup then importing them to Fusion for rendering.

Regarding your layout, have you considered putting the bath where the toilet and vanity unit are if it would fit? Then the toilet could could go to the opposite corner with the vanity unit next to it on the wall next to the door. Then most if not all the light from the window would spill on the floor - or you could install some low units for storage on the window wall.

 

[964rs]

A good way to test the toilet spacing is to put something big and heavy where that tap wall will be and see if you can live with the spacing

 

[OspreyO]

I hate shower doors another thing to fix and clean

 

[Participant]

Nice designs! I'll have to try that D5 with Sketchup for my next project. I had thought about doing rough designs in Sketchup then importing them to Fusion for rendering.

Regarding your layout, have you considered putting the bath where the toilet and vanity unit are if it would fit? Then the toilet could could go to the opposite corner with the vanity unit next to it on the wall next to the door. Then most if not all the light from the window would spill on the floor - or you could install some low units for storage on the window wall.

Yes I had considered it and it's a good idea in principle, but the bog on the opposite wall makes running the waste back to the stack much more complicated.

A good way to test the toilet spacing is to put something big and heavy where that tap wall will be and see if you can live with the spacing

Good idea, I'll try that.

I hate shower doors another thing to fix and clean

Agreed, and I wanted a walk in wet room style as per my first image, but it's something I've compromised on as my kids get water everywhere so we want it contained this time.

We have no door in the ensuite and I love it. I'll go for a swinging door instead of sliding. That should be lower maintenance.

 

[Participant]

Hi all, just finalising the shopping list for this one...currently £8k excluding towel radiator and grout .

I've been playing with the layout following the feedback about toilet space and reckon the attached might work. If I make the shower partition a tiled stud wall instead of a glass screen, this effectively gives me another useable wall onto which I could then fit a larger vanity. Like so:

This gives 600mm between the closed vanity and the bath (although the vanity wall would probably need to be a little deeper) and lots more room around the loo. How does this look? It might make the room feel more closed in using stud walls for the shower enclosure, but it's quite a big room so could probably get away with it.

 

[mickyflinn]

Hi all, just finalising the shopping list for this one...currently £8k excluding towel radiator and grout .

I've been playing with the layout following the feedback about toilet space and reckon the attached might work. If I make the shower partition a tiled stud wall instead of a glass screen, this effectively gives me another useable wall onto which I could then fit a larger vanity. Like so:

This gives 600mm between the closed vanity and the bath (although the vanity wall would probably need to be a little deeper) and lots more room around the loo. How does this look? It might make the room feel more closed in using stud walls for the shower enclosure, but it's quite a big room so could probably get away with it.

Looks good .

Personally would flip the bath 180 so the taps are by the wall then you could loose that small wall in front of the toilet giving extra room.

 

[Participant]

Looks good .

Personally would flip the bath 180 so the taps are by the wall then you could loose that small wall in front of the toilet giving extra room.

Thanks, that is a good idea but the other wall is external / blocks and I had my heart set on wall mounted taps.

If I did remove the tap wall (which would also serve as loo roll storage by the way), I'd probably keep the bath orientation the same but use deck-mounted taps instead.

This also means the taps are more accessible rather than against the brick wall.

 

[mickyflinn]

Thanks, that is a good idea but the other wall is external / blocks and I had my heart set on wall mounted taps.

If I did remove the tap wall (which would also serve as loo roll storage by the way), I'd probably keep the bath orientation the same but use deck-mounted taps instead.

This also means the taps are more accessible rather than against the brick wall.

Fare point or you could create a void off the wall allowing for wall mounted taps and have a TV set in it

 

[jpaul]

I've been playing with the layout following the feedback about toilet space and reckon the attached might work. If I make the shower partition a tiled stud wall instead of a glass screen, this effectively gives me another useable wall onto which I could then fit a larger vanity. Like so:

Isn't glass much cheaper, moreover you have more light in the shower area, and could even have translucent glass if you really need privacy on the doorside wall;
wearing glasses often find that vanity located behind a deep sink is too far away, too, so a separate closer pedistal vanity can be useful.

[ another story - Not sure I understand trend for trough type basins - takes a lot of water to fill them to wash your face also a large surround makes them more cumbersome if you
want to use a pumice stone on feet, say, as I did this morning]

 

[Participant]

Next version...changed the tap wall to be deck-mounted taps, giving more room in front of the toilet, changed the niche on the WC wall to be a full-length shelf instead, and changed the shower tiles to be a bit more of a feature.

There is now at least a 600mm gap everywhere that matters and I think this is quite a good use of the space.

@jpaul not sure what type of vanity I'm going for yet, might be a double basin. I just can't find a 1200mm double basin vanity that doesn't come with surface-mounted basins and I can't stand them.

 

[mickyflinn]

Next version...changed the tap wall to be deck-mounted taps, giving more room in front of the toilet, changed the niche on the WC wall to be a full-length shelf instead, and changed the shower tiles to be a bit more of a feature.

There is now at least a 600mm gap everywhere that matters and I think this is quite a good use of the space.

@jpaul not sure what type of vanity I'm going for yet, might be a double basin. I just can't find a 1200mm double basin vanity that doesn't come with surface-mounted basins and I can't stand them.

Looks good as well but where is the radiator/towel rail going as that small rail won't put out enough heat if it's is such.

Unless it's along the entrance wall by the door

 

[jpaul]

you'll be spending a lot of space across the full width of toilet wall,
that could have been used by basin, if the basin will not be doubled in new location,
increasing area where you can stand and towel off.

semi- recessed basins, look great to me and folks also had a mixer tap where you can rotate head away from center of basin