Walk through bath/shower rooms

[Neil2]

For a single or two person boat it's always struck me that a "walk through" bathroom is an obvious space saver, yet few boats seem to have them. I don't think I've ever been on a boat with this arrangement, so I wonder what the downsides are.

 

Does anyone have experience of extended cruising with one?

[Dave Payne]

When i change my bathromm next year i was planning a walk through shower, but i guess you have to be bang on and have zero leaks.

[Athy]

For a single or two person boat it's always struck me that a "walk through" bathroom is an obvious space saver, yet few boats seem to have them. I don't think I've ever been on a boat with this arrangement, so I wonder what the downsides are.

 

Does anyone have experience of extended cruising with one?

I'd say that they make sense as long as you don't (often) have onboard guests, yes. But they will not fit all layouts. We couldn't have one on Trojan.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Athy

[Redeye]

We had one on our last boat which was a Hudson and I virtually copied the arrangemet on our current boat. Our arrangement is bathroom immediately in front of the engine room which is accessible from the back cabin via the rear door. Main bedroom in front of the bathroom which is accessible from the other end in a Jack and Jill style. There is loads of space and it works well with two permanent cruising and a couple of occasional visitors.

[Athy]

Main bedroom in front of the bathroom which is accessible from the other end in a Jack and Jill style.

Eh? Up a hill?

[Dave Payne]

Eh? Up a hill?

 

 

Doors on opposite sides maybe?

 

As in to the left on one side, right on the other.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Dave Payne

[MoominPapa]

We had one on our last boat which was a Hudson and I virtually copied the arrangemet on our current boat. Our arrangement is bathroom immediately in front of the engine room which is accessible from the back cabin via the rear door. Main bedroom in front of the bathroom which is accessible from the other end in a Jack and Jill style. There is loads of space and it works well with two permanent cruising and a couple of occasional visitors.

 

We have the same arrangeme and like it.

 

MP.

[GoodGurl]

we have a walk through bathroom with sliding doors at each end just incase we have visitors.

[Redeye]

Eh? Up a hill?

 

Jack and Jill bathroom is a term used for a bathroom between two bedrooms in a modern house

[BlueStringPudding]

Personally I don't like walk through bathrooms. It means someone has to either walk on wet floor or through poo smells to get to another cabin if the bathroom has just been used. Most seem to be between the kitchen and a bedroom and again, a "I'd give that ten minutes, mate" kinda business next to the kitchen just isn't nice. And neither is a view of the bog through the boat, which some walk-through bathrooms delight with (through-bathroom doors often have to be left open for heating or fresh air to pass through the boat)

 

A non-walkthrough bathroom was one of my criteria when boat-buying. I can see why people like them (more bathroom space) but not for me, the cons outweigh the one pro

Edited July 28, 2016 by BlueStringPudding

[Athy]

 

Jack and Jill bathroom is a term used for a bathroom between two bedrooms in a modern house

Thanks for that insight into the Kegworth dialect!

Personally I don't like walk through bathrooms. It means someone has to either walk on wet floor or through poo smells to get to another cabin if the bathroom has just been used. Most seem to be between the kitchen and a bedroom and again, a "I'd give that ten minutes, mate" kinda business next to the kitchen just isn't nice. And neither is a view of the bog through the boat, which some walk-through bathrooms delight with (through-bathroom doors often have to be left open for heating or fresh air to pass through the boat)

 

A non-walkthrough bathroom was one of my criteria when boat-buying. I can see why people like them (more bathroom space) but not for me, the cons outweigh the one pro

Wot she said, as I believe those young people put it.

One might make an exception for shiny boats costing £150,000 or more, as their owners' sh*t smells of roses. Or so they reckon.

[KJT]

And of course, whilst the bathroom is in use it effectively blocks passage from one part of the boat to another.

I think the idea is good in theory but in practice you would get fed up with it after a while.

 

Ken

[Athy]

And of course, whilst the bathroom is in use it effectively blocks passage from one part of the boat to another.

 

 

Ken

Good point, but earlier in the thread it was suggested that such a bathroom would suit a boat crewed by 1 or 2 people, in which case such passage-blocking should not be a problem.

[adam1uk]

I'd say that ninety per cent of new boats have walk through bathrooms. They're seen as much more spacious. I'd always chose an off-corridor one myself; I want to be able to walk through the boat at any time, regardless of whether or not the bathroom is being used.

[Athy]

I'd say that ninety per cent of new boats have walk through bathrooms.

That's astounding. On what evidence do you base that estimate?

 

You'll have some of us leafing through recent issues of the boatimags* checking the new boat reviews for corroboration now.

 

*Assuming the pages have not been torn into conveniently-sized pieces and are already hanging in the bathroom, that is.

[Neil2]

I'm equally amazed if the majority of new boats do have walk through bathrooms as my experience of looking at boats around ten years old or less suggests it's the other way round. You would have to ask what has happened recently to cause this sudden change?

