Switching bath and bed areas.

[reece1107]

I'm wondering how hard it would be to remove the rear bath and switch it to the middle area where the two beds are. I would like to do this for many reasons. First, I'm 6'3" and the middle beds are not long enough, I need more than one inch of wiggle space. Two, the bath is in rotton condition. Stains everywhere, cracks and no offense but poor design in my opinion. And again I don't want to have to crouch to take a shower. Three, by switching them I can get a queen size bed in where the bath is now. Four, I believe I can get a tall enough shower by moving it forward. The only problems I'm seeing are the drains for the shower and toilet. I would like to move the toilet about 6 feet forward just in back of the wheel wells. I would like to do the same with the shower, just behind the wheel well, keeping them both on the same sides that they are on right now. I can put the toilet on a raised platform if I need to, to get the drop for the drainline. The shower might not be so easy. I have not seen what is under my plywood floor, which brings up my questions. Is it possible to run the drain lines below this floor, or are there joists or any framing in the way? Will it be difficult to attach the toilet drain line into the existing spot where the toilet is now? I think everything else will be ok, I can rework the duct and water lines easily, it's just these two drain lines. Thanks for your help!

[markdoane]

First, regarding the toilet. It needs to sit directly on top of the tank. You don't want to use the vast quantities of water required to 'flush' the solid matter down a 6 foot drain line. You can, of course, move the tank forward, you will need to re-arrange the outlet.

The only other alternative I can think of ifs to buy a marine style pumping toilet. They are a little more expensive, but then you can force the material through a drain line to a tank in a different spot. You can even put the tank overhead if you want.

As far as the shower drain, yes there are lots of crossmember in the way.

[overlander63]

On our trailer, the crossmembers, or "stringers" have cutouts in them to allow plumbing to go through them. You COULD put the shower/tub on the same side of the coach as the toilet, and have a very long bed area on the opposite side. You could even wall it in, so the only thing on that side would be the bed, and a very long one at that.

[Action]

There would be a huge amount of effort to fabricate your trailer to do what you want. Or you could trade for a center bath unit.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[tphan]

hi- interesting you brought this up, I'm in the middle of doing something like what you're wondering about in my '72 27' OL. I will try to post 3 pics I took today. I had the same problem: some rotted floor in bathroom which meant gutting at least the rear end; wanted a smaller, simpler bathroom and a queen-sized, dedicated bed area in the back; and didn't mind the amount of effort to get it that way. Once it's gutted, it isn't all that hard to change it around. Basically, you leave the blackwater tank where it was, and just spin the toilet 100 degrees or so. Then I put in a floor drain to receive the shower pan drain, running the line underneath the floor and hooking up to the main gray water line coming from the kitchen sink. ( I re-did all the plumbing, with this in mind) The shower pan slides through a slot in the bottom of the new wall, to be hidden under the bed (and out of the way) when not being used. To use, slide it out and nest the 2 drains, pull a curtain around, and go for it. At least, this is my plan. This might not work too well for large or tall people, as the toilet and shower are all crowded towards the one exterior wall. I'm 5'11" but slender, and have no problem with the arrangement. The space is about 32" wide I think, which leaves exactly 60" for a nice queen bed next door, which hides the converter, water heater, and stowed shower pan. Plus tons of storage area left over, accessible from either the rear hatch or from the other end of the bed, inside. Anyway, it's possible to do. Who knows, I may regret something about it down the road but for my wife and I it will be way better than the stock configuration. Fun to do, mostly. Let me know if this is interesting to you and if you want more specific tips. Later, tim

[pinkflamingoes]

We're switching our bath and bed areas too. Tphan, I PM'ed you. We were thinking of just putting in a pre-fabbed wet bath combo, even though wet bath is irritating, but we just need to get clean. No bathtub. How are your switch projects going?

We gutted our '67 completely and are scratching our heads over tank placement right now, we can put them wherever we want to, but we want to do it right the first time. If we swivel the toilet, we won't be able to put in the huge bed we need to fit myself and my husband, so the bathroom would be on the side of the trailer, not the corner as you've done.

Pictures welcomed!

[reece1107]

I havn't uploaded here yet but will try. These are pictures that I just took for you. This is a lot of work but since you have yours gutted already you should be able to do what you want. I chose to keep the walls and closets but to remove everything else so I don't have much wiggle room to work with. The bed in the back is 48" wide by 84" length. This is a Cal king in length. I'm 6'3" tall and the original beds in the middle would have been worthless for me. In addition I wanted a shower that I could stand up in and still be under the shower head. I'm installing all new Pex plumbing with nice faucets. I will be installing solid granite countertops and a marble bath. And yes I'm going to great extremes to make sure nothing cracks. This includes boxed steel framing under the counters and steel framed walls in the shower and a bunch of other stuff that is too much to mention. The sink is made of yellow onyx and the granite will be a brown speckled that helps tie all the colors together. The shower will also be yellow onyx. There will be a bench in the back of the shower that will have the exterior access inside. I'm using a marine macerating toilet so that it will pump to the original location of the toilet. It is currently in its future location but will have cabinets next to it. The shower drain is now under the floor. I am also rebuilding all of the windows. I have new lift supports, screens, fuzzies, paint and am in the middle of weatherstipping all of them. I also just finished the upper cabinets with new tambours, the stain got a little darker than I had planned but is still keeping with the colors that I've chosen to match the original brown walls.

[reece1107]

Let me know if you would like any other shots.

[pinkflamingoes]

That's very informative. Thanks for the shots. You are doing BEAUTIFUL work, your trailer is going to be something to be really proud of when you're done.

We are basically going to put in a shower pan and/or enclosure, either prefabbed or made ourselves. We're running new plumbing (PEX) and the shower is going on the side of the trailer. That's our biggest concern right now, where to place tanks and what kind of shower enclosure we can work with. We'd rather not build one ourselves.

Can you give me a source for the macerating marine lav? We want the same thing just because we think it's wise to do that.

Your skills are obviously much higher than ours, so I'd never presume to give advice on how to keep things from cracking...!! but I do have some input if it is useful to you (might not apply to your sitation) One guy I know built cabinetry, and to keep it flexing during towing he attached the cabinetry to the walls, but not the floor. It just floats above it. Just a thought.

If you have any suggestions for a prefabricated shower pan/enclosure, that's easier than building your own, let me know...we'd rather buy than build that particular thing.

Anyway, your design ideas are lovely. I'm not too far from you; I live in Alameda.

[Ourstream]

Reece,
Me and my hubby were just talking about this. We are wanting to move our bathroom to the middle and put a larger bed in the back. It would be much better seeing as how when we're in bed at night and the kids need to use the bathroom, they have to come through our room (twin beds) to get to it. Could you tell me if you moved your tank or used the marine toliet like was suggested earlier? How long has it taken you to make these renovations? Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[Dave.K]

Hi Any chance you have finished pictures ? What size bed were you able to
get in there ? I like the way you did the toilet nook . thank you

Dave.k

[nvestysly]

Originally Posted by Dave.K

Hi Any chance you have finished pictures ? What size bed were you able to
get in there ? I like the way you did the toilet nook . thank you

Dave.k

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