Kitchen/Bathroom design questions

[belfert]

My side aisle design isn't working out so hot.  By the time I install a kitchen it will be hard to move around and get to the side aisle to walk to the rear.  I want to go to a center aisle design.  I have almost exactly 96" inside width to play with.  My thoughts are to install cabinets and a countertop that will project out about 22" from one side.  My aisle will be at least 30" wide which leaves me with 44" for a bathroom.  This is almost too wide, but it might mean I can place the toilet perpendicular to the outside wall to save space.

My main issue is placement of the toilet.  I only have about 30" I can move the toilet back and forth to keep it over the black tank.  I am going to have to keep tweaking to see if I can make it work.  I don't want to have a shower that dumps right into the hallway as I travel with friends and we aren't quite that friendly.

Any thoughts on if I am heading in the right direction with my design thoughts?

[cody]

Just as a thought, the design I went with is a center isle with a 22 inch array of cabinets on the curb side, the road side has the bathroom and has an inside dimension of 37 inches by 7 ft, at the bedroom end I put a 36 inch tub/shower module from Bontragers, the tub was 25 bucks (be careful of which end drain a person wants), the shower surround was 35, and I opted for a fold up shower seat, that cost 20 bucks, all at bontragers, the tub/shower takes up 24 inches of the 7 ft allowable, at the other end of the bathroom I placed the toilet, with the back to the bathroom/kitchen partition wall (facing the shower), in the middle of the bathroom on the outside wall I put a vanity, the design allows for the door to be in the center, immediately to the right is the toilet, to the left is the shower and straight ahead is the sink and mirror.  The drawback is the tub drain comes into the wheelwell and has a 90 degree fitting directly below the floor, the sink drains into the same line and goes thru a hole cut into the back compartment to the tanks, the toilet is just far enough forward so the drop is into a 30 degree bend and short straight line and then another 30 degree bend and straight into the black tank.  The rough measurements I used were behind the drivers seat, 10 ft of living room, then 8 ft of kitchen, then 7 ft of bathroom, then 9 ft of bedroom.  Our iggle is a 96 inch wide bus and we have roughly 92 inches to play with inside.

[Ericbsc]

I looked at a side isle. Great for privacy, but a lot of unusable space for me. I went with an off set center isle. Kit. cabinets on one side with private toilet area behind it with the shower on the other side. A little more plumbing but I like it.

[robertglines1]

the walk tru bath has worked good for us with pocket doors on each end...Our next coach is going with a butt hutt but we are 102 wide and 45 ft long(just starting it)we use showers with radius doors ,makes location easier..good luck!

[belfert]

The walk though bath works good for a family or a couple.  My last few trips I have had nine friends all on the bus at once.  I'm not sure if it would work with that many people who aren't family.

I have lots of great ideas if I could put the toilet anywhere I wanted.  Unfortunately, I can only put the tanks in one bay on the curb side.  That bay is closer to the front of the bus.  The rest of the area is over the fuel tank and the rear axles.

I'm thinking if I made the bathroom 42" or so wide I could put in a 42" shower base.

[James77MCI8]

Have you given thought to making the base cabinets 20" wide instead of 22" The extra 2 " makes a big difference.

[belfert]

Have you given thought to making the base cabinets 20" wide instead of 22" The extra 2 " makes a big difference.

I think the cabinets will actually be 21" wide.  The countertop will be 22".  I can get laminate postformed countertops in that size.  I want to spend the money for solid surface I can get basically any size I want.

Wouldn't a 30" aisle be plenty?  Of course, it could be narrow during cooking.  I don't expect the kitchen will get used much.  It may not even have a cooktop, but just a microwave.  Everything gets cooked outside.

