Why is the shower in the bedroom?

[westwind15]

In my hunting for RV floor plans and styles that I will be focusing on, I keep seeing this. It is an immediate "hit the back space" when I see it. I can't imagine the mold problems that this would cause on your bedroom carpet, not to mention steam in the bedroom. Has anyone found problems caused by this? Should I reconsider?

[Oaklevel]

Not an issue for us, We do have our grown kids & DIL along at times. The shower in the bedroom gives us much more room & privacy. The last 5th wheel the shower & bathroom were so small that all you heard was bang bang bang from hitting the walls when you showered & no privacy as the bathroom door opened at the "kitchen" table. This 5th wheel with the shower in the bedroom when used everyone stays out of the bedroom til the person showering is done.More privacy & more room. Works very well for us. No mold or other issues.

[B_Sjulestad]

westwind15 wrote:
Most of the Forest Rivers' seem to have it in the bedroom. Some of the brands seem to love that plan too. All I can say is - why??

this is not true. Look at Cedar Creek they are almost all seperate side bath same with Cardinal and did not take away from bedroom size. We have a big walk around King bed in ours.

[fireman93514]

Yep, it's a personal choice. We have had both. The problem in smaller rigs is the full bath is very tight and takes away from the bedroom. Our rig has a bath in the hall area between the bedroom and the living area. An accordion curtain closes the bedroom off. The potty room door closes the living area off. This creates a full bath for us. I like it. No problems but to each his/her own.

[tatest]

It is there because some people want that and will buy it. Housing tastes vary, and change with time, people are buying homes now with baths or showers in boudoirs, so there is a market for same in RVs if they are looking for homes rather than campers.

Lots of floorplan choices, consider what fits your tastes, don't obsess about what is made for someone who thinks differently.

[bhh]

Seems to me a walk-thru bath would allow for more drying, access to the bedroom and closet for dressing, etc. For singles or couples without guests or kids, it makes sense and can allow a larger living area.

If those floor plans didn't sell, the mfr. would eventually stop offering them.

We don't have that, but only because that floor plan had much less cabinet and wardrobe space than the alternate floor plan in the same length TT.

[ependydad]

westwind15 wrote:
Most of the Forest Rivers' seem to have it in the bedroom. Some of the brands seem to love that plan too. All I can say is - why??

The reason is that all RVs are a compromise. When I was looking at campers, I consistently found that the fully enclosed bath were 1'-2' longer than the "walk through" baths. As others indicated, you can get more bedroom room in a smaller space if you compress some things.

For us, the "walk through" bath was a deal killer.

The craziest that I saw was a bunkhouse unit that the shower was in the bunkhouse. Meaning, if I wanted to shower- I had to kick the kids out.

[westwind15]

DSDP Don wrote:
"westwind15"....It all depends on the RV and it's size. When we first started RVing, it was in a slide in camper. The toilet, shower and sink were all in one fiberglass mold. You sat on the toilet while showering.

When we bought our first Class C, it had a small all in one bath. Usually, your knees were in the shower or near it when using the toilet. Small coach, small bathroom.

Personally, the small bathrooms in the trailers and motor homes of several years ago are why you see the split baths now. The first thing people wanted when they moved to a larger coach was more room to shower....hence the separate units.

When we went shopping for a DP in 2005, we didn't want a split bath with the front of the coach open to the bedroom. We hunted for a side aisle with all in one bath. It wasn't popular then because people were still looking for that roomy shower, but didn't realize in a large motor home that was available in an all in one bath.

Now, new systems and designs allow for the full bath across the back of a motor home. I said systems, because typically a bathroom is located where the toilet can dump straight down into the holding tank. Now, there are macerator toilets that will pump waste to anywhere in the coach, allowing the builder to move bathrooms to different areas. I think you'll find the future of split baths in LARGE COACH floor plans will dwindle.

Before someone jumps in with an example of how their tent trailer is plumbed, remember......size of the coach dictates bathroom size and configuration.

Interesting history, thanks! I did not know that. 🙂 When I was growing up, we used to stay some weekends in my Grandfather's trailer, which was parked in the desert. I do remember how tiny the bathroom was!

On boats, it works much the same. Same type of plumbing, same type of toilets, same black tanks. But I had 2 "heads" on opposite ends of the boat. All the plumbing ran though the bilge underneath, where the water pump was located too. And my "head", with shower, was about 12 feet away from the black water tank. They made it work somehow. Granted, on a boat, grey water goes overboard, but the toilet does not!

[jnharley]

We are in the minority and love our walk thru bath. Makes the bedroom much more spacious. We even had the door between the bed and the bath area eliminated. We would never have guests stay overnight as our 5th wheel only sleeps 2. We rarely use the shower when the other is still in bed. That is why they make different floor plans.

[DSDP_Don]

"westwind15"....It all depends on the RV and it's size. When we first started RVing, it was in a slide in camper. The toilet, shower and sink were all in one fiberglass mold. You sat on the toilet while showering.

When we bought our first Class C, it had a small all in one bath. Usually, your knees were in the shower or near it when using the toilet. Small coach, small bathroom.

Personally, the small bathrooms in the trailers and motor homes of several years ago are why you see the split baths now. The first thing people wanted when they moved to a larger coach was more room to shower....hence the separate units.

When we went shopping for a DP in 2005, we didn't want a split bath with the front of the coach open to the bedroom. We hunted for a side aisle with all in one bath. It wasn't popular then because people were still looking for that roomy shower, but didn't realize in a large motor home that was available in an all in one bath.

Now, new systems and designs allow for the full bath across the back of a motor home. I said systems, because typically a bathroom is located where the toilet can dump straight down into the holding tank. Now, there are macerator toilets that will pump waste to anywhere in the coach, allowing the builder to move bathrooms to different areas. I think you'll find the future of split baths in LARGE COACH floor plans will dwindle.

Before someone jumps in with an example of how their tent trailer is plumbed, remember......size of the coach dictates bathroom size and configuration.

[Jim_Shoe]

My Fleetwood 'C' has a separate shower directly across the hallway from the toilet/sink. The door to the toilet/sink latches to the door jam of the bathroom, but also latches to the forward edge of the shower across the hall, closing off the aisle. The bedroom has a sliding door that closes off the bedroom end of the hall, making a bath/toilet area that's 8 feet wide.
And the reason its located there is because that's where the fresh, grey and black tanks are.

[bigwheelsturnin]

we have doors between br..kitchen area..besides an ole man told us that tell everybody who visits..bring their own tent..just room for two..
but we've had everybody & his dawgs..geez

[ddschuman]

When we were looking, I crossed off the list the ones with shower or sink in the bedroom. To me, it was just an odd set up and I thought I wouldn't like it. My first thought was also humidity in the bedroom. It seems that those who actually have that set up do not have a problem with humidity though. I say just go with what ever floor plan you think you will be happiest with.

[AuntSmurf]

When we went looking for a fifth wheel, DH wanted a "full" bathroom. The one we found matched most of his wishes in that area. The throne and the shower are in a little room, with the sink outside in the hallway. But there's a door on either side of the sink. (folding door on bedroom end, solid door on living room end) All solid doors are pocket doors. So, if we want a "large" bathroom, we just close the hallway doors and leave the toilet/shower door open! Works for us!

[Jerry_Keller]

Usually, depending on builder, the shower and bedrooms can be closed off from the rest of the RV. If you have friends who need to use the shower, then you yield the bedroom (shower area) to give them privacy.

Regarding mold - my shower area has a roof vent with fan right next to it. I always run the roof vent when showering - water vapor goes right up the roof. I leave it running for a little while after the shower, too.