New here - questions on adding ensuite bathroom

Hey folks
I am new, but have read a ton of posts here.
I am ramping up to open in a couple months and the importance of ensuite bathrooms strikes me as serious. We have an accepted offer on a nice place, and are going through the financing part.
So question is, are there any old threads or any suggestions, related to clever and/or low cost ways to squeeze an acceptable bathroom into an average size room? (I poked around, but did not really see this addressed).
Thanks!

Welcome home!!!! This is the place to be for innkeepers! You get the best advice and everyone is so friendly.
I don't know about that for an inn since grandpa did all that before I was using bathrooms. Last fall we remodeled bathrooms in my parents home.(private residence) First Check codes!!!! If it has more stories than one try to plan the bathrooms so they are on top of each other to save on pipes. (stack one on top of the other and near the bathrooms already in place. We only had to put in a couple pipes since it back up to the other bathroom.) Put the pipes in inside walls not outside where they might freeze if you live in the north. At my parents place we just converted a big bedroom into a fully handicap full bath and a half bath since the original one wasn't handicap friendly at all. We also changed the old bathroom back into a bedroom. We hired a plumber and electrician, but did everything else ourselves. We put up 2 x 4s (one across the ceiling, one across the floor and a bunch up and down between those.) where we wanted the new walls to be. (check codes on how far apart to put them.) We put one side of the wall up. All the wires, etc went in and then put up the other side. The walls needs to be wide enough for the exhaust pipe to fit through and up to the roof to take the smells away. Even with doing almost all the work ourselves and buying Home Depot and Lowe's overstock deals/sales on the toilet, sink, tub, flooring, handles, pipes, paint, wiring, and molding, etc. it was over a couple thousands. We used the old sink and toilet from the old bathroom for one of them. We also used the rug from the old bedroom for the new bedroom. You have to think of new flooring, paint, lights, fan, water proof boarding for behind the tub, tub surround, etc. It was more than we had thought when we started. Also check with your codes...water pressure, water tank.... we were fine on that since we got rid of the old bathroom. It took us a month from drawing up the plans to nailing the last nail in the molding. We thought it was well worth it since now our friend in a wheelchair can use our bathroom comfortable....and my parents aren't getting any younger. The house now have two and a half baths.
I hope that was helpful...it was an interesting project!

Are you doing the work yourself? That is the only way to cut cost.
plumbing
electrical
tile
drywall
If you can do these, but the cost is still costly. Even doing everything yourself.
A couple things you want to consider is that if you cut cost of fixtures etc it will bite you later on. Better quality will last and not break with harsh guest use.

We added a bathroom in 2007 (took 10 years to get Himself to agree to it). I thought it was going to be $$$$ and it ended up being $$$$$. IF you are having it done, do not sign a contract unless the dollar amount is filled in. I learned the hard way - too much stress downstairs trying to get things done to be intelligent about the upstairs.
We tied into the existing pipes and used half of a bedroom which was being used as my storage room. The original bathroom was remodeled at the same time. MY suggestion is to only install handicap height toilets. We used the fixtures we had installed with the first upgrade of the original bathroom for that remodel except - we moved the claw-foot tub into the new bathroom and put in a 60 inch shower to replace it. The claw-foot was moved to the new bathroom plus a 48 inch shower stall. ALL my pipes are on outside walls - because that is where they were put in 1912. With the remodel, insulation was put in - but I still make sure the heat is on in the bathrooms to avoid frozen pipes. Quality fixtures will pay off in the long run. Since the toilet in the new bathroom is over my bedroom, I spent the $$ to get a good toilet in that room. Have not tested to see if the advertising was true, but it is supposed to take care of a dozen golf balls flushed down it. I am not worried about golf balls, I just wanted to ensure no overflow. So far, so good.
Our kids redid our bathroom (did all the work except the floor and the electrical and final plumbing). Daughter bashed out the plaster to studs and insulated, dry-walled and tiled. Son came the next week and finished the taping and painted. I did not track the cost but I know it was a couple thousand. Do not know for certain because the kids were buying stuff too. Bathrooms and kitchens are expensive. But you really MUST have all private baths (says she who has one private and one shared).

stall shower and toilet behind the door, sink outside in the bedroom proper will save space. But it's quirky.
Did you check around the bedroom to see if you can steal space from another area? Closet space, hallway space behind the room? Kneewall? What is on the other side of the walls of the room?

Toilet, sink, prefab glass shower. The smallest space would have the toilet on one side, the shower on the other and the sink in the middle. We put in extra bathrooms we did it in a triangular shape. The glass shower makes the space seem larger than it is. You can also have the sink in the room, but toilet and shower need to be closed off, usually. Though some of the new hotels are having it open to the room... most people aren't that into watching someone else on the toilet.... especially in a family room

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there.

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there..

Click to expand...

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated.

Click to expand...

