Do older children make a second shower and basin worthwhile?

[Monvelo]

This isn't very interesting but I would welcome opinions from folks with slightly older kids! It's about morning bathroom time slots vs having an extra shower and basin.

We have a partial en suite off the main bedroom, with a basin and a shower. No loo, but the family bathroom is next door and there's a WC downstairs. We have never used this ensuite and instead it's become a cupboard of doom, making up for poor storage space.

The issue is now the kids are getting older we're starting to have clashes for the family bathroom in the morning. Dh shoots in there first and somehow spends about 30 mins, and everyone else waits their turn after. Increasingly DD is starting to knock and ask to get in there. She starts senior school in Sept and will need access to the bathroom a lot earlier. And then so will ds. I imagine it'll only get more chaotic from here on!

So, is a second shower and basin a huge help when everyone's trying to get out of the door? Should I try to free up the partial en suite in all it's glory? It would mean rehoming difficult items and about a wardrobes worth of clothes. An easier option might be to release just the basin and mirror.

On the other hand we only had one bathroom in my house growing up and no extra loo.... So is a family bathroom and an extra loo downstairs fine and people just need an acceptable time slot?

My thoughts exactly.

Growing up we only had one, Dad was up and out before we got up. Mum was next in the shower before sis and I fought over who got a long lie.

But it was still a PITA when we were all going out

If you have an ensuite then please free it up and let your husband take his sweet time in there. It will then free up the bathroom and you have the extra toilet.
We are a family of 4. Oldest is 11 and he hogs one bathroom. Every time he’s in there he takes at least 15mins. Luckily we have another bathroom.
I could not do with one toilet/bathroom.

My neighbour had 4 girls 1 hubby and her 1 bathroom. We are a family of 4 with one bathroom. You need better time management. Not every one needs to shower in the morning and good god 30 min shower your literally pouring money down the drain.

For goodness sake, you need to sort out the storage in your house. Underbed storage, under-stairs storage, make use of any dead space, make better use of the loft if you have one. And declutter. Absolutely ridiculous to be using a shower-room for storage when you could be showering in it.

Having said that, depending on the type of boiler you have, and what your water pressure is like, it might be tricky to run two showers at the same time.

I'm another poster wondering how your husband can be so selfish as to take a half-hour shower in the morning when everyone else is waiting. A second usable shower would help, but if you or DD need to wash your hair with a trickle of water because the pressure isn't great, that won't exactly fix it!

DH taking 30 mins is the big issue. It's normally a teen (and might well be soon).

The issue I always find with two showers going simultaneously is the pressure. But it makes it less enjoyable so you get out faster 😅

I think your storage is an issue. Declutter, fix/replace your ottoman, look at space under stairs for things like clothes airers and dehumidifier. Look at how to make your existing storage work better (lots of different hanging solutions). I wouldn't keep an ensuite as a storage room in your circumstances

My eldest has just had her second year at uni in a house share of 4 with one bathroom, really normal situation, they've been fine. Having 2 is a lot easier though and reduces friction.

Completely different for students though as they will all be on different schedules. Not the same as a family all having to leave the house by 8am.

It made a huge difference when my brother and i were teens. Originally we had just one loo, separate to the bathroom. We needed at least a second loo. Mum and brother preferred baths and Dad and I desperately wanted a shower. We knocked through the wall from the toilet into the bathroom and rearranged the landing to include a small shower room with loo. Technically my parents en suite but I used the shower and anyone could use the toilet if the main one was occupied

Dh is in the bathroom a long time but he's not in the shower that whole time!

And we really don't have clutter, it's the stuff of life, and no alternative location for many items. There's no cupboard under the stairs here. No garage. There is only a small boiler cupboard. We do have a loft so some things can go up there.

Am hearing that use of the partial en suite should be prioritised, very clearly, thank you folks :)

Definitely free up the space! We extended and added a full en-suite in my eldest daughters room and a partial in ours (didn’t want a macerator) my youngest now has family bathroom to herself - it’s amazing!
all adults now and no rows about showers - only who cleans them 😂

Only on mumsnet 😂

@Monvelo I hear you OP, you don't have enough storage without using the en-suite as a cupboard . A common problem with newer houses. I don't know how they get away with building them like that. At least the dc get a bedroom each but bathroom rotas may need tightening. Couldn't dh do some of his titivating elsewhere?

