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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 12:10am
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So the engineering is back and I'm going to have a full, usable second-floor loft that measures 7.5' X 23.5' X 5'8". Accessible by staircase, of course.
With all of that space upstairs, I'm thinking that I might as well have a good-sized bathroom on one end with a shower. Since I'll have a utility room downstairs near the back door, I could always add a compost toilet and such there in the future if I add a downstairs bedroom.
Here's my question: Is an upstairs shower in a cabin a good idea or am I asking for problems, i.e. if something leaks. Secondly, if it is OK, is it better to put it on the same side of the cabin as the kitchen so that the water and drains are on one side or is that problematic/icky? Downstairs, the kitchen will be on one side of the cabin and the living room on the other side. Each space will be roughly 12 X 10 in size. (The stairs and utility room will be figuring into the equation.)
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Jabberwocky
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 10:09am
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Here's my two cents Julie..
Not sure your height or who would be using your shower, but 5'8" is shorter than the average male (and many females). And keep in mind that, while that may be your head clearance height, the shower head will be placed even lower. Now me personally, I can put up with a great deal of things, but stooping below a shower head is not one of them. All showers and shower heads that are lower than my height of 5'11" need to be hurled into a lake of burning fire and sulfur in my humble opinion. 
That said, if you are determined to put a bathroom up there, I don't see other problems with that. It would be better to put it above the kitchen rather than on the living side because noise from flushing is more easily drowned out by kitchen noises. Although if you are going composting toilet I suppose that wouldn't matter.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 04:37pm
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Hahahaha, excellent point on the shower, Jabberwocky! I was just considering from the point of my 5'5" frame. My son is 6'2" and he would be royally complaining when he came to visit, as would taller friends. I got distracted from reason by the giddy thought of ALL THAT ROOM in the loft!
Not having a plumbing contractor yet has been rough. I've been poring through plumbing code until my eyes are bleary to try to figure out some basics, just to get started. I may have to call up the nice code enforcement chap at the county I spoke with previously to ask about a few specifics.
Yeah, I'm doing a Biolet composting toilet and, from that height with the vent pipe through the wall, it should vent super-well! It will be wall-in as a separate little room in the loft, of course, following the code for space/clearance around toilets.
I'm wondering if a plumbed in sink is required where there is a composting toilet or if I could do one of those old-fashioned basins with a water pitcher on a stand for washing up? That's my preference. So neat and simple. I'd have my shower and sinks downstairs.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 04:48pm - Edited by: SE Ohio
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Sorry to digress, but that loft bathroom made me think of this picture... We just had our presidential primaries yesterday.
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Ditchmonkey
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 05:20pm
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Boom
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 05:25pm
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Oh dear. LOVE that window, though!  (As long as I didn't scare the wildlife, hahahahaha!)
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 09:55pm
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Hi Julie- I don't think that upstairs plumbing is any more risky than elsewhere. Just make sure it is water tested before the walls are closed up, so any leaks can be found and repaired. It's a very good idea to put all the plumbing on one side of the house, it reduces the cost a great deal.
Often builders will make the wall with all the pipes in it thicker- with 2x8s or even a double wall, just to give more room to run all the pipes.
I don't think there is a specific requirement to have a sink at a toilet. In general a house must have toilet and washing facilities, but how that is achieved is not exactly specified. The pitcher and bowl sounds nice, but I bet you'll get tired of carrying water up and down the stairs.
Minimum ceiling height in a bathroom is 7'. If it is against the angled roof more than half the bathroom must have that height.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 11:18pm
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Weeelllll, that will be going in after the fact, ahem. Because that's not really my bedroom. No, it's not.
My main "facilities" are downstairs with a plumbed-in sink. This is a second toilet so I don't have to bop downstairs late at night if I have to "go." So, I'd imagine the pitcher of water would last a couple of days.
I'll keep the shower downstairs, I think. Less 'splaining and winking to do.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2016 11:33pm
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bldginsp
Am I reading code right in that you need a ventilation fan OR a window that opens in a space that contains a shower? I had a fan/light combo picked out but while trying to get through plumbing codes, I saw something that seemed to indicate a window that opens would suffice.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2016 12:08am
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Not sure what the Oregon code is doing these days, but here in CA a window used to be enough but now a fan is required. Ask your inspector. I don't really see the difference, both ventilate, but neither will if you don't open the window or turn on the fan.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2016 12:17am - Edited by: MtnDon
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Yes an opening window of the right size can sub for mechanical ventilation. From the IRC...
R303.3 Bathrooms.
Bathrooms, water closet compartments and other similar rooms shall be provided with aggregate glazing area in windows of not less than 3 square feet (0.3 m2), one-half of which must be openable.
Exception: The glazed areas shall not be required where artificial light and a local exhaust system are provided. The minimum local exhaust rates shall be determined in accordance with Section M1507. Exhaust air from the space shall be exhausted directly to the outdoors.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2016 01:02am
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Cool. One fewer fixture to deal with, heh.
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Ditchmonkey
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2016 12:43pm
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We have a non-code bathroom upstairs somewhat similar to what you describe. It was in place even when we bought the house and nobody has ever inspected it or cared about it. I'm just outside a major Oregon city.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2016 05:11pm
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Ditchmonkey
That's awesome when people are reasonable. If safety and such aren't threatened, what the heck.
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