But still more appreciated, and income-producing, than no ensuite at all. Sometimes the choice has to be a closet bathroom, or NO bathroom in the room.
Have to put a pencil to it, really think it through. For instance, which would be more profitable in the end: 3 rooms, each with tiny ensuite bathroom, or 2 rooms, with the 3rd room, between them, turned into 2 large luxury bathrooms for the 2 remaining bedrooms.

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there..

Click to expand...

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there.

Click to expand...

I agree.
We look at the ensuite bathrooms here and think what the heck were they thinking! Use the space you have, don't try to just CRAM something in. Doing that will not work, ever. In the short term your guests will not be happy, in the long term, sellability will suffer.
Also consider your guest demographic, if you have older guests who cannot step into a claw foot tub or back out, or tall guests who have to be hunched over to shower. All of these are #1 consideration. I thought that was a given, but thinking about it, and reading Haps comments and Arks I agree, it is a mistake to just try to make more from less.

Something to consider:
If you have a king sized bed you will get bigger people, it is guaranteed. Not always, of course, but they will choose that one. So that room should have a nice large bathroom with plenty of space and height. No "potty training toilets" but elongated bowl and higher up height (as Gillum says for old knees).

Joey Bloggs said:

Something to consider:
If you have a king sized bed you will get bigger people, it is guaranteed. Not always, of course, but they will choose that one. So that room should have a nice large bathroom with plenty of space and height. No "potty training toilets" but elongated bowl and higher up height (as Gillum says for old knees)..

Click to expand...

If you have to give a little, I would give up the elongated toilet for a few extra inches of shower. Single door and not rounded, since the door will get in the way of cleaning. Square or neo-angular, avoid shower curtains. Tile of course makes it look richer. In small spaces, clear is better. If you want to do tile, long tiles laid horizontally will make the room stretch. A large mirror always makes things look bigger, but avoid a mirror that shows the toilet, no one wants to see themselves sitting on that.

We buy a ton of bathroom stuff on ebay - saves us thousands (we are 11 bedrooms and have re-done 9 bathrooms to date)

I have all of the issues listed here except cheaply done bathrooms.
This is an old house that did not have closets. The bathrooms were carved out of the rooms. They are very small. Heavy people are not repeat guests here.
One room has the sink in the room. It's not something I like. I keep trying to figure out where to stall room from to redo that bathroom.
One room has a detached bath. Not shared, but you will never convince a guest that bath is not shared. OTOH, that room pays 2 mortgage payments every year so we keep it online.
Don't start out that way. Get the bathroom in the room somehow. My detached bath is and always will be the cheapest room in town. It never books in the off season, but it does very well for itself in season.

Morticia said:

I have all of the issues listed here except cheaply done bathrooms.
This is an old house that did not have closets. The bathrooms were carved out of the rooms. They are very small. Heavy people are not repeat guests here.
One room has the sink in the room. It's not something I like. I keep trying to figure out where to stall room from to redo that bathroom.
One room has a detached bath. Not shared, but you will never convince a guest that bath is not shared. OTOH, that room pays 2 mortgage payments every year so we keep it online.
Don't start out that way. Get the bathroom in the room somehow. My detached bath is and always will be the cheapest room in town. It never books in the off season, but it does very well for itself in season..

Click to expand...

Morticia said:

Heavy people are not repeat guests here.

Click to expand...

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas. We are ALL heavy here. I call it "Arkansas-Sized People". Some are absolutely awesome. Belong in a zoo. Seriously. Never dreamed people could be that big and still walk.
Waddle.

When we built our home/unknowingly future B&B, we gave each of the four bedrooms their own bathrooms, with the sorta exception of the one bathroom that has both a door to its bedroom and a door to the hall. It can easily turn into a suite or be used as a common bathroom. Make sense? It worked well for our visiting children but now we're a B&B, and I'd like a re-do, please. There are times when suites are full and we need an open common bathroom. Not often but when needed, it's really needed. So our private bathroom has to come into play. I don't like that. So try not to get into our pickle.
Also, I'd vote for a comfort height commode over a bigger shower any day. While a shower is used once a day at most, a terlet (as we call them) is used several times during a stay. That height is so nice, people comment on it.

Joey Bloggs said:

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there..

Click to expand...

happykeeper said:

My caution to you is that a closet bathroom will be functional but not appreciated. We stayed in a place where you had to stand in the bedroom to use the tiniest sink known to man. The bathroom was configured as JS mentioned. I know that your price point now and your price point in the future will determine if that is the right choice, but be aware that going for the cheapest choice now will make it the cheapest price point in the future and your price will be stuck there.

Click to expand...

I agree.
We look at the ensuite bathrooms here and think what the heck were they thinking! Use the space you have, don't try to just CRAM something in. Doing that will not work, ever. In the short term your guests will not be happy, in the long term, sellability will suffer.
Also consider your guest demographic, if you have older guests who cannot step into a claw foot tub or back out, or tall guests who have to be hunched over to shower. All of these are #1 consideration. I thought that was a given, but thinking about it, and reading Haps comments and Arks I agree, it is a mistake to just try to make more from less.
.