It's actually a 1947 house, I suspect this space was originally a cupboard and was turned into a shower room later. When we moved in it didn't have a door or an extractor fan it was just a shower behind a curtain! We did it up new and then never used it. We have looked at having fitted cupboards put in under the stairs and things but it's sooo much money, thousands and thousands.

Ooops, sorry, I assumed the en-suite was already there. But without an understairs cupboard you can't afford to use any wardrobe space.
I am bitter because we're about to move to a house with literally not a single built in cupboard, and putting some in will cost many thousands and spoil the shape of the living room.

We shared the only bathroom in our house as teens but we also had to catch a bus to school so there was never any hair washing in the morning as we were all girls with long hair, just a shower to get clean. The bus element meant you had to be in and out on schedule. Luckily the toilet was separate otherwise my Dad would have been buried under the patio.

We currently have an en-suite that is mine and Dh's and the 2 children share a bathroom. They had a schedule for the morning for secondary that worked really well but they also walked to school so it was less stressful. They are now adults, working and having to leave for the office on the same day so have to be out of the house at set times. They have their own schedule between them for showering and a toilet slot. We do have a downstairs toilet too.

I think it would be useful to use your shower room and consider the scheduling of this for September but put it in place now to see if it works.

We had only one shower for a bit and it was a nightmare! We’re actually thinking of adding a third…

So you do have the options for storage you just can't/won't spend the money sorting it.
Why spend money sorting the shower only to use it as a cupboard?!

We don’t have one, just a family bathroom. Even though my eldest is now at university morning are often tricky. When we are all home and all going out at a similar time it’s hellish !

We have 3 bathrooms (family bathroom, en suite shower room and downstairs utility/shower room and toilet) and there are only 2 of us! Plus guests/visitors sometimes. So I say YES.

I'd say we don't have storage, seeing as it doesn't exist! When we moved in the shower room was so disgusting, we replaced it immediately before really cottoning on to the storage issue or knowing how we'd live in the space. We are talking 10 years ago, we only had 1 toddler then, and a spare room, so things have moved on.

Yes in my child’s uni house it wasn’t unusual for them to be cooking, showering, doing uni work at 2/3/4am! Student houses are not normal households 😆

For us yes. I fact we always had a main bathroom plus an ensuite and a downstairs loo. We've just moved to a house with a second ensuite which is madness really. From a cleaning perspective it's ridiculous. But it works well from a logistics angle. I have a sanctuary in my ensuite away from all their mess. The teens don't fight over bathroom space or each other's mess. I know we could survive with one but of all the luxuries in life, not needing to wait for a loo is a good one to have! They clean their bathrooms appallingly badly so I try to going once a fortnught and give them a proper scrub but this way I don't need to wipe the seat, nag about skid marks, move pants and sanitary wrappers and bottles of shampoo or empty the bin every time I want a peaceful shower. I hope one day they will be disgusted by their own squalor and start cleaning properly but until then they have to fester in it.

I'd guessed it was an older house, hence no loo in the ensuite. I'd be tempted to try to shoehorn a loo in there.

I think its time to declutter. I knew someone who used to keep out of season clothes in suitcases, so winter coats were packed away, then in autumn the coats brought out and the light summer dresses etc put away.

Just remember the previous occupants installed the shower for a reason. Probably the same issue your currently having.

Yeah yeah people coped back in the day, people also used to share toilets with the neighbours (nice), times have moved on. Daily showers are now a thing (I don't think they were in the 40s).
Why make life harder than it needs to be.

I'd be tempted to ask a joiner about fitting cupboards under the stairs rather than a cupboard company. Wasn't cheap but I've just moved a cupboard cost £1500 to move it.

I think you need to really declutter clothes, maybe get another shed for garden storage and get that bathroom in use again. Do you have an under stairs cupboard?

Why does your husband need the bathroom to faff with his beard, surely just a bedroom mirror would do?

In my parents house they have an en-suite as well as a family bathroom and also a shower cubicle and sink in one very big room. We used them a lot as tweens/teens.

Definitely! We had a bathroom and downstairs loo before we completely rehashed our home, we have separate en suites and a main bathroom now with bath and shower … it’s far easier now and less stressful …. My DD has been spending a good 45 mins in the bathroom as a teen so it’s been a god send as she has her own now