I hate my en-suite

I love our en-suite! The previous owners changed the standard semi-detached 'box' 3rd bedroom into an ensuite off the master bedroom. It is served by its own sealed water tank, allowing a good waterfall shower experience and, most importantly, two functional bathrooms that can be used simultaneously. It has a good bay window, good ventilation, and a working fan. It has been built with solid walls (existing house walls). Our loft has two double bedrooms with wardrobes instead of a typical loft bedroom and bathroom. The downside is that it is roadside - but we have shutters that allow for the top 1/3 to be open and visible louvres to face upwards, ensuring privacy but allowing in good light. I do feel it is an extension of our master suite, but there is no way it is the bedroom space! It is two unique spaces! Not having an external window in my toilet rooms is a big no for me! I hate under-the-stairs toilets more - why have something so private in the middle of the busiest hallway?

I'd be investing in a good old fashioned chamber pot!

I've got to ask this as I'm starting to think I'm a bit thick

Surely if you put the loo seat down before you flush there aren't poo particles or am I missing something

I'm not ancient - in my early 60s, but old enough to have lived in houses where there was no inside toilet at all. We 'went' in an outhouse. In the London house I lived in this was a sort of brick built outhouse outside the kitchen with a proper flush toilet. When I visited my grandparents in a rural area it was a sanilav arrangement attached to a barn a few yards away. Each facility meant there was absolutely no chance of the dreaded 'poo particles' floating into the bedrooms.

They also meant that if we wanted to go in the middle of the night we couldn't use the facilities we had to go in a bucket stored under the bed. There were too many of us sleeping in one room for a more classy chamber pot to be an option. God only knows what we inhaled as we slept/carried the bucket out for emptying.

DH (same age as me) grew up in a council flat a quarter of mile from London Bridge. They had the luxury of a proper flushing toilet but that toilet and bathroom were outside the flat and shared with the other three flats on their landing.

My paternal granny owned a very big house in Clapham. It was divided into 3 flats. She lived on the top floor and rented out the ground floor and first floor. All three floors shared the one and only first floor toilet.

DH and I and all our many siblings and cousins (none of whom were killed by these primitive arrangements) are the very tail end of the baby boomers. I think we prove that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That includes the minute levels of poo particles we have all inhaled our entire lives.

That being said, I now divide my time between three homes and I'm very grateful for my en suite in every one of them.

Partly as it’s v late here.

People are complaining about en-suite bathrooms but they wouldn’t do if built properly. Clearly walls are too thin and layouts seem unsuitable. A better build quality would mean fewer complaints.

Referring to them as akin to cupboards was sarcasm/hyperbole, which I thought would be obvious, not a literal description. Can’t be that far off with the apparent paper-thin walls.

Why would a man turn on the light in the middle of the night to do either. You park yourself on the seat and release. There’s no aim needed.

i think you misread

my experience if uk en-suites is not how you describe them 🤷‍♀️

That the point. They just need to be built properly.

I do appreciate that many homes do have a lot of space but doing something badly is often worse than not doing it.

yep
and the en-suite hasn’t been akin to a converted cupboard

Never been in a hotel room?

I’ve been in houses with proper bathrooms attached to bedrooms but it does seem that most are cheap add-ons. No wonder people complain.

I don't have an en suite, but when we stay at my mum's the guest room has an en suite.
Personally, I always wee in the dark if I get up in the night. My mum lives in the middle of nowhere, where there's zero light pollution, but I can still see well enough to use the loo without a light. The light also activates the extractor, which is another reason not to switch on the light at night.
As for using the bathroom in the morning when it's still dark, my husband/I will enter the bathroom and close the door before switching on the light. The extractor sometimes wakes me but ear plugs prevent that on most occasions.
If it's really causing you an issue, either instigate "rules" like I've outlined here or insist on using the toilet in the main bathroom.
I'd love an en suite and would tolerate all the 2am wees from my husband if we could accommodate one!

the ones in the UK you describe as such will not be in accordance with building regs.

And i can’t say i have ever seen an en-suite like what you describe in the UK

I love mine. Neither of us really get up in the night to pee, but there's a door to close over if we do. There's a fan, a window etc. I can shower for as long as I like without someone else needing to use the room. What's not to love?

How odd. An en-suite bathroom should be properly built, not a tiny thing in a virtual cupboard.

It seems that en-suite bathrooms in the UK are invariably poorly built. I’ve seen multiple complaints on MN about them,

I live in a country where it is normal for every bedroom to have its own bathroom but the walls are concrete not plywood and all are properly ventilated.

Why are so many in the UK just big cupboards? Either do them properly or not at all and have two proper bathrooms instead.

Yes, I see what you mean OP.

En-suites are great for single people though

Well, DH sometimes wakes me when leaving the bedroom to go down the hall to the bathroom, despite his best efforts. It's just part of life when you share a bed with someone.

We have an en suite, too, but he tends to use the other bathroom at night. I use the en suite and rarely wake him. I'm just a lighter sleeper than he is.

How much is he getting up at night to wee? Maybe he needs his prostrate checking? Maybe try no drinks after 6pm so he doesn't need to get up to use the bathroom.

Do you use the family bathroom for teeth brushing and going to the loo in the night/morning?

I'm incredibly well versed and qualified in ventilation. I didn't build the bathroom, or choose or install the extract fan. But it was perfectly sufficient and of a perfectly decent quality. All sounds are amplified in the dead of night and I don't care to hear them.

I also don't care to piss in what is effectively a walk in cupboard in my bedroom. But to each their own. Some enjoy it, and I enjoy having a nice big wardrobe room.

If you had to listen to ventilation, it was poor ventilation - either badly installed, cheap, or ineffective. Half decent ventilation is virtually silent, even from within the bathroom/ ensuite. (You only have to read many of the Pigletjohn posts to be aware of this.)

Mine had ventilation. But that meant I had to listen to said ventilation, rather than using the actual bathroom a couple of metres along the hall.

I've no need to have a toilet in my bedroom. I get that other people quite enjoy it. But the OP doesn't.

There are clearly different types of ensuites as those that hate them are mostly describing shitting in the bedroom and a lack of ventilation

Exactly as if every home was a new build with tiny rooms and a bathroom stuffed in the corner.

There are clearly different types of ensuites as those that hate them are mostly describing shitting in the bedroom and a lack of ventilation.

Mine is a purpose built shower room, not an added toilet squeezed in by taking a corner of the bedroom .

It is a decent size with the toilet on the far wall, has a proper opening window, a full sized door and an effective extractor fan. No poo particles are drifting onto my pillow!

Same here. DH gets up very early for work and now uses the main bathroom to get ready. So at least that’s something.
We’re in rented, looking to buy. Have seen the odd house with open plan en suite. No door. I mean honestly, how revolting!!
Vanessa Feltz once said that she’d prefer to be in another postcode when she needs the loo.
Me too