Will I regret getting rid of downstairs loo?

[MyDaisyField]

I live in a Victorian house that has a 1950’s loo by the backdoor. It’s in a sort of porch area between backdoor and door to the hallway. It’s pretty ugly and even though we’ve never actually used it (it’s freezing) it smells like a public toilet and if you don’t shut the hallway door it makes the whole of downstairs a bit stinky.

I think we should gut it and turn it into a cloakroom area. At the moment we use the space between the backdoor and hallway door as a dumping ground for coats and shoes but it’s tiny, even with just one coat and one pair of shoes there each it looks a tip.

Dh thinks we should get it redone and made nice and modern. We do have another downstairs bathroom but the plan is to use that and the rooms next to it as a granny flat for my dm within the next couple of years. Our main family bathroom is randomly halfway up the stairs so not too much of a slog and it means guests don’t have to go all the way upstairs to the loo.

Wwyd?

If you also have an upstairs bathroom as well as the downstairs one, turn it into storage.
If at some point you decide to sell, you can tell buyers it used to be a downstairs loo so they can reinstate if they want to. Design the house to work for you now.

If you ever have an injury that means stairs are tricky, you will rue the day you got rid of your downstairs loo. Don't think it won't happen to you.

Better for visitors as well.

Better for selling.

A very rough, very badly scaled floor plan. The rooms with the ‘x’ will be the ones we’ll turn into a granny flat when dm finally admits defeat. The stairs go over the top of the dearth toilet and the bathroom is halfway up (I’d already drawn it when I realised I hadn’t done stairs).

Not planning on moving anytime soon do resale value not really an issue. The granny flat won’t have a lock or a separate kitchen or anything, just 3 rooms that we’ll make my dm’s so could easily be turned back again. Toilet training not an issue as dc’s are relatively reliable.

Oh hang on, don’t think it attached.

Keep the downstairs loo, make it nicer. If you turn it into storage it’ll possibly become the place that things go never to be seen again!

I don’t see why you’d keep it. You have another downstairs loo! You don’t use the loo, and any future buyer is a long way in the future.

Downstairs loo every time!

My mum only bought our family home because it had a downstairs loo and with three kids she couldn’t imagine life without it. Didn’t love the house, just the loo!

Downstairs toilet is invaluable for so many reasons.
From little ones toilet training / getting used to remembering to go when concentrating on something else to elderly visitors not wanting to go upstairs in someone else's house, or even not able to manage the stairs.
For disabled guests.
Massively - for easy access from the garden - this is from when dcs are little, to when you are old and have gardeners come round, via teens having BBQs and parties or 'camping out' in your garden.
Then for quick access for a tummy upset. Flat access for a leg or back injury.
For retaining all party guests on one floor (again, when you have teens you appreciate this).
For when you have people working in your house.
Just SO useful to have a 2nd toilet when someone is in the shower or having a long bath, etc.
I'd definitely refurbish your downstairs toilet as your dh suggests.

Couldn't be without a downstairs toilet. I hate staying in a house where the only toilet is in the bathroom. You can never fully relax in the bathroom.
If the other downstairs bathroom will not be accessible to the rest of the family I would be cautious about getting rid of the extra toilet.

I'd get rid of it. I wouldn't like a loo that near a kitchen anyway. I'd turn it into really effective storage space

If you ever sell you have a downstairs bathroom anyway.

Keep the downstairs loo, invaluable, particularly if you have an accident and can’t go upstairs so quickly, people in the house working, visitors, flush it and then make it loverly.

Sounds like you want rid but I wouldn’t even consider not having an easily accessible downstairs loo.

I won't buy a house that doesn't have one.

Always useful if you are in the kitchen and the running water sets you off, for visitors that you don't want trailing through the house due to dirty shoes or nosiness, easy for when you arrive home needing a pee.

If there is only one other toilet in the house it is even more useful.

I converted ours into a tiny utility room and I'm delighted with it. None of us ever used it when it was a loo, we all went upstairs. So it was a total waste of space, while the washing machine and dryer were in an alcove in the kitchen, being noisy and in the way.

Good storage for outdoor gear is fabulous to have.

Do you have an upstairs bathroom, too? If so, lose the nasty loo, as you already have one downstairs.

How long do you plan on living here? Just asking as when your children age and you have more people needing the bathroom, you’ll definitely appreciate a vacant bathroom whilst your teen is hogging the shower upstairs or in the mornings where multiple people need to get ready for work/school etc at the same time.

If the granny flat becomes a reality, would you still have normal access to that bathroom or not?

I would re-do he toilet as a nice toilet anyway, and then not use it, leave the lid shut, and add some pegs and shelving, and turn it into a bit of a cloakroom.

So I vote for redoing the room and keeping it as a bathroom.

Don’t like the idea of a cloak room - why can’t you keep your shoes/coats in your room with the rest of your clothes?

I do like the idea of a laundry annex though.

Building Regulations don't permit homes to become less compliant with minimum expected standards than they already are. You don't have to update older buildings built before regulations came in if you don't want to but you cannot make the compliance worse than it already is. This won't be a problem with the initial removal as there's the other loo, but you will then be refused buildings control approval when you do the work to create the granny flat. Lack of signoff for work done will cause you headaches.

Like Utterly we turned ours into a mini utility room. We do have two bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs however and only two of us live here so it was somewhat surplus to requirements.

Another one here saying redo it. My first house only had one toilet. I hated guests traipsing upstairs using it. I finally have a Downstairs loo and I love it!

I personally would keep it but make it nice and useable, but then I couldn't manage with just one toilet. It was one of my non negotiables when buying a house.
But you have to do what works for you if you're staying put for the foreseeable. The plumbing won't be going anywhere so the option to put one back in would always be there.
Plus if you did sell in the future, I guess you'd be reinstating the granny flat rooms and therefore the house would have a second bathroom.

We got rid of ours (understairs) and made it into a cloakroom as we had v little storage downstairs.

Don't regret it but then we do have family bathroom and en-suite upstairs plus downstairs loo and sink plumbing is still there if future owners want to reinstate it as a downstairs loo.

I would not buy a house without a minimum of 2 toilets, I immediately discount houses with 1 toilet, which often leaves me with modern houses (with our budget at least) I think it's a necessary for many families. So I suppose it depends on whether it's a long term home for you or not, if it is then do what works for you, if it isn't, I'd do it up with the toilet.

I will just add think of the kids too if it's a long term home, it really stressed me out as a teenager only having 1 toilet (anxiety), it affected me quite badly. Sorry I've not read other posts to see if you have an additional toilet, and sorry I'm assuming there's kids too.

It would mean the only ‘guest’ bathroom would be the one that’s halfway up the stairs. There are two en-suites upstairs, so it would still leave us with a total of 4 toilets. My idea of changing it to a cloakroom is also because I’m the one that does the cleaning of (currently) 5 bloody bathrooms every week.

Once dm is in the granny flat but I wouldn’t want guests to use her bathroom (I can’t imagine she’d mind us using it but I also want it to very much be her space).