Kitchen/Bathroom design questions

PCC · February 01, 2010, 02:12:24 PM

Quote from: belfert on February 01, 2010, 10:01:28 AM
A 32" stall is just small. I stood in one at teh sotre over the weekend.

My daughter once tried testing a commode in a plumbing store. I was able to stop her, before she fully tested it !! LOL (She was only 2 years old!!)

TomC · February 01, 2010, 02:57:13 PM

I also have about 97" to play with interior wise. On my transit, because of the rear door, I built the bathroom on the right side around the rear door so that there is direct access into the bathroom from the outside-nice when you're sandy or muddy, or just plainly outside and want to use the bathroom and not get cleaned up. My kitchen is on the left side and is 24" wide, continuing back to the refer, washer dryer, and hanging closet-all still 24 inches wide. Then a 24" wide hallway (it is wide enough-since it is unused space-I'm 6'3" and 310lbs-and it is enough room). My bathroom is 47" wide and 50" long with a 36" x 36" shower stall behind with 10" wide linen closet against the wall. Besides the exterior entrance, I have an entrance from the hallway to the bathroom, and another door directly from the hallway to the shower stall. We like this arrangement so much, we are repeating it on the truck, sans the exterior door and sans the shower door.
Don't be afraid to offset your toilet from your black tank. My black tank runs down the center of the bus and the toilet is offset from the tank by 3ft. Have NEVER had a problem with any backup, and with 45 gal capacity, can easily go a week before dumping (with the two of us). Good Luck, TomC

belfert · February 01, 2010, 04:04:33 PM

I think I'm going to look at bus pictures here and on Ebay to see how others did things. I may also look at pictures of older motorhomes without slides on Ebay for ideas.

I do have an issue of not being able to offset the center aisle too much. I already have a 30" wide aisle in the back bunk room that is centered. I think I can link a slightly off center aisle to the centered aisle without too much issue.

Jerry32 · February 01, 2010, 04:35:34 PM

I built the side isle and like it very much as you have pass thru with someone using the batha area. Jerry

niles500 · February 02, 2010, 01:05:39 AM

Brian - Could you post a rough floor plan of your bus as it now exists - I have many solutions but am confused as to which one to give you - please show your holding tank locations also - thanks

Ace · February 02, 2010, 11:15:19 AM

Brian I made our bath with a center door at the front and a side door at the rear! Gives you a walk thru and privacy in the Br without closing the Br off. I used a large neo-angle shower and you walk around it to get to Br door. The toilet and vanity is on the opposite side of the shower which is on the drivers side! This also gives you plenty of dressing area after showering! I used a pocket door at front and swing door at rear to Br that either closes off Br which we hardly use or the closet next to shower! Again, its sort of a center and side walk thru configuration! Your ideas are endless regardless of your tank placement! Just means extra plumbing and planning!

belfert · February 02, 2010, 12:05:39 PM

Quote from: niles500 on February 02, 2010, 01:05:39 AM
Brian - Could you post a rough floor plan of your bus as it now exists - I have many solutions but am confused as to which one to give you - please show your holding tank locations also - thanks

It will probably take me a few days to get something drawn up and then figure out how to make it small enough to post.

belfert · February 02, 2010, 02:52:01 PM

I spent some time looking at floor plans at pplmotorhomes.com. Boy, I have to wonder if I am making my bathroom too large after looking at a lot of the floor plans there. I already reduced the size of my bathroom once because it was way too big the first time around. Some of the bathrooms on these floor plans do seem almost claustrophobic, but I guess it leaves room for the rest of the motorhome to be larger.

Now, a good reason to build your own bus conversion is to be able to build a larger bathroom if one wants to.