Click to expand...

Also consider your guest demographic, if you have older guests who cannot step into a claw foot tub or back out, or tall guests who have to be hunched over to shower. All of these are #1 consideration. I thought that was a given, but thinking about it, and reading Haps comments and Arks I agree, it is a mis​take to just try to make more from less.
Having had guests that looked like a combo of Arkansas/West Virginia Wally-World people - when we created the second bathroom I replaced the claw-foot in the original bathroom with the 60 inch shower. THEN in addition to the claw-foot in the ensuite bathroom, the shower stall (separate) is 48 inches. I had visions of crisco-ing guests out of a 32 inch shower. Eeeewwwwwww. I do NOT have shower doors on either shower. I have a vinyl shower curtain and also a nylon shower curtain liner (on the inside) so the guest never touches the yucky plastic. I change the liner with every room flip - easy to clean the shower and the liner goes in the laundry so no mildewed shower curtain. (Rarely is there water on the floor) Also get personal shower head attachments on the showers - make cleaning a lot easier too. I spray the cleaner on the shower walls & floor, use a scrub brush to clean, and hose it down with the personal shower head. I got good ones with variable spray (from gentle to pulsating). As one who could not negotiate the claw-foot tub, shower is a requirement. IF you have teeny-tiny space - fergitaboudit with tub and just do shower.

When we bought our house it only had one bathroom and we added 4 1/2. One of the rooms is small and we had to be "creative" in the design, so we ended up putting the sink in the room and the toilet and shower (only) were separate. We call this room our handicap accessible room since the bed is a little lower and it has the walk in shower.
Our first B and B experience as a couple, the big tub was in the bedroom and the sink and toilet were in another. That was a little strange for us, but we didn't let it spoil an absolutely wonderful experience!

Arks said:

Morticia said:

I have all of the issues listed here except cheaply done bathrooms.
This is an old house that did not have closets. The bathrooms were carved out of the rooms. They are very small. Heavy people are not repeat guests here.
One room has the sink in the room. It's not something I like. I keep trying to figure out where to stall room from to redo that bathroom.
One room has a detached bath. Not shared, but you will never convince a guest that bath is not shared. OTOH, that room pays 2 mortgage payments every year so we keep it online.
Don't start out that way. Get the bathroom in the room somehow. My detached bath is and always will be the cheapest room in town. It never books in the off season, but it does very well for itself in season..

Click to expand...

Morticia said:

Heavy people are not repeat guests here.

Click to expand...

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas. We are ALL heavy here. I call it "Arkansas-Sized People". Some are absolutely awesome. Belong in a zoo. Seriously. Never dreamed people could be that big and still walk.
Waddle.
.

Click to expand...

Arks said:

Morticia said:

Heavy people are not repeat guests here.

Click to expand...

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas. We are ALL heavy here. I call it "Arkansas-Sized People". Some are absolutely awesome. Belong in a zoo. Seriously. Never dreamed people could be that big and still walk.
Waddle.

Click to expand...

Not a one.

Morticia said:

Arks said:

Morticia said:

I have all of the issues listed here except cheaply done bathrooms.
This is an old house that did not have closets. The bathrooms were carved out of the rooms. They are very small. Heavy people are not repeat guests here.
One room has the sink in the room. It's not something I like. I keep trying to figure out where to stall room from to redo that bathroom.
One room has a detached bath. Not shared, but you will never convince a guest that bath is not shared. OTOH, that room pays 2 mortgage payments every year so we keep it online.
Don't start out that way. Get the bathroom in the room somehow. My detached bath is and always will be the cheapest room in town. It never books in the off season, but it does very well for itself in season..

Click to expand...

Morticia said:

Heavy people are not repeat guests here.

Click to expand...

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas. We are ALL heavy here. I call it "Arkansas-Sized People". Some are absolutely awesome. Belong in a zoo. Seriously. Never dreamed people could be that big and still walk.
Waddle.
.

Click to expand...

Arks said:

Morticia said:

Heavy people are not repeat guests here.

Click to expand...

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas. We are ALL heavy here. I call it "Arkansas-Sized People". Some are absolutely awesome. Belong in a zoo. Seriously. Never dreamed people could be that big and still walk.
Waddle.

Click to expand...

Not a one.
.

Click to expand...

Morticia said:

Arks said:

So you must endure no repeat guests from Arkansas.

Click to expand...

Not a one.

Click to expand...

You need to advertise free cheese dip. We'll line up at your front door in droves.

One more thing that I forgot to mention. If you can, when designing a bathroom, find out how much more it will cost to have a tiled floor with a drain. It will save so much headache when things "overflow" and you have the extra drain in the room.