Get rid of toilet in new build

[putitdown356]

About to move in to a 3 bed new build, one bathroom and one en suite upstairs, with a loo downstairs.

I want to get rid of downstairs loo and put a washing machine and dryer in there.

I live on my own. If I don't do this washing machine will go in kitchen and dryer im not sure where it could go. Does this sound like a mistake? Or would you also do this?

If the ground floor wc can’t accommodate a wheelchair then it’s not a lifetime home. Plus there would be no steps to the garden. ( the sloping garden, unless more than 1/10 is not a thing). So no it’s not a lifetime home.

Why not a washer dryer? One unit, boxed into kitchen as per other cabinets. Don’t lose downstairs loo, that’s v useful

There must be space for a washing machine in the kitchen, I’d put a washer dryer in the space.

It’s the internal wheelchair turning space that makes it a lifetime home. Not the door width.

Could you move the downstairs loo sink over the cistern, to make space to fit in a stacked washer and dryer, so you've still technically got the loo then even if it's a bit of a squash to actually use it?

You could also get supports put in either side to rest a removable shelf on over the loo (in front of or fitting round the mini sink) for laundry sundries.

In your position I would compromise by accepting the downstairs loo being less convenient to use, by rearranging it to make space for appliances, but I wouldn't go so far as removing it completely. Spending money on squeezing in both loo and appliances is likely to be a better investment than only ever having one or the other.

Not anymore, those days are long gone.

You may need to pay a bit more but there are great options in the market. Check AEG and Miele.

Edited. Samsung also has great washers/driers. As a Korean company they look after their own market, meaning small apartments needing appliances to fit in.

Obvious question. If you house has a garden don't you imagine drying your washing outside?

I hardly use my dryer. Everything is line-dried except when it's raining or icy outside.

You could put a clothes horse in your spare bedroom or a dryer in a garage if you don't want a washer-dryer.

? what's the point of one without the other? if the door's too narrow the wheelchair can't get into the loo.

Is there a way of refitting the downstairs looto include a washer and dryer stack or a washer dryer?
Or possibly under the stairs cupboard.
I live in a 60s house and our downstairs loo is a really useful. When we had the money we redesigned it to include a large cupboard for shoes and coats.
It could easily take the washer .

Can’t you put them in one of the bedrooms? Family houses are worth more with a downstairs toilet. And then you aren’t taking washing up and downstairs for the sake of it.

Surely if it's a house with stairs, it's not really suited to wheelchair users anyway, since stairlifts break down all the time? My understanding was that this was more about accommodating disabled guests and family members for the day.

Do you have a cupboard where you could install a plug and put it in there? Our new build has three large cupboards and we installed plugs in all of them. One has our spare fridge freezer in it and one has space for our rechargeable vacuum and shelving for quilts/suitcases.

OP, you seem to be very conveniently ignoring all the posters pointing out that this is not legal.

I know🤣 it does seem bizarre but actually
Building regs requires the door to accommodate the width of a wheelchair, that’s a separate issue and you have to do that anyway
To upgrade to a lifetime home you also need to be able to manoeuvre, in a wheelchair independently within that space. So it’s more like a shop disabled toilet.

ours has started doing that too but hasn't always...some of the housing built around here around 20-25 years ago is dreadful for parking and they aren't starter homes, the houses are 3/4 bed reasonably prestige but they are carmmed in like sardines.

Lifetime homes can and usually do have more than one floor. They are for as it says on the tin, your lifetime…so you don’t have to move because of a change in circumstances. They are not disabled single story properties

Seems ridiculous to insist all new builds our lifetime homes. Only a tiny tiny percentage of people are going to need downstairs lose it, et cetera waste of money unless I’ve read it wrong

We had a two bed house years ago, well I bought it for me, new build with two parking spaces in front and a brick cupboard to store a dustbin, with a planter on top, and a strip of garden in front of the window. Well thought out.

Moved to a brand new 3 bedroomed house with one driveway. Best house we could find locally.

Ridiculous planning, but we managed to convert two strips either side of our driveway, which was just paving stones with loose chippings ( which luckily stayed in place) and match it with another set, giving us a double drive, with out too much effort at all, and the end tarmac-ed part over the footpath, matched a double drive perfectly.

Other houses had all sorts of driveways built, double, massively long singles. shorter singles like ours. I think the 4 beds all had double, and the three beds, it was pot luck as to what they built.

@LemonSherbertDabs it would mean having it at the end of the row of cabinets in the dining space, I was thinking it would look a bit odd, also plumbing?

Its very weird not to have parking if there’s no public transport @Theunamedcat . Wonder how much the developers gave the LA to get that one through !

Tbh @godmum56 im all in favour of squashing as many in as possible and wish we would go back to terraces and more flats. We just don’t have the land for sprawling developments in this country.

A neighbour kept the loo and changed everything else to utility style so kitchen type sink, work top and put washer and dryer in. Best of both worlds?

There is no one insisting all new builds should be lifetime homes.
Some of them just are and some LAs require a % of the development.

Well that's illegal.
Building Regs require 2 doors between a toilet and kitchen.

When we did our bathroom we sectioned off a cupboard for a washing machine so that we could move it out of the kitchen. I really like not having to carry dirty washing up and down stairs and listen to the washing machine in the kitchen.

We don’t use a tumble dryer, we use a dehumidifier which takes up less space, is cheaper to run and kinder on clothes.

Could you find space in one of the upstairs bathrooms for a washing machine?

No you don’t as long as the wc has its own wash hand basin.