TomC · February 03, 2010, 07:57:10 AM

The total time you spend in the bathroom is less then an hour a day. Make it big enough that you're not banging into all sorts of stuff, you have enough space at the toilet to comfortably do paper work, and not to make it so big as to be able to dance in it (unless that's what you want!?). With the separate shower stall in an enclosed bath, two can use the bathroom at once. I personally don't like the walk through since it blocks off the back of the bus while someone is using it. But-that's why we're building our own. Good Luck, TomC

belfert · February 03, 2010, 09:02:39 AM

Even with 9 people on the bus we've gotten by so far with a regular bathroom with toilet, shower, and sink all in the same room. I'm inclined to leave it that way in large part because I want the toilet to drop straight into the tank.

I am still doing some creative thinking and am playing around with designs that include possibly placing the toilet diagonally into the corner.

gus · February 03, 2010, 02:19:29 PM

You don't have to place a toilet directly over the tank. This is a myth.

My commode is on the opposite side of the bus from the tank (one tank only). The sewer pipe passes forward into the next bay, then across that bay back into the rearward bay and then into the tank!! It has very little slope anywhere!! And there are two 90* Ls in the line??

This toilet sewer pipe is about 12' long and is also connected to the kitchen sink and shower!!

According to everything I've read on the forums this won't work, but it does, even on an opposite slanted parking spot??

This thing defies all common sense. It was on the bus when I bought it but works fine.

The only thing I can figure that makes it work is that we always use plenty of water to flush.

Long may even be better because you aren't exposed to the whole black tank every time the toilet flapper opens. Since my sewer pipe goes into the bottom of my tank the only surface area my toilet sees is whatever is in the drain pipe.

belfert · February 03, 2010, 03:10:29 PM

I guess I don't want to use lots of water to flush. I have enough problems with my tank filling up as it is.

I know we shouldn't emulate everything RV makers do, but I figure they have good reasons to put the toilet over or very close to the tank. For the moment I am going to stick with the toilet over or near the tank unless I really can't come up with a good design that way. I looked at macerating or air toilets, but they seem a bit expensive for my budget.

Sunchaser Art · February 03, 2010, 10:44:17 PM

When we were building our Eagle, I had a similar problem. . .I was about two feet too far behind the tank. After much head scratching, I finally went with the electric macerator toilet. It's a buck or two, but it helped the design flow so it was worth it. Take a look at the attached website:
http://www.webcove.com/eagle/log/2008-04-08.htm

The marine toilet is supposed to be good for a 20' horizontal run with an 8' lift if need be, so my two foot run to the wall isn't a problem. Not sure if that's what you're looking for in a design, but I guess any idea is okay for head scratching.

Good luck,

Art
www.webcove.com/eagle

kyle4501 · February 04, 2010, 01:03:32 PM

With a walk thru bathroom, you severely limit access past the bathroom when it is occupied.

Not so good with 9 on board.

If I were planing for 9 people, I'd split the bathroom - a toilet & sink in one room & the shower/ dressing area in a separate room. This way one doesn't have to 'hold it' if someone is taking a shower.
With a side aisle, the shower can be against the outside wall & the space towards the center can be the dressing area.
Maybe the toilet can also be against the outside wall & the sink squeezed in where it fits best.

I've seen old pictures of sinks that fold down from the wall over the toilet - that'd save some space!

With the toilet dropping straight into the black tank, you can reduce water usage to less than a pint per flush.
Some use a trash can with a pedal operated lid to dispose of the paper instead of putting it in the black tank. The advantages are numerous, including less trouble with buildup in the tank, less water needed per flush since you don't have to rinse the paper down, less problems with the toilet valve since there is no paper to stick in the seal. . . .

belfert · February 04, 2010, 02:05:05 PM

The shower doesn't get used too often because of limited water resources. The bus only has 105 gallons of fresh water and 105 gallons of holding tank. While at an event we try to use the portapotties provided to reduce the tank load.

I haven't given up completely on the idea of a seperate toilet room, but not entirely sure I can make it work. If I could move the toilet 18 to 24 inches over it would be fine.