 

The issue regarding unseemly odours and the visual impact is a fair point. I've just remembered I did look at a boat once that had the walk through immediately in front of the kitchen, but, owing to the length of the boat it was difficult to see how you could configure it so the toilet/shower room didn't open into either the kitchen or the sitting room.

[Top cat]

We have one and find it suits us just fine. Normally its just the two of us and we know where the other is and the code is if the doors are closed its occupied. It has also worked with another couple aboard at the same time. I did fit an extractor fan in the mushroom vent slaved off the lights, mainly to vent shower steam.

 

Top Cat

[NB Watersnail]

Exactly as Top Cat says. We have a walk through. Extractor in the mushroom. Two living aboard with occasional guests. Located between main bedroom and spare bedroom. Never causes an issue for access and is much more spacious while taking up less length. I can see the pro's and con's each way, but I like our walk through.

[adam1uk]

That's astounding. On what evidence do you base that estimate?

 

You'll have some of us leafing through recent issues of the boatimags* checking the new boat reviews for corroboration now.

 

*Assuming the pages have not been torn into conveniently-sized pieces and are already hanging in the bathroom, that is.

 

I'm glad you like the boat reviews -- a lot of work goes into them.

 

If you look at the boats at Crick this year, the vast majority of boats had a walk-through. In no particular order:

 

Heyford Fields: wt

Bespoke Boats: wt

Braidbar: wt

Stoke: off-corridor

Fernwood: wt

Bourne: wt

Smithwood: wt

Tristan: wt

Elton Moss: off-corridor (share boat, so this makes sense)

BCBM: wt

Knights: wt

Brayzel: off-corridor

Stem to Stern: wt

Jim Birch: neither -- separate shower and loo cubicles onto a corridor

 

Of course all the widebeams had off-corridor bathrooms, as there's no need not to.

 

 

I'm equally amazed if the majority of new boats do have walk through bathrooms as my experience of looking at boats around ten years old or less suggests it's the other way round. You would have to ask what has happened recently to cause this sudden change?

 

Things go in fashions. At one time, a reverse layout was a rarity; today, if a boat is a cruiser or semi-trad, then it'll almost certainly be reverse layout.

[Athy]

 

 

I'm glad you like the boat reviews -- a lot of work goes into them.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, so you are THAT Adam? I had not realised.

Yes, I read most of the boat reviews. As a reviewer myself (though not of boats) I understand what you mean. My comment recycled one made by our colleague Cart T. a couple of years ago. He reckoned that Towpath was his favourite boating publication as the pages were more absorbent.

[Neil2]

 

 

I'm glad you like the boat reviews -- a lot of work goes into them.

 

If you look at the boats at Crick this year, the vast majority of boats had a walk-through. In no particular order:

 

Heyford Fields: wt

Bespoke Boats: wt

Braidbar: wt

Stoke: off-corridor

Fernwood: wt

Bourne: wt

Smithwood: wt

Tristan: wt

Elton Moss: off-corridor (share boat, so this makes sense)

BCBM: wt

Knights: wt

Brayzel: off-corridor

Stem to Stern: wt

Jim Birch: neither -- separate shower and loo cubicles onto a corridor

 

Of course all the widebeams had off-corridor bathrooms, as there's no need not to.

 

 

 

Things go in fashions. At one time, a reverse layout was a rarity; today, if a boat is a cruiser or semi-trad, then it'll almost certainly be reverse layout.

 

That is really interesting - and possibly useful. Would you say the change in fashion is enough to make it a price negotiating issue on a used boat, as in a - "I like this boat but really wanted one with a walk through shower room - they all have them nowadays" - scenario?

[Catnip King]

We have shower and sink unit in the big bedroom with a seperate room containing the toilet.

[Nightwatch]

We have a walk through bathroom. You can walk through but you enter and leave by the same door.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Nightwatch

[David Mack]

Some years ago you used to come across boats that gave the best of both worlds. A bathroom to the side with double hinged doors arranged so that when open to the bathroom they blocked either end of the side corridor. As the sides of the doors are profiled to match the cabin side they have to overlap a bit when closed across the bathroom.

So when just using the toilet or washbasin you use a single door as in a side bathroom, but for showering you can open up the bathroom to the full width to give more room for (un)dressing and towelling down.

Edited July 28, 2016 by David Mack

[Ally]

Ours is awalk through, as we're all but two of the boats we built. Ours is between bedroom and engine room, with back cabin aft. Works very well for us, shower visible from living space if door is open, only the vanity unit visible from back cabin if door is open. Loo only visible when in there as it is centrally paced. Many of our customers opted for our "thunderbox" style loo, a cassette toilet built into hard wood frame with hardwood lid and storage for blue or loo roll behind, which made it a piece of furniture rather than just a white loo.