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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that en suite bathrooms are a total

159 replies

helloclitty · 22/02/2012 19:07

waste of valuable space in many recently built houses.

Currently house hunting and I am flummoxed as to why so many new build houses seem to have postage size 'double' rooms but have an en suite for nearly every bedroom.

Am I the only one that couldn't give a monkeys about having 4 bathrooms (to clean) and to think hope this might just be a passing trend?

OP posts:
WillowFae · 22/02/2012 21:23

We moved into a new build just before Christmas and in addition to the family bathroom we have two ensuites, plus a toilet and shower on the 2nd floor. The way it works is that the children have their own bathrooms. They are small at the moment, so not a big deal, but I imagine that when they are teenagers we will really appreciate it!

If it had been me as a child/teenager I would have LOVED my own bathroom.

ledkr · 22/02/2012 21:25

I love mine.Its more than a luxury as im in the attic.It was fab when pregnant and even better if im ill in bed. I had 3 teenage boys at one point so it was my little haven away from the lynx,skidders and spot creams.

ZonkedOut · 22/02/2012 21:26

When we first moved in to our house, we had a huge ensuite, double bedroom sized. But it didn't even have a shower in it, just an old iron bath one end, loo at the other end, sink near the middle. Huge waste of space. We had an extra wall put in, and now have a decent ensuite shower room plus dressing room.

I can see why a bathroom for each bedroom would be nice in some cases, but not if the bedroom was tiny as a result. And I wouldn't want to be the one to clean them all!

nbee84 · 22/02/2012 21:31

My dream is to have a house with 2 ensuites to the main bedroom. One for dh and one for me Grin

ArtVandelay · 22/02/2012 21:37

I'm not being facetious but do those of you with 3+ bathrooms do your own cleaning? I've just built a house with an upstairs and a downstairs bathroom. I specifically didn't include ensuites or extra shower rooms because I want to do my own chores and couldn't face any more rooms. How do you manage?

Doitnicelyplease · 22/02/2012 21:40

Another who loves their ensuite, after living in an flat with only one small bathroom, which had to be shared with guest and visitors I now really value my private bathroom with all my make-up, tampax whatever left out if I want to.

We have a family bathroom upstairs which DC use a downstairs loo on the main floor then another shower room/loo in the basement room - which is overkill really as the house is not that big, but they all come in handy and it means we can use the basement room for guests and they get their own bathroom.

slowburner · 22/02/2012 21:45

It's not sustainable with regards the chronic water resource issues we have in the uk. Yeah yeah it's raining in scotland but overall our water consumption is very high, and we are wasteful with water.

We are renting a 4bed at the moment which has a family bathroom, two en suites and a downstairs cloakroom. I bloody hate cleaning toilets! The house we are moving to has a family bathroom and a downstairs loo. Perfect.

Doitnicelyplease · 22/02/2012 21:47

In answer to Artv, yes I do my own cleaning, I was a bit 'urgh' about cleaning four loos when we moved in but it really doesn't take long or much effort to keep them clean. The ensuite is the hardest to keep clean as it has the most traffic with me and DH having showers, getting ready, brushing teeth, shaving etc the other bathrooms aren't used as much I guess.

carrielou2007 · 22/02/2012 21:48

Love my ensuite!! I have two bigger than double bedrooms on the first floor and a bathroom with overbath shower for dc and then up the next floor I have my large ensuite shower, big bedroom and dressing room.

I also have a downstairs loo.

Downstairs loo cleaned every day, dc bathroom cleaned every night after dc bath and my ensuite cleaned every morning after my shower.

Suits our family and I love it!!

ledkr · 22/02/2012 21:51

I do my own cleaning and work and have a baby.I clean the family bathroom when the baby is in the bath and mine as i go and the downstairs one when it needs it. I keep clening stuff in each bathroom too.

mrscumberbatch · 22/02/2012 21:57

I do my own cleaning, work and be a parent too. 5 bathrooms= hell but the majority of them just need a dust

cambridgeferret · 22/02/2012 22:01

One ensuite is perfect, more than that is a bit "Hyacinthy".

