Enclosing a walk through bath

[Roadtoaster]

We bought our 28' almost 4 years ago. From the beginning, and frequently thereafter, we discussed making changes to "privatize" the walk through toilet area. Neither of us liked seeing the toilet from the living area and it wasn't exactly private for guests. We finally did a mock up with 3/4" foam board and found we could wall in the sink/toilet area with no loss in accessibility. Some here will think we are giving up one of the best features of the walk through bath concept, a significant amount of room. I guess that is why there is chocolate and vanilla (among many others). This project was not without its challenges as nothing I needed to connect to was plumb or square. Attached are the before photos, I'll follow up with the after shots in a few minutes. I finished the woodwork today but must disassemble everything and return to the shop so I can add 3 coats of poly, not fun.

[Roadtoaster]

The new walls are made of 3/4" red oak. I took the bedroom sliding door and used it in this new enclosure.

[Roadtoaster]

To keep intrusion in the hall to a minimum I used cabinet pulls instead of a normal door knob. The latch is a compression ball and works very well. to make sure the door does open while moving, I drilled a small hole through the door facing into the door itself. As you can see I insert a brass pin through the hole for travel and remove it when parked. Crude but effective. Next weekend I re-install everything plus add a new Ventline fan for the toilet area. Then, on to Florida for Thanksgiving .

[SteveH]

Looks great, Greg. And, owing a 28', I can see where people with certain life styles wouldn't like the original open bath area.

I would only add one thing...before doing some touch-up on the interior of our trailer, I contacted the factory about the type of finish they use, and was told it is a laquer based finish. You might want to reconsider the use of the polyurethane.

[Roadtoaster]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Looks great, Greg. And, owing a 28', I can see where people with certain life styles wouldn't like the original open bath area.

I would only add one thing...before doing some touch-up on the interior of our trailer, I contacted the factory about the type of finish they use, and was told it is a laquer based finish. You might want to reconsider the use of the polyurethane.

Appreciate the heads up on the finish issue. The last cabinet work I did in the AS had a light stain with the poly. Pretty good match but not perfect. I know PAHASKA uses poly with great success. Maybe I need to experiment.

Thanks

[HiHoAgRV]

Great work Greg! I've never been a big fan of 'open bathrooms'...I recall years back looking at a MoHo where the salesman was pushing the vanity sink in the bedroom...just too odd for me...

[Wingeezer]

Really nice work! We have the walk thru bathroom, and when we first bought the trailer, we were not at all sure about the "exposed toilet" look.

We had the choice of two trailers at the time, and to get one with a larger lounge area which we wanted, we had to opt for that style of washroom so it was a compromise.

The compromise also caused us to lose out on a larger wardrobe too which might have been nice to have - but we have found that even with our smaller wardrobe, we still seem to take way more clothes than we ever use! A tough habit to break but we keep trying!


Having used the walk through bathroom now for a couple of seasons though, we have come to appreciate the huge area that it creates when both sliders are closed.

I guess if we had company in the trailer and were concerned about the exposed toilet, we would just leave the slider closed between the galley and the washroom.

But as you say it is a chocolate & vanilla situation - I guess in our case we have just manage to adapt to both flavours!

Brian

[Phil Winters]

Hello Roadtoaster:

Nice work...! We are considering the same modification to our 2005 Classic. I have a question: Is your bathroom vent centered in the hallway, and if so, how does the newly enclosed toilet area vent?

Peace,

Phil