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Original poster

To remove our en-suite?

134 replies

Whatelsecouldibecalled · 02/05/2019 20:08

We’ve just moved to a new house. Got a bit of money to it up how we like. It’s got an en-suite in the master bedroom that I think takes up a lot of room. I’m not overly fussed about en-suites. I don’t see why builders are so obsessed with cramming one in. Our old one fitted the room ok so we left it. This one is built almost like a cupboard into the room. We would gain a fair amount of room if we took it out. It’s not that functional and we don’t like the suite or decor in it. Would it be a problem though if we ever came to sell? What type of trades people would we need to sort it out if we wanted it removed. Have attached picture of outside to give a rough idea of what it looks like??

To remove our en-suite?
OP posts:
Jaspermcsween · 02/05/2019 22:48

Hells teeth it’s

DRAWERS

DRAWERS

DRAWERS.
As you were

Almost40andweeping · 02/05/2019 22:50

How big is your house? We have a 3 bed terrace and when we extended our attic we put an en suite in. Post child I cannot sleep through the night so it’s a god send. My bedroom is 26 feet long without one so it makes sense
If it’s your life house then remove it; if you want to sell on then think of future buyers

BuggyWanker · 02/05/2019 22:51

@BarbarAnna that’s what dressing gowns are for in our house Grin

JenMumma · 02/05/2019 23:34

I love it it's really nice and I'd love one 🙂

altiara · 02/05/2019 23:50

Size wise it’s loads better than what I thought! Previously seen a house with an toilet, mini sink and small shower in a row so space in between - about the size of a cupboard. The house was great but the ensuite seemed like a downgrade in bathroom.
I prefer using a spacious bathroom rather than a tiny one, but also more bathrooms the better if you’re going to have kids. So I’ll sit on the fence, no need to thank me Grin

maddening · 02/05/2019 23:51

Have it as A walk in Wardrobe?

NoHolidaysforyou · 03/05/2019 01:11

Keep it.

Think of the logistics. Your downstairs loo is occupied by a guest and your teenager has food poisoning meaning he has just unloaded in the family bathroom... Do you really want to walk in to that smell just to have a wee? You could easily have a no poo policy with your partner, and you are just removing convenience by taking out the ensuite.

Also, dressing rooms can be pointless! I just went to see a house with a fancy dressing room but it had the same wardrobe space as mine did without. The only difference was that my wardrobes face the bed and the wardrobes in the dressing room face each other. Honestly it seemed very pointless to me.

LuluJakey1 · 03/05/2019 01:24

Ours is only used for peeing, handwashing and the shower and bath. Pooing takes places in another bathroom or downstairs loo. If I am asleep DH showers in another bathroom in the morning. I am not keen on ensuites but ours is large-was a small bedroom converted into ensuite. I would prefer it if DH never used it at all and it was just mine. I encourage him to use the other bathroom.

BuzzPeakWankBobbly · 03/05/2019 06:08

Suggestion - if there is a decent size bedroom backing onto it, could you move the door there and make it an en suite to that room for guests; and/or a seperate bathroom for yourselves?

Keeps the facility but moves it out of your room.

aprilshowers12 · 03/05/2019 06:13

I’d keep it. There will come a time when a baby is being bathed and someone needs a shower ( or a poo and can’t be arsed to go downstairs) I personally never understand why people want bigger bedrooms, as long as you can fit in a big bed, chest of drawers and wardrobe that’s all you really need in a sleeping area imo

stillworkingitout · 03/05/2019 06:37

Interesting read. We are part way through buying a house that has an enormous en suite. I’m strongly in favour of making that the primary family bathroom as I’m not fussed about the en suite and it feels like a waste. We would also have another bathroom (current family bathroom) which could potentially be split into a bathroom and a small en-suite. I can see the appeal of the en-suite for guests but it’s also just another bathroom to clean...

PookieDo · 03/05/2019 07:09

I’ve had an en suite and it had a crap tiny shower and crap tiny sink.
I would much rather (and now do) have a nice downstairs loo. Good for guests and less hassle with DC as someone can always use the loo!

ElsieMc · 03/05/2019 07:16

We have two loos both separate from the bathroom in a largish house. We had it valued last year and two estate agents told us that we needed an extra bathroom ie an en suite. I guess they can only go with what buyers tell them they want. I am not fussed personally and it's interesting to hear others feel the same.

Agents also told us our kitchen wasn't big enough. It has lots of units but we chose to maintain a separate dining room because I don't like sitting in a room with dirty pots etc and we do use it every day. Again, they felt it was a mistake. Visitors and family tell us how nice the kitchen is.

If you are not doing up to sell on, have your house how you want it.

Singlenotsingle · 03/05/2019 07:19

I wouldn't want to be without ours, although in our house the family bathroom is downstairs. It's an essential!

Minniemagoo · 03/05/2019 07:20

Would you consider leaving the did walls etc, ripping out tiles and sanitary wear and redoing the room as a walk in wardrobe type space. It would clear some of the furniture out of your bedroom making it larger but still be a room of you had to sell.

WhereDoesThisToiletGo · 03/05/2019 07:34

That is a very tiny sink!

Vulpine · 03/05/2019 07:43

I saw a property make over show the other day where they decided to remove the dividing wall between ensuite and bedroom so basically the toilet was in the bedroom. Eughhwww

Original poster
Whatelsecouldibecalled · 03/05/2019 08:28

Really divided here! So current options are:

  1. keep the en-suite and re do the room to our taste and a better standard decent shower and an actual sink that you can get your hands in.
  2. remove en-suite all together. We won’t be turning it into a walk in wardrobe. The walls will be coming down and we would be left with a bigger room with an alcove type area.

Thanks all for input! If anyone has a nice functional en-suite they want to share pics if I would be grateful for ideas!

OP posts:
Alsohuman · 03/05/2019 08:35

@BarbarAnna, no post coital emptying here - clearly we’re completely uncivilised. And we have these really useful things called dressing gowns to facilitate privacy in the two steps between our bedroom and bathroom doors.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 03/05/2019 08:44

Two steps between the bedroom and the bathroom door?

There are probably about seven steps between our bedroom and the bathroom and six between our bedroom and the en-suite.

I wouldn’t buy a house without an en-suite. Ours has a door that closes.

thecatsthecats · 03/05/2019 08:45

I would say it is safe to ignore the people who are saying they wouldn't buy a house without a master en suite, because it is highly likely that they have other criteria your house isn't meeting for them, so they wouldn't be buying it either way. So removing it isn't affecting your market.

Your house will sell if it's a neatly presented example of what people expect of that kind of house.

As a PP said:

2 bed - 1 bathroom, bonus if there's an extra loo.
3 bed - 1 bathroom, bonus if extra loo/shower
4 bed - 1 bathroom, en suite starts to be more common, extra loo normal, extra bathroom very desirable
5 bed - would be very unusual to see just the one bathroom
6 bed - at this point, many would start carving up the extra bedrooms for bathroom space

I keep an eye on the 3 bed market near me, like my own. I would say a second loo is pretty uncommon, a second bathroom or ensuite only really there in loft conversions (and from viewings, they have always been shabby, unloved looking things!).

BuzzPeakWankBobbly · 03/05/2019 08:48

Vulpine I saw a property make over show the other day where they decided to remove the dividing wall between ensuite and bedroom so basically the toilet was in the bedroom. Eughhwww

Was that that virtual reality show?
I thought the same!

Nice to have your partner looking on adoringly as you grunt to push out a smelly poo...

ControversialFerret · 03/05/2019 08:50

I think it depends where you are as well. We have a 3 bed - and when we were looking (just over 2 years ago) a second loo was on the essentials list. Most of the 3 beds we were looking at had two loos; either a combination of downstairs cloak and main bathroom, or main bathroom and en-suite.

missbattenburg · 03/05/2019 08:54

Love my ensuite - but maybe that's because I have no DH to poo in it. Only me but more adults in the house.

Can't imagine ever buying anywhere agin without one - unless I went back to living alone.

banivani · 03/05/2019 08:59

From a foreign perspective the British obsession with the ensuite is a little strange - no matter how small or poky it's perceived as adding value! Some of them are hardly better than basically a shower cabin in the corner of the bedroom (never mind the shitting part...). If you have lots of guests, or house-share or whatever then I do understand the privacy part of course, but otherwise not really - you're in your own home, all the bathrooms are yours, surely. IMO an ensuite can be a little limiting also in how you use the rooms of the house because it marks one bedroom as "the master", even if you'd rather allocate them differently.

I'm in Sweden and very very very rarely is there an ensuite. That'll be for people in Stockholm with notions. Or hotels.

I do agree that two toilets are immensely practical and you'd be a fool to rip one out if you only have two (which you don't, I gather). We lived with three kids in a one-bathroom flat and it was a little hard at times. Now we live in a flat with one bathroom and one "guest" loo. Useful if someone is sick, for example, to relegate them to the little guest loo and keep the germs there. However, now I see the usefulness of an extra shower ...

For me the normal expectation is a family bathroom and a guest loo/small bathroom with shower.

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