Friends of ours have downstairs cloakroom, faimily bathroom, one en-suite off master and another en-suite between two rooms.

For two of them and a dog.

Just wondering how more bathrooms = more water use.
Is it that it encourages people to shower more as they don't need to queue??
Surely the number of tinkles and turdies produced isn't going to increase with the number of available bathrooms.
DD1 does her part for water conservation splendidly. By forgetting to flush most times.

mrscumberbatch · 22/02/2012 22:07

We don't use any more than we used to cambridge. Everyone still washes/showers just not one at a time.

Tranquilidade · 22/02/2012 22:11

We live close to where a large sporting event takes place every so many years. There are leaflets go out before re renting out your home. I rang one of these and this rather snotty woman came round and turned her nose up at looked at our house then said "It's not very well planned, is it? I mean there are no en-suites" She totally missed my sarcasm when I told her those damned Edwardians just did not think ahead! Needless to say we have not tried to rent our house out since.

We have never missed having one.

StealthPolarBear · 22/02/2012 22:19

slowburner surely the amount of water used depends on the number of people in the house not the number of bathrooms? We have a downstairs toilet, ensuite and main bathroom and none of them are currently using any water.

NickettyNacketty · 22/02/2012 22:25

All of those with lots of showers and lots of individuals using them- can they all be in use at the same time or does the water pressure/heat get affected?

mrscumberbatch · 22/02/2012 22:50

Depends how it's hooked up Nicketty but ours can function with everyone at the same time because they're on seperate boilers.

NickettyNacketty · 22/02/2012 22:53

5 boilers?!

MerryMarigold · 22/02/2012 23:00

nbee84 Grin at one ensuite for dh and one for me. Now you're talking!

mrscumberbatch · 22/02/2012 23:01

3 boilers. 2 bathrooms on one, 2 on another and the downstairs is seperate with the utility room (futility room)

Original poster
helloclitty · 23/02/2012 07:06

3 boilers? that's going to be expensive when they all need replacing

OP posts:
Original poster
helloclitty · 23/02/2012 07:12

I think it is less environmentally friendly for three reasons.
Firstly because all the extra loos will at least have to be flushed 1 extra time a week when they are cleaned as well as the cleaning of the extra showers and sinks. That's a lot of extra water and chemicals.
Secondly if they need extra boilers it means more environmental waste.
Lastly and more importantly many are run off one boiler and a massive tank to allow for all showers to be used at the same time. This means a large tank of water is being heated continually rather than the environmentally friendly combi boilers.

OP posts:
Chandon · 23/02/2012 07:21

We have 3 bathrooms, in our 3 bed semi.

It is a bit mad.

Then an extra loo downstairs.

Regarding the cleaning, I guess as there are so many, they do not need cleaning as often as if you'd have 1?

we are thinking of knocking down one of the en suites (to DS room, who is 6 and never uses it as the fan makes a "scary" sound Hmm ) to turn into extra space/built in cupboard, as it IS madness.

JoandMax · 23/02/2012 07:22

We live in a new build with a downstairs loo, big family bathroom and and en-suite in our room which I would quite happily destroy! Our bedroom isn't that big yet the damn en-suite is huge, we'd have a great bedroom if we got rid of it. The family bathroom is big too so perfectly adequate for a 3 bed semi.

The main bathroom is also next to our room so we have toilets and sinks approximately 5 metres from eachother, ridiculous.

And to whoever asked I don't have a cleaner and I hate doing them all! We also have a strict 'no pooing in the en-suite' rule, why would I want to basically take a dump next to my bed???!!

trixie123 · 23/02/2012 07:24

we did get a cleaner when we moved here. I work 3 days a week, have a baby and toddler and we decided that the acres of carpet and 3 bathrooms meant we really needed to get one if we were going to be able to do fun stuff with the kids and not just be doing housework all the time. Its such a contrast to the tiny house we had before - we are fairly hard up at the mo but DP and I agree that the cleaner at £20 a week would be the last thing we cut now. Also cos the house is brand new we want to keep it looking nice. Old place was victorian so cobwebs added character Grin