Guest WC (1.65 sqm) and bathroom (4.88 sqm) renovation

Hello everyone, this is my first post in this great forum. So far, we (two adults, a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old child) have always been tenants with 80 sqm, now we have bought a 4-room apartment with 85 sqm, built in the 60s, on the right bank of the Rhine in Cologne.

So far, hardly anything has been done in the apartment and it has just been gutted. New vinyl floors with skirting boards, completely new electrical system with residual current device and Cat7, new bathrooms (very small, but I think that's typical for the year of construction), new tiles and also new plaster and wallpaper on top, and so on and so forth... We are taking the Ikea kitchen with us; it will only get a new tile backsplash.

The biggest "construction measure" is the bathroom: I will share our planning and thoughts here. I hope you will join in and comment.

The first plumber just wanted to sell us his stock of sanitary components (is that how you call it!?) so we ended up at around 10,000 euros without soil pipes. But all that was from company Sanibel and some of it looked honestly terrible, especially the toilet. The price increases were around 3/4 to 1.5 times here.

We now have a different plumber and he confirmed that he would also help us, for example, order stock items directly from Megabad. Here are the two construction sites: guest toilet

Renovation of the guest toilet (1.22x1.36 = 1.65 sqm)

[*]Possibly an instantaneous water heater (? this requires high voltage, expensive and actually unnecessary, says my girlfriend... I am unsure whether that would not improve usability and the resale value of the apartment in case we still find a better apartment or a house
[*]Small washbasin, preferably also with vanity cabinet (round or square, depending on what makes more sense space-wise there --> Godmorgon Ikea? vs Geberit Icon and then something underneath or wall-mounted)
[*]Toilet, if possible preferably with a wall-hung low-flush toilet and concealed cistern (Geberit or similar, flush plates like Sigma 01, we have those in our current rental apartment)
[*](Possibly small towel radiator 45 cm, height less than 1m, that just has to fit)
[*]Waiver of wall tiles? But then it might look a bit odd with the concealed wall cistern, presumably

and this is how it currently looks:

For the small bathroom, another idea would be to move the door outwards so that it opens towards the front door. That would not be a problem and you would not have to take the door opening into account inside the bathroom. The question is whether you gain a lot more space that way and can plan differently or whether it does not make a significant difference. The bathroom is very small anyway, here is the current status.

Renovation of the bathroom (by moving a wall: 3.05x1.6 = 4.88 sqm)

[*]Instantaneous water heater
[*]Large shower bathtub (about 1.70x0.75) with splash guard wall vs. large bathtub and retrofit later.. I am not sure whether the shower bathtubs are really worth the extra cost
[*]Large washbasin (Geberit Icon, or Ideal Standard, or similar)
[*]Long, wide towel radiator next to the door (75x at least 112)
[*]Tile backsplash 1.20 or somewhat higher around the tub

And this is how it currently looks:




What do you think of our plans? Where do I need to think more? Do you have a similar city apartment and have you already planned such renovations there? (Honestly, I don’t even know where to start; as I said, we are renovating EVERYTHING right now (except windows and other common property) and the bathroom/tiles are currently the most urgent, so I thought I’d post here.)

I look forward to your opinions and suggestions. It is only 5 sqm and 1.5 sqm but we want to use it for four of us. Do you have ideas for good fittings?

Oh yes, including renewal of apartment portions of the pipes, we did not want to pay more than 20,000 (sanitary installation / tiles / screed (must be renewed in the bathroom) / pipe renewal in the building) ... that should be doable, right? I am a newbie and hope I can start a discussion here about our planning and everything around it.

Renovation of the guest WC (1.22x1.36 = 1.65 sqm)

[*]Possibly instantaneous water heater (? here high voltage power is needed, expensive and actually unnecessary, says my girlfriend... I'm unsure whether that would not improve usability and the resale value of the apartment in case we find a better apartment or a house after all

If you’re having electrical work done anyway, you can do that. It’s definitely not necessary. How about a mini instantaneous water heater? That also runs on "normal" electricity.

