Non separate toilet in master suite

[Dtail]

I'm just happy to have a house with 2 bathrooms !

When we travel, often hotel rooms have 1 bathroom, and our timing seems to be in sync.
It requires communication and cooperation

And usually quickness from the male.

 

[JRon]

Water closets were a big deal in larger homes with a lot of square footage dedicated to the master suite about 20 years ago. I haven’t been in a lot of large homes lately, but I don’t think many of them are adding water closets.

 

[pb4uski]

It depends on the size of the bathroom. I just measured our 3 full bathrooms. The master bathroom is 12 x 15 ft, and the toilet is in its own room with a door. The other 2, one with a walk-in shower only and the other with shower over tub, measure 5 x 10 ft. These 2 bathrooms have no partitions for the toilets as the area is simply too small.

+1 Our master bathroom is only 6 1/2' x 9' and is actually the biggest master bathroom that we have ever had... so as a practical matter no room for a separate WC.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Agree on the pocket door, but the ones I’ve seen have been in spaces that wouldn’t accommodate a pocket door. My mom actually designed and built two houses like this. I’ll have to ask her what on earth she was thinking! Maybe she just doesn’t like being closed in?

Pocket doors are freaking awesome. My parents designed/built their house in the early 70s and every single interior door was a pocket door. They reasoned that it allowed more "wall space" and every room was wheel chair accessible. They owned that house until it was sold in 2018 and as far as I know, there was NEVER an issue with them.

Our current home has three pocket doors are are also pretty awesome. The bathroom for the primary bedroom (apparently the preferred term these days) doesn't have a door but there is a WC that is big enough to not feel cramped if the door is closed (not one of the pocket doors...boo!)

 

[Amethyst]

Personally I dislike the rattling sound pocket doors make, but they do save space.

Our current home has several - all bathroom entrances.

 

[W2R]

Maybe a travel issue?

Sometimes we stay in upscale rented houses. In those houses they sometimes have a master suite with a toilet in the master suite. Most of the time, that toilet is in a separate room with a door. Sometimes, it is just separated by a six foot wall. Open on one side.

If you have seen this, you know what I am talking about. If you have not seen it, I am making no sense. If you have seen this, is this a new thing? Is this an upscale thing that only sophisticated people are used to?

I don't think this is a new/upscale thing; I think different people prefer different arrangements like this. So, this is one of the cool things about travel! You get to see different ways that people live and different ways they arrange things like bathroom facilities. In that sense I think it's an advantage to your travel accommodations instead of everything being more or less like it is at home.

On the side topic of pocket doors - - I grew up partly in a large house built in 1905 or so, and it had lots of pocket doors. I loved them! So did my mom, until the cords inside the wall rotted and separated due to the ravages of time. I guess that happened when they were about 60 years old. She had to have a guy come out who specialized in repairing old pocket doors and I gather it cost her an arm and a leg to replace those cords. After that she was not so enamored with pocket doors.

 

[Music Lover]

Pocket doors are freaking awesome. My parents designed/built their house in the early 70s and every single interior door was a pocket door. They reasoned that it allowed more "wall space" and every room was wheel chair accessible. They owned that house until it was sold in 2018 and as far as I know, there was NEVER an issue with them.

Our current home has three pocket doors are are also pretty awesome. The bathroom for the primary bedroom (apparently the preferred term these days) doesn't have a door but there is a WC that is big enough to not feel cramped if the door is closed (not one of the pocket doors...boo!)

One of the issues with pocket doors is that you lack the ability to sound insulate in the space where the door has to travel.

When I added the ensuite I used sound insulation plus a solid door rather than a hollow core door. The result is that a flushing toilet in the middle of the night doesn't wake the other person up.

 

[audreyh1]

So, this is one of the cool things about travel! You get to see different ways that people live and different ways they arrange things like bathroom facilities. In that sense I think it's an advantage to your travel accommodations instead of everything being more or less like it is at home.

Oh yeah, those shelf toilets in Austria were quite unforgettable!

I like the two button flush toilets prevalent in Europe. Small inner button less water used.

 

[W2R]

Oh yeah, those shelf toilets in Austria were quite unforgettable!

I like the two button flush toilets prevalent in Europe. Small inner button less water used.

