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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to not understand the current obsession with bathrooms?

138 replies

BadRuby · 04/02/2020 22:06

It seems like a lot of properties are shoehorning in an en suite or an extra toilet or shower room wherever they can.

I just saw a miniscule 2 bed flat with a family bathroom and a chunk taken out of the main bedroom for a shower en suite Confused surely the space could have been better used for storage, or literally anything else? What need is there for 2 bathrooms in a 2 bedroom flat?

I've seen this a lot in new builds as well, and it's just bizarre!

OP posts:
DontCallMeShitley · 04/02/2020 23:06

We wouldn't buy a property unless it had 2 bathrooms/shower room. If one of them was downstairs it would be OK, however if not would also need a downstairs WC, but ideally an ensuite and family bathroