Adding porch with WC to 1930s semi

[CaurnieBred]

Has anyone done something like this recently? We need a downstairs toilet and the only way to put one in would be to put a porch on the front of the house and use some of the space in the existing hallway (we can't put one under the stairs as some of our neighbours have done as the pantry space they used has already been incorporated into the kitchen by previous owners).

If we do this as part of building a porch will we need to make it accessible as not sure this would be possible due to space/width of hallway?

TIA

[TeddyBee]

Can't see how it would work tbh. Any chance of a side return? Ours is on the footprint of our now demolished garage, in a utility room.

[PigletJohn]

if you mean wheelchair accessible, no, you are not required to do that in a private house. You might think it worthwhile as you or your relatives get older and more frail though.

It is always easiest to put a new WC under (or above) the old one, as the soil pipe will be in the right place. If not, investigate the run of the foul drain by looking in manholes. Do not assume you can use the rainwater drain as that might go to a soakaway in your garden, or into a drain that goes into a pond or stream.

You will need drawings for planning permission and building regs anyway, that include where the drains are and how you will connect.

Fit a substantial door such as a fire door, it will be much more effective than a lightweight modern door at muffling noise. And a modern extractor fan with a ball-bearing motor (for quietness and durability) that comes on automatically with the light switch and has an overrun timer. Cheap fans are fairly useless.

[deraila]

Exactly the same position. We cant have a loo under the stairs as boiler/consumer board and meters placed there and kitchen is too new to rip out and we'd lose space in kitchen by having the afore take up space there.

We had thought about a toilet at the front like newer builds but after days of searching, couldn't find anything on google images to kind of show what a front bit might look like. We couldn't see how the pitch of the roof would work and def didnt want a flat roof.

Do you have space at the side? I think one of the other 1930s houses on our road has literally just added one on the the side of their house and it looks fine and not odd at all.

Our only option is to add at the back.

[deraila]

Pressed too soon....

i regret buying our house and tbh, a bit worried about how we will sell on with only one toilet as no matter what age the house is, people seem to expect more than one toilet.

We dont want to add extension as to us, that would be £12k+ to add to a detached house which would be our next move.

[bearwithspecs]

Lots of people near us have done it. The house opposite included!

[CaurnieBred]

Thanks PigletJohn.

No option for side return as we have a garage built on the side (another reason we need the porch as the window to the side of the house was turned into the door to the garage so no room just to take some of the hallway). In an ideal world we would put a sun room on the back of the house and incorporate a toilet in there but we don't have the budget for that.

I know people locally who have done it but that was in the past before the new, accessible regulations came into play, so that was what I was worried about as I really don't think we have the room.

[deraila]

bear could you describe what their front extensions look like? Sounds interesting.

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

If you have a garage, do you use it for your car? If not, could you split the garage, convert the back of it into a WC and utility room, and keep the front half for storage? Our neighbours have done that.

I have never managed to put a car into any garage I've owned, so if I were looking to buy, a house with a utility room and 2nd loo plus storage space would be much more appealing than a house with only one loo and a garage.

[footallsock]

Using part of the garage is a great idea

[mandy214]

I'm not sure where you are but have you checked whether this would be allowed in any case (i.e. even if you applied, it would be granted). We had plans drawn up for an extension a couple of years ago. Our house is a bay fronted semi detached and we are having a side extension and had initially planned for it to come as far forward as the bay window - which is actually about 50cm in front of the front door if you see what I mean. We already have a useless porch and plan was to rebuild all that. The Council told our architect that that part of the plan would be refused - we weren't allowed to build beyond the current footprint of the house at the front (even though we have a decent sized front garden, live on a cul-de-sac).

Long winded way of saying to check whether your plan is likely to be viable before investing your time and money.

[Somethingtodo]

Is the door to your kitchen directly down the hall from the front door? If could block this door and access your kitchen via dining room or thru lounge door you could put another loo there - so it would be perpendicular to understairs - you could have access to understairs meters/circuit board etc from the new loo - my sister has done this - it works well.

If you already have access from your house to garage - would look at the costs and return on investment of converting this to utility, loo, TV room/study and storage? But it doesnt sound like you want to invest in this house for you.

If you dont need a 2nd toilet then just sell for 2k less with plans in place to where it would go let someone else worry about in stalling it...same could be said for garage conversion ie get plans drawn up but dont do it - peopel like projects but dont have vision (so need for the plans) and dont want to take risks (so PP in place already)

[Ihatemytoes]

We have a 1930's semi, and added a downstairs loo and a study by splitting the garage. We left the front of the garage for storage, put up a wall and used the back of it for the new rooms.

[CaurnieBred]

We use the garage for the car so that wouldn't be an option for us - the washing machine/tumble dryer are already out there so it already performs a utility room function. We have to keep the kitchen access as it is as we wouldn't be able to get to it through the living room as have just installed a new kitchen with floor to ceiling units running the length of the dining room/living room shared wall.

This plan is a rough idea of what I want. Due to the width of the hall we would not be able to have the space required for a wheelchair accessible toilet which is what I was worried about.

The external area is within the permitted 3 sq metres which supposedly doesn't require planning permission, but I will still speak to our builder and the planning dept.

[CaurnieBred]

Oh, and we have another loo upstairs; we built on top of the garage so have a bedroom and en suite up there. However, we need a downstairs loo as our parents are getting frail and won't be able to manage the stairs for much longer.

[Somethingtodo]

if you do the loo in the front porch - then DONT put one of those small obscure glass windows out the front - hate that - such an eye sore
looks possible but worried that the front door not being central in the new porch will look dodgy and devalue your home?

Could you not do the same out the back - so off kitchen build a cheap lean to with loo (prob near soil pipe if bathrooms are at the back) - also could relocate your laundry here too if it helped.....would imagine a cheap lean too conservatory typre thing and back would be cheaper than posh proch at front.

[FishWithABicycle]

You're ok for a new downstairs loo to not be wheelchair accessible. Newbuilds are supposed to ensure the downstairs loo is accessible, and you aren't allowed to make any change that would reduce the accessibility of loos, but if you don't currently have an accessible downstairs loo it's ok to install a non-accessible one.

[wormshuffled]

Re ignighting a zombie thread here, but just wondering if the OP went ahead with this please? I would like to do the exact same thing with my house. Plumbing wise it would be perfect as it is directly under the upstairs loo. Is it always the case that you can't extend forward of the original footprint? Thank you

[Lstewart4512]

Looking into same thing for a friend and found this