The prior owner of my Dream Home here in New Orleans put in a two button toilet just like what you are describing. It's nice and does save water, although water is cheap and plentiful here so I am not sure which I prefer.

 

[pb4uski]

One of the issues with pocket doors is that you lack the ability to sound insulate in the space where the door has to travel.

When I added the ensuite I used sound insulation plus a solid door rather than a hollow core door. The result is that a flushing toilet in the middle of the night doesn't wake the other person up.

All of our pocket doors are six-panel solid pine.... no hollow core doors for us.

 

[tb001]

I too love pocket doors. Glad to know I’m not alone.

My biggest pet peeve is functional rooms with no doors at all, which many of the master suites seem to have embraced. Our current home has a vestibule that leads to the master bath and closet, so there’s at least visual separation. But I still hear DH’s 5:30 AM shower every morning. Our last home had an arched doorway and a two sided fireplace separating the bath and bedroom. In theory, great, but zero sound and light blocking. If one of us was up, the other was too for sure. It was pretty though.

Don’t get me started on the office with no doors. Completely useless to actually get work done. If we hadn’t moved I would have installed bath doors just to be able to close off the space.

 

[mountainox]

We have a separate toilet room within the master suite bathroom. We even enhanced it with a VERY noisy exhaust fan.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

OP here. Place I am staying in has a big master bedroom. Maybe 16 x 30. In addition there is a separate walk-in closet for hanging clothes. At one end of the room is the king sized bed. At the other end of room is a 6.5 foot tall wall. this wall is about 6 feet from the end wall. Ceilings are about 9 foot so there is a gap of about 2.5 feet on top of the wall. This wall does not extend to any exterior wall. If you go to the right of the wall, you have a shower. To the left is a toilet and sink. Person standing at sink would be touching person seated on toilet. No separate ventilation for shower or toilet.

Thank you for your comments. Looks like many of you like this setup. Most of you say it is quite common.

 

[Aerides]

OP here. Place I am staying in has a big master bedroom. Maybe 16 x 30. In addition there is a separate walk-in closet for hanging clothes. At one end of the room is the king sized bed. At the other end of room is a 6.5 foot tall wall. this wall is about 6 feet from the end wall. Ceilings are about 9 foot so there is a gap of about 2.5 feet on top of the wall. This wall does not extend to any exterior wall. If you go to the right of the wall, you have a shower. To the left is a toilet and sink. Person standing at sink would be touching person seated on toilet. No separate ventilation for shower or toilet.

Thank you for your comments. Looks like many of you like this setup. Most of you say it is quite common.

No no I don't think so. You seem to be describing a bathroom that is exposed inside the Master BEDROOM? How about you sketch it out, take a pic with your phone, and upload it (because now, inquiring minds really want to know). In your original post, were you referring to "toilet" to mean bathroom, or the actual bowl/unit.

If there's no completely closed wall/door between the bed and the bathroom that is odd.
An en suite master would be a bathroom of a door-closed complete wall from the bedroom, leading to a bathroom. 95% of our debate is whether, within the confines of the enclosed bathroom the actual toilet is a separate little water closet mini room (WC) vs. open within the bathroom.

If you are saying a drone could fly from the bed to the toilet unencumbered, then that's odd, and sounds like someone hacked a bedroom into a "suite" but not in a conventional way, in order to rent out.

 

[Amethyst]

I asked, earlier, if OP referred to a toilet sitting out in the bedroom, where anybody could see it, like a piece of postmodern sculpture. OP hasn't responded; wonder if they've bowed out.

No no I don't think so. You seem to be describing a bathroom that is exposed inside the Master BEDROOM? How about you sketch it out, take a pic with your phone, and upload it (because now, inquiring minds really want to know). In your original post, were you referring to "toilet" to mean bathroom, or the actual bowl/unit.

sounds like someone hacked a bedroom into a "suite" but not in a conventional w....ay, in order to rent out.

That's what it sounds like to me, too. "Yeah, we dropped in an "ensuite bath" so we could call it a suite on AirBnB." Would be interesting to know how they tied in the plumbing. Hope it wasn't a homemade job, as there could be unpleasant...consequences.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

OP here. Have not bowed out. I had described the room in post 38. I also have taken pictures but the "insert image" wants a URL. How do I add a picture? I will look through the FAQ's. Is there a simple answer?