Small washbasin, preferably also with vanity cabinet (round or square, depending on what makes more sense space-wise there --> Godmorgon Ikea? Vs Geberit Icon and then something underneath or wall-mounted)

Icon combines well with Godmorgon. You just have to match the drain to the cabinet (or vice versa).

WC, if possible preferably with a wall-hung low-flush toilet and concealed cistern (Geberit or similar, flush plates like Sigma 01, we have those in our current rental apartment)

Then just do it.

(Possibly small towel radiator 45 cm, height less than 1m, it just has to fit)

Completely unnecessary.

Omit wall tiles? But then it probably looks a bit odd with the concealed wall cistern

Tiles only where necessary. So floor, and behind the washbasin. At the WC it also works without - doesn’t look odd either. But it always offers a nice accent if you use a few tiles or mosaic.

Here in the small bathroom, the other idea would be to move the door outward so that it opens toward the front door.

At least it helps to avoid having the door slammed right into your back when someone enters the WC while another person is inside.

Large shower bathtub (about 1.70x75) with splash guard VS large bathtub and retrofit later.. I am unclear whether the shower bathtubs are really worth the extra cost

Big shower and skip the bathtub.
The rest is a matter of taste. For example, I would omit the towel radiator. It has never proven useful for me/us.
Also, tile choice or wall design is an individual thing to everyone. Out of fashion is the bathroom tiled up to the ceiling that looks like an operating theater.
Icon goes well with Godmorgon here too. I would rather take a nice wall cabinet from the series instead of the towel radiator. Your stuff has to go somewhere anyway.

Please show the entire floor plan with the wastewater pipes.

Where do you get 175 cm tub length in the large bathroom? I see a maximum of 160 cm external dimension of the tub, and one should consider foregoing the tub and installing a really nice shower with plenty of space.

Is the large bathroom not supposed to have a toilet?

For the small bathroom, definitely have the door open outward. You could also consider that for the large bathroom. That is a game changer in my bathroom (approx. 210x210 cm).

Hello everyone, thank you very much for the many answers, especially Norderney. We had actually already planned to break through the wall in the guest WC and install another shower there. However, we then decided against it because of the costs. The question of whether we could simply omit the bathtub in favor of a large shower area is justified. Thanks! The dimensions across the bathroom really only allow for a small bathtub; we also considered rotating it and then taking a larger one—oval, round, or square. We actually enjoy bathing very much so far, but sustainability is of course not really the case even with four people. Okay, in the guest WC we will then omit the towel holder. The tip about the small instantaneous water heater is maybe an option, although I suspect that such a device could also be more maintenance-intensive; in any case, we will have to consider that when planning the sockets in the guest WC. I will now try again in the Google image search for the combination of Godmorgon (IKEA) with the Geberit Ikon, for inspiration.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a floor plan with the pipes, but I could mark them in the sketch. In the guest WC, the pipes are on the right-hand side when you enter, at the end of the wall.

In the bathroom, it should be approximately where the sink is marked on the sketch.

For both rooms, we will then move the doors outward with new doors, door frames, and casings; that probably makes a big difference.

I still have to think about whether to install an additional toilet in the large bathroom. You said you are a family of four and had originally considered expanding the small guest WC but then canceled that in favor of expanding the main bathroom ... Overall, as I said, we didn’t want to pay more than 20,000 for tile screed and the actual installation as well as the renewal of the piping parts in the apartment; I suspect we would reach a limit if we also expanded the guest WC.

Thanks!

Well, I find it quite practical to have a toilet where I want to shower. Because often you need to quickly use the toilet.

I would set the 305 x 160 cm from the top of the plan with

90 cm shower width, then a 90 cm wide and 10 cm deep shower partition. Then there remain 70 cm passage to the right into the shower, which can be closed with a shower curtain or an inward right-opening shower door if it splashes too much.

Then 120 cm washbasin with base cabinet, e.g. Godmorgon

And 85 cm remain for a toilet.

The bathroom door should ideally also open outwards and downwards on the plan.