Need votes - downstairs loo or loft conversion?

[WobbleHead]

We’re moving into a tumbledown 30s home and after all the remedial work we can only afford EITHER a loft conversion with bedroom and shower/loo OR a side extension with a study and a downstairs loo.

DH and I are going round in circles so we need more opinions!

Additional info:

• Current and only bathroom is on first floor - the type where the loo is separated from the room with sink/bath.
• Elderly visiting relatives would struggle with stairs to get to loo on first floor.
• House has 2 double rooms and a box room now - converting loft would mean losing the box room for the stairs up

Strong opinions about the location of toilets very welcome.

I would get quotes for both and then work from there

Quotes for both but I would lean towards downstairs loo with a view to doing the loft at a later date.

I'd do side extension unless you desperately need an bigger bedroom and then prioritise knocking wall down between toilet and bathroom upstairs.

Ground floor toilet far more accessible, practical and easier to keep presentable for guests.

• A bigger bedroom

We’ve got the quotes in and side extension is slightly cheaper - would be years and years before we could save enough to do the loft. Feels like a 3 double bed and 2 bath house would be worth a lot more. But we’re hoping to live in it rather than sell it, really.

I would probably lean towards the side extension but with sufficient foundations that you could make it two story at a later date. Or wait a couple of years and do a two story extension then.

Can you make the study in a way that it could be another bedroom?

I'd do the downstairs loo and study. It'll improve your day to day life more than converting a single bedroom to a double.

I was thinking the same as a pp. If the study could double up as a guest bedroom, then that would be the better option for me.

I grew up in a 30s house but it already had a downstairs cloakroom when we moved in. My parents did a loft conversion, but did not put in fixed stairs as this would have involved losing the upstairs loo, separate to bathroom.
I would vote for doing the downstairs work first.

Definitely downstairs toilet., Far more useful than a loft conversion that you don't even need. Location would depend very much on location of drains/current plumbing.

Really handy for use during the day, also for random visitors that you may not want wandering about your house.

Agree with PP, if your options are a bedroom and bathroom upstairs (by losing a box room) or a study and WC downstairs (with box room still intact), make the study into a potential guest bedroom too and you get more space for less money. No brainier for me.

Really useful opinions thank you!

We bought a house that needed full renovation and have done both the loft conversion and the downstairs extension.

We did the loft first as it was cheaper and would add more value to the house (compared to the kitchen extension), enabling us to re-mortgage a couple of years later and do the downstairs extension. Putting scaffolding up for the loft was easier without the extension too, but that depends on how close your boundaries / neighbours are.

In all honesty, the downstairs extension and downstairs loo have added a better quality of life. (but we've got a bigger kitchen now, it's not just a downstairs study)

For a extra bedroom & extra bathroom OR study & downstair loo, I'd prob for for the loft tbh.
You can't choose your house renovations and your needs based on the needs of occasional visitors.
Do the loft, and maybe convert under the stairs to an additional loo without doing an extension downstairs?
But a small extension for a study & loo should not be any where near the same price as a loft conversion. Our loft converstion, inc decorating / built in wardrobes etc cost about 50K.
to convert our garage into a loo & extra room would have been about 18K

I'd do the downstairs loo as I don't see the point in losing one bedroom to create another (although granted the conversion would be much bigger) unless you have DCs who need the space?

I think a downstairs loo and study would add more value to the property.

Do you need a study? Will it be actually used as a useful working study or just a random room you shove stuff in as you don’t know where else to put it as the latter is my experience of studies. You either need a study or you don’t and the fact you are choosing between that and a bedroom suggests you probably don’t and the only thing you will be getting out of it is the downstairs toilet.

I think a third larger bedroom is much more useful and would add better value to your home if you do at some point decide to sell.

I take your point re studies often just being a random dumping ground - I’ve got a feeling e would use ours because we work from home quite often and DH wants somewhere other than the living room to put his massive PC he potters around on a few times a week.

Would the study be big enough for a bedroom? In someways, although double bedrooms are nice, how many families actually need three double bedrooms? If it is too spacious and comfortable the children might never leave!

Can the downstairs loo also include a shower? The. It can be marketed as a bedroom. Doesn't need to be big or fancy, just s standard shower in addition to loo and basin.

Could you put a study bed in the study? Then it can double as study and spare room

Side extension gives you more options for the future. If you get planning permission for the extended footprint, the loft could be done under permitted development. Doing the loft first might make getting PP for an extension difficult due to over-development.

agree with making the footings deep so accommodate a second floor extension. In fact can you do a two-storey - maybe the top floor not to full second fix but shell only so you can do it in bits later.

I’d go for the side extension. Our house had the loft converted before we bought it and in the summer it’s hot has hell up there. It’s supposed to be a bedroom but I’d boil alive if I spent any time up there. It doesn’t get used much as a result.

Do the loft now as it's such a big job. You can add on downstairs are a later date.

If you have DC 3, big bedrooms will be a lot more use than a small office and loo. I'd take the loft room for myself and partition off an office area up there.

Would the extension be extending from the kitchen or the living room?

Downstairs loo is really a must do - better for visitors, more immediately useful for yourselves rather than traipsing upstairs, and now put in as standard for new houses.

You can return to the loft conversion at your leisure when you have the money to proceed.