Update - found out how to upload pics, but limit is 2 MP. Looking into how to reduce size of pic.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

OK. I will attempt to upload. No comments on the mess on floor, etc.

On the left of the wall is entrance to sink/toilet. Picture on the right shows tub and shower and second sink. To take the pictures, I am standing on either side of the bed. People lying on bed can watch TV. In the right picture, you can see an opening to a closet. Closet has a door. Door on the left side of the left picture exits to hallway.

Question is: Is that enough privacy for you?

 

[cathy63]

Question is: Is that enough privacy for you?

Nope!!! I also don't think this is a trend in new homes though. Your original post made it sound like you'd seen something similar before? I've not seen this anywhere in the U.S. -- not that I look at new homes all that often, but I have a large-ish extended family that relocates a lot and none of their "you won't believe this house we looked at ..." stories have ever described this type of thing.

I have seen a couple of hotels that put plain glass between the shower and bedroom with a curtain on the bedroom side to block the view if you want. I find that really weird, but not as weird as not having a door between the bed and toilet.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Cathy63 - Yes, I have seen this type of thing before. A friend's 6,000 plus square foot mansion had a massive bathroom off of the master bedroom. No door to the bathroom. Within the bathroom was a rainforest shower that was huge. And a toilet past the shower in its own little stall with NO door.

Have seen a few others.

 

[Aerides]

Wow no that is not a trend or a new thing. That is an odd thing that no one wants.

If that was the setup, and it wasn't clear from the airbnb reservation, I'd have left because that's not a suite. It's a merge of a bathroom and a bedroom and ew. For a single person travelling it's fine, but anyone else no thank you.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Cathy63 - Yes, I have seen this type of thing before. A friend's 6,000 plus square foot mansion had a massive bathroom off of the master bedroom. No door to the bathroom. Within the bathroom was a rainforest shower that was huge. And a toilet past the shower in its own little stall with NO door.

Have seen a few others.

Although not quite the same, our primary bathroom shower doesn't have a door/glass and this is the best thing since sliced bread. I hated trying to clean that glass and if you live somewhere with very hard water...well, ugh!!!

As you can see in the picture, it's not open for all to see. You basically walk around a corner to get in the shower.

 

[ut2sua]

OK. I will attempt to upload. No comments on the mess on floor, etc.

On the left of the wall is entrance to sink/toilet. Picture on the right shows tub and shower and second sink. To take the pictures, I am standing on either side of the bed. People lying on bed can watch TV. In the right picture, you can see an opening to a closet. Closet has a door. Door on the left side of the left picture exits to hallway.

Question is: Is that enough privacy for you?

This looks like an afterthought from the owner. The newer trend in the last decade of two (generally in the West coast) is to have a fully enclosed (with door) toilet area which is separated from the tub and sink area for the master bathroom. The master bathroom has gotten larger and larger over time too, and has been considered a significant feature of the house together with the kitchen.

 

[ut2sua]

Although not quite the same, our primary bathroom shower doesn't have a door/glass and this is the best thing since sliced bread. I hated trying to clean that glass and if you live somewhere with very hard water...well, ugh!!!

As you can see in the picture, it's not open for all to see. You basically walk around a corner to get in the shower.

This looks good to me. I had been dreaming about similar door-less shower design ever since I noted some nice designs during our vacation stays in AI resorts in the Cancun area. Our bathroom floorplan did not allow this type of design however. Our frameless glass enclosure looks nice, but the glass cleaning is a must as you mentioned.

 

[Amethyst]

It looks like an afterthought, done to make the place more rentable. There isn't any design merit to it.

And that floor needs to be picked up.

 

[jollystomper]

OK. I will attempt to upload. No comments on the mess on floor, etc.

On the left of the wall is entrance to sink/toilet. Picture on the right shows tub and shower and second sink. To take the pictures, I am standing on either side of the bed. People lying on bed can watch TV. In the right picture, you can see an opening to a closet. Closet has a door. Door on the left side of the left picture exits to hallway.

Question is: Is that enough privacy for you?

Not for me. That is a weird setup, in my view, for a master bedroom. Heck, it would be a weird setup for a hotel room.