Can you turn a large storage cupboard into a toilet ?

[somewheretheresadino]

Hello.
So I am torn between two houses, I am in the lucky position to have a deposit now (well I say lucky my mother sadly passed away 6 months ago but left an inheritance).
There's a house I've fallen in love with it's semi detached over three floors two lounges. Toilet on bottom floor and large kitchen/dinner and lounge. Family bathroom, lounge and large double bedroom on first floor. Then other bedrooms on top floor but no bathroom and with a child I don't know if I like the idea of them not having a bathroom on the same floor (age 3). There is a large storage cupboard and I wondered if this could be turned into a just a toilet and sink.

The other house is over two floors slightly smaller rooms one lounge but garage and utility room.

I'm torn. First time buyer, early 20s and making my first big life descion !

Depends on the size and location of the cupboard really. Is it above the other bathrooms? Ie is it in line with the existing soil and vent pipe? If not that would make things much more costly and difficult.

It's above the bathroom on the floor below yes.

It may not be a deal breaker I just don't want my DC waking up and needing to shout to use the loo

As above, you can do but it depends on how close you are to existing pipework. I have done it is two houses - once was very straightforward and the other was not and ended up a couple if thousand over budget due to difficulty in connecting to an existing waste pipe.

It the pipework is nearby then yes.

But I'd rather have my 3 year old walk downstairs than have their own bathroom they could make a mess of.

If there's enough room to fit a toilet and sink in, and assuming the walls are fairly standard brick and at least one is external, it should be possible to convert it (even if there's no external wall, or the walls are made of solid stone, it's probably possible, but it would be more complicated). The question is just how much it would cost. If it's above an existing bathroom then my understanding is that that's easier than if they have to run pipes to/from the rest of the house.

You can also get toilets that don't need a standard sewer pipe (the big thick pipe that goes from the toilet straight into the outside drain) - they have something in them that breaks the contents into smaller bits.

You're probably best to get the measurements of the cupboard, and a rough diagram of the house layout, and ask a plumber or builder for an idea of what's involved.

Have a look at macerator toilet installations

Thank you for the advice !

If it is too expensive/complicated and just for the 3yr old, what about a camping loo and sink? You would need to empty the loo but no worse than emptying a potty. Then they can just go downstairs as they get older.

We turned our airing cupboard in to an en-suite (got a combo boiler so no tank in the cupboard) It’s excellent.

A 3 year old will probably shout for you anyway rather than go to the toilet on their own in the middle of the night. Mine did, and the bathroom was only about 2 metres from their room! In our previous house the bathroom was downstairs through the kitchen (Victorian terrace) but it wasn't a problem as we were all just used to it.

Ohh @EmpressSoleil that's a good idea actually.
Yea it more for when he reaches the age he doesn't want to shout for me ! But by that age he may be fine to just go downstairs himself.

I do prefer this house to the other one and with 2 lounges he'd get a play room as well

I found you need a surprising amount of depth in a room to fit a toilet in. Loos tend to stick out forwards more than you think, then plumbers will say you need plenty of room in front of it. Try measuring the depth you need in your current bathroom and compare that to cupboard depth.

We did this with a walk in cupboard/wardrobe in my son's room. Just big enough for a WC, basin and wall cupboard.

Could you use the first floor lounge as a bedroom, then you’d all be on the same floor as the bathroom, and use the top floor bedroom as a playroom or second sitting room?

Macerator toilets are not great so I'd avoid one unless you absolutely have to. We ended up taking ours out. Very noisy and very easily blocked.

I can’t stand macerator loos for the reasons mentioned by a pp. It may be that the cupboard isn’t quite big enough, and that some space needs to be taken from one of the bedrooms, but unless they are tiny, that should be doable. There are short projection lavatories, and ones with the sink above the cistern, all of which saves on space. You may even want to take space from the other bedrooms to create a shower room, so when your child is older they have their own private bathroom, or one that is Jack-and-Jill with another bedroom? Just thinking about the long term, once they are a teenager that could be really useful so their toiletries and mess aren’t in your space!

You can get toilets with a handbasin on top of the cistern now, really useful in a small space.