A Question about an en suite and a toilet...

johnfás

Hey, just wondered if there were any budding plumbers here who might be able to give an idea on this.

Below is a very very basic sktech of our master bedroom (upstairs on a detached house) and accompanying en suite which was retrofitted into a 40 year old house about 25 years ago and has been nothing but trouble since. Dimensions are not precise but indicative.

Anyway, it is in a sorry state now so we are considering redoing it. One problem is that the shower is rather small and as you can see from that end of the en suite it would be difficult to make it much bigger, particularly as the area shaded in grey beside it is raised to the same height as the shower tray. (I can upload pictures too if that is helpful).

Going just by the dimensions of the room we think it would be better to swap it all about, put the shower down where the toilet is giving it much more space - you could take the whole width then and put the toilet up the other end.

My real question is about piping to the toilet - to do this really preliminary idea would you be able to do it at all? Or would it require one of those saniflo things and how much do they cost etc? Just really how feasible do people think it is and is it going to cost a complete arm and a leg?

Micky Dolenz

run the toilet pipe above the floor and box it in after. this would mean you either raise the shower tray so it clears pipe or fit a shower tray that doesn't take up all that side of room.

if you have the run of the joists this won't be necessary.

iremankk

Yep, they guys have it bang on
if your joists run towards the external wall then you just run the toilet waste pipe between the joists, everything else should fall into place without much bother.
have you considered going wet room with that odd shaped shower void?
might be worth looking at if the joists conspire against you?

Joey the lips

Where do you live. I might be able to have a look for you, Its never any harm quoting and its the business I am in

Dixy

Wetroom!

Do away with the shower tray and have a wet room done with a floor gully and showering space any size you want.

Joey the lips

Dixy wrote: »

Wetroom!

Do away with the shower tray and have a wet room done with a floor gully and showering space any size you want.

Good idea. But it still needs to be checked if possible. In my expeience wet rooms are not a good thing upstairs. To much movement in the floor. I would only recthem on concrete floors, In upstairs houses I use level access trays(Not the desabled one's)

If your considering a wet room the Evo thanking system is about the best kit on the market.

johnfás

Do the joists generally run the same way on all floors?

I have checked the attic, which is obviously the floor above and there they run the opposite way to what we would want - that is they run from top to bottom on my diagram above.

Does that mean on the floor below that they are likely to run as per the attic or in the opposite direction?

Joey the lips

johnfás wrote: »

Do the joists generally run the same way on all floors?

I have checked the attic, which is obviously the floor above and there they run the opposite way to what we would want - that is they run from top to bottom on my diagram above.

Does that mean on the floor below that they are likely to run as per the attic or in the opposite direction?

Has no bearing john - Sorry. There is a couple of ways to tell. One is if the floor is not aleady tiled follow thescrew marks from the wood. Go down stairs and look up and see if you can follow the direction from a leak that might have occured.

johnfás

Floor is already tiled in the en suite as it currently exists which is a problem in working that one out.

I have tried looking in behind the hot water tank under the hot press as there is a little hole down there where the pipes go and there does seem to be a joist in under there running the opposite way to what we would like, but it is very tricky to see - there also appears to be one the other way but that would probably make sense as it is about at the point of the wall to the main bathroom.

If they do run the opposite way, is it structurally sound for a plumber to drill through and run the toilet pipe the opposite way to the joists or does it become a non runner at this stage?

I'll photograph the leak downstairs this evening.

Joey the lips

johnfás wrote: »

Floor is already tiled in the en suite as it currently exists which is a problem in working that one out.

I have tried looking in behind the hot water tank under the hot press as there is a little hole down there where the pipes go and there does seem to be a joist in under there running the opposite way to what we would like, but it is very tricky to see - there also appears to be one the other way but that would probably make sense as it is about at the point of the wall to the main bathroom.

If they do run the opposite way, is it structurally sound for a plumber to drill through and run the toilet pipe the opposite way to the joists or does it become a non runner at this stage?

I'll photograph the leak downstairs this evening.

Hi John

No if the joist runs the other way a plumber cannot drill through the wood. Its a 4" pipe than need s to be drilled. The sani flow is the only option then. Take as many pictures as you can

Picture of the bathroom

Pictures outside the house looking at the bathroom.( You can see the soil pipe)

You get the jist

For your info a sani flow cost between 300 - 800. The more you need to attach the more it costs.

johnfás

Thanks for all your help guys. Here are some photos as suggested. I will try and shove a camera down behind the hot water tank later on to see what comes out but the camera I was taking these one is too big to do that.

1. A view of the ceiling below the en suite which reflects the same direction as the diagram above.


2. A zoomed in version of the same.


3. A view of the pipes outside - the window is directly above the toilet as outlined on the diagam above.


4. More pipes outside.


5. More pipes outside.


6. More pipes outside.


7. View one direction in the en suite - this is where our initial proposal to put the shower is.


8. View the other direction - we are initially proposing to move the toilet down here.

johnfás

If I were to left the tiles behind the sink, that would then presumably answer my question?

johnfás

They run left to right in the hot press but I managed to lift a corner of the carpet in the bedroom and they run top to bottom in there.

Joey the lips

Hi John,

I will give you my first opinion based on the photo's and then we can take it from there. I am open for suggestion but this is based on what I do.

1. A wet room is not a good idea.

2. You can change the room around but you will regret it.

a. The shower will not be much bigger by the looks
b. Your shower will be blocking the window
c. The window will make the shower very cold
d. The window will be drenched every time you have a shower

3. A sani slim will be the best answer and you will only need to do the toilet - If you change it

I still can not tell what way the joist are going sorry.

Where do you live - Just out of curiosity no need for your exact address

if you supply as many dimensions as possible in cm i will give you better options. thanks