[Christyhicks]

If you do a walk-through bathroom, the only thing you need to worry about is your doorways, and with pocket doors or swing doors that stay open except when needed to be closed, you can get by with 24" wide openings.  On BigBus, I was going to do 18" deep cabinets on the curb side, with the lav in the center, and storage on either side, driver's side would have a longer shower protruding closer to the center of the bus, with the toilet next to and basically parallel with the shower.  The back of the toilet was against the outside wall, with the front slightly turned toward the shower, like they did in TempBus.  By turning the toilet just slightly, I would have had the corner space behind it for more openess, yet I would have plenty of room to step into the shower. 

This is slightly different than the setup in TempBus, which had the lav next to the toilet on driver's side, and the shower and storage across from it curb side.  Because the shower was small and basically parallel with the curb, we had an issue with head room for Larry, who is 6'1".  It wasn't a big issue, but I knew I wanted a taller space in BigBus. One advantage of putting the lav on one wall and shower/toilet on the other, with the aisle in the center, is that when you bend over to wash your face or shave, you're not slamming your rear end into anything.  I also wanted a larger shower, and we didn't do a roof raise, so the design was going to allow Larry to be standing at the tallest portion of the bus when showering.

I don't see where a walk-through bathroom has any more limitations when people stay with you than a side aisle.  Sure, when someone is actually USING the bathroom, you would be limited from exiting the rear bedroom, but with a little communication, I don't see that being a big issue.  A walk-through bathroom just gives you SO much more usable space inside the bathroom as the hallway is actually also bathroom space.  With a side aisle, the hallway is only a hallway, not usuable for anything else.. . .IMHO.  Christy Hicks

[Lin]

I have wondered if a modified walk-through bath would work.  The problem with a side aisle is that the aisle is dedicated space.  In a walk-through bathroom, the aisle doubles as bathroom space.  My thought was to have the walk-through set up with the toilet and sink on one side and the shower and draws/cabinets/closet/washer on the other, but have some sort of door arrangement, maybe sliding or french, that could be used to isolate that toilet/sink area as a separate room if the use required it.

[Christyhicks]

Not that my ideas count so much more anymore, since we bought "The Beav", but what I was planning was the stool and shower compartment would have a door that either closed off that compartment or swung across the hallway to meet the cabinet on the other side, effectively giving you two options. . . the entire bathroom to yourself, or privacy in the stool area. . .the other door by the bedroom would swing across and meet the wall also, so if you were using the entire bathroom, you kept the privacy and the heat and humidity in the bathroom, not in the bedroom.  Christy

[luvrbus]

We  have had both the side isle and walk through I like the side isle better but the wife likes the walk through.
One good thing about a side isle you can have more cabinet space and a walk inn closet on the back side.
FWIW I know if I ever built another she would have a walk through looks more open to her and that is all it does looks more open draw it out you don't gain anymore space a walkway is a walkway either on the side or the middle.


good luck

[belfert]

With 8 bunks in the rear and everyone's gear back there, there is a lot of traffic back and forth.  There is also the issue of the toilet getting used a lot with 9 folks on board.  A walk through may not work.

I still have a lot of thinking to do on the design and a walk through might still be doable.  My original thought was a seperate compartment for the toilet, but it looks like location of the tanks may not make that feasible.

[belfert]

My rear bedroom has eight bunks and is close to 14 feet in total length.  For me, a side aisle doesn't really add any room for anything extra compared to a bus with a smaller rear bedroom.

[Tom Y]

Brian, why not put the shower and crapper in one room? Do you really need a 42" shower? I put a 32 or 36" in mine and it seems big to me.  Tom Y

[belfert]

Brian, why not put the shower and crapper in one room? Do you really need a 42" shower? I put a 32 or 36" in mine and it seems big to me.  Tom Y

36" would probably be the ideal size, but in order to turn the toilet 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the side wall I need about 40 to 42" to make the toilet comfortable.

I figured why not do a 42" shower for plenty of room then.  The six inches I save by going with 36" is not going to be usable for much of anything.  A 32" stall is just small.  I stood in one at the store over the weekend.

Fixed my horrible typing