No bathroom

[GiBlues]

DH and I are thinking of building a 2 storey extension on our house which will mean all 4 bedrooms we have now will be bigger as well as adding 2 extra en-suites. So 4 bedrooms, 3 en suites.

DH has suggested we do away with the main bathroom and make that a 4th en-suite so everyone has their own bathroom. I’m not sure as I think it seems odd not to have a main bathroom although we do have a downstairs toilet for visitors so the main bathroom would only be used by the person in the 4th bedroom.

Would love opinions on what we should do:

YABU for no main bathroom and YANBU for keeping the main bathroom

It is our forever home and we have 2dds and a ds

Why are you thinking of building the extension, are the rooms unbearably small just now, how much extra space will you be gaining?

It seems ridiculous to build a two storey extension just to create a couple of bathrooms and some slightly bigger bedrooms.

If there's a bathroom for every bedroom (and a downstairs toilet) then there's no advantage to the occupants of one bedroom having to go through a shared corridor to use their bathroom.

Having said that, if I were designing a house from scratch, I think I'd only go for en-suites in rooms I was sure would always be occupied. Otherwise it's a bit of a waste of space. I have three "bedrooms", one of which has never in 30 years been used other than as a home-office, and another was a guest/storage room for the first ten years.

Two bathrooms, en-suite in master and shared bathroom for other bedrooms is the safest choice. Assuming no other adults are likely to live with you long-term, the only beneficiaries of extra en-suites are teenage children, who by definition aren't going to need an en-suite for more than 8 years each.

It does seem a bit mad extending without gaining an extra bedroom tbh. If you have three kids you won't even have a spare room...?

Personally I'd extend to create a 5 bed house, two en-suites and a family bathroom.

Who is going to clean all these bathrooms? Sounds mad. I'd have 1 large family bathroom, 1 smaller communal shower room with toilet. Hate en suites - who wants all that steamy air/toilet smell going into their bedroom? They're only good in hotels IMO. Much rather have bigger bedrooms.

If it's your forever home and you won't be selling any time soon then just do whatever suits your family best BUT personally I'd do what titchy suggests

I'd rather have a spare room for visitors than less bedrooms but more bathrooms so I would use the extended upstairs space to create a 5th bedroom and stick with current bathroom situation

En-suites are one of those things you don't miss if you've never had and having one for every bedroom is overkill imho

GiBlues if you plan to live in the house forever then nobody else's opinion matters at all does it?

If you really plan to live there forever and are doing extensive remodeling I'd recommend putting in level flooring and recessed doorways downstairs, level access to outdoors, a downstairs barrier free wetroom and a study or similar downstairs which could easily be adapted to be a downstairs bedroom, seriously. Far, far more important than four upstairs ensuites if you're serious about hanging on in the house til the day you die...

Ok so this is our upstairs floor plan. We are extending out the whole length of the house next to bedroom 1. We would be going out pretty much the same width again as bedroom 1.
Any layout ideas are welcome

I loathe en-suites. We had two removed in our current home. I would rather have a decent family bathroom, a shower/wc downstairs and a guest room. If it's your forever home, I would expect friends and family staying overnight.

Why are you extending though, what do you need that you haven't got now?

I would expect 4 bedrooms house to have 1-2 bedrooms with en-suites, 1 family bathroom and downstairs toilet.
A house with all bedrooms en- suites reminds me a house for students rather than a family house.

Depends what your long-term plans are. If you’re going to be Air BnBing the rooms then each with an en suite is a good idea. For a family home, I think it needs a main bathroom. We still have a main bathroom because it’s handy for hanging wet things to dry without having to take them through the bedrooms - swimming costumes, non-tumble dry items, rain gear, etc.

I’d have 2 nice big family bathrooms, and 1 en-suite in the master bedroom.

You have 3 DC, so either everyone gets an en-suite (as you seem to want to do) or none of the DC should. With mixed sexes, that would allow both DDs to share a bathroom, your DS to use one himself, and you and DH get a luxury en-suite.

One of the main bathrooms could be jack-and-Jill e.g the one your son would use.

En Suites are grim. I wouldn't even consider a house that didn't have a separate bathroom.

So you would then have five bathrooms to clean?! Madness!

Okay, how are you accessing the extension, will there be another staircase or are you knocking through the walls?

What are you putting downstairs?

How old are the DCs?

Do what’s best for your family. If you’re not going to move do it to suit yourself. I would put a craft room in because that’s important for me. However I live in a 5 bed house with one family bathroom and no downstairs loo!
If I could change something about my house it would be to just have an extra toilet anywhere. Eventually I might put a bathroom in one of the bedrooms but then I’d lose my craft room and that’s more important to me than extra shower so we’ll stay this way! No one spends that long in the bathroom in our family- get in get out!

Advice from strangers doesn't matter if you're not bothered about resale - more important to know what your family want from the house.

Do your children like baths? If they do don't create a layout meaning they'll have to walk through your room to bath in your ensuite or never have a bath.

Do you have overnight guests much?

Do you live in an expensive, convenient city or easily city accessable location in which you anticipate one or more of your children wanting to remain living with you for university or to work? Or do you realistically expect your children to move out at 18 because you live in the arse end of nowhere?

Does anyone in the household need to work from home? Would a study be useful. I'd imagine an extra room upstairs and downstairs, one as a study/ guestroom and one as a snug/ or gamesroom/ playroom depending on children's ages/ guestroom would be more useful than massive ensuite bedrooms.

I'd be tempted to make all the children's rooms the same size or leave them as they are and create an extra self contained bedsit if you envisage a child living with you into adulthood... You could use it for guests or as a work/ hobby space til then.

Lots of options, of which four big ensuite bedrooms only one of which has a bath seems the least useful, but there may be a reason it's right for your family.

We need/want a bigger area for our bedroom so we can have and en-suite/ dressing room.
And we figured everyone having their own bathroom would stop fighting later on especially when they’re teenagers.
The downstairs extension will give us a huge kitchen/dining room as well as an office and gym.

Here's what I'd do. You get an extra bedroom, as well as a dressing room and a slightly larger master bedroom. There's still a family bathroom and a separate shower room to be shared between the rest of the family.

Can't see the image. Trying again...

To put it bluntly.

The only reason not to have all as en suites is if there's ever going to be a situation were someone doesn't want to take a shit in their bedroom.

Is the noise the same if the bathroom becomes incorporated?

That includes your DCs through the teen/young Adult and having a partner to stay etc.

Or would you ever have other people stay, elderly relatives etc?

@bridgetreilly‘s post above is exactly what I’d do

We will be taking away part of our bedroom for new landing.
Dc are 10,8 and 5 bath is currently used once every few months as we all have showers.
We are on SECOND England but we are out in the sticks, nearest major town is 40 mins drive.

I don't think you're going far enough. All the downstairs rooms should have a toilet and shower in the corner too. And a stand-alone wash block in the garden just in case.

I really don't get this thing about having your own bathroom, you're only in there for a tiny part of the day.

You could probably give a whole village in a developing country clean water and sanitation for what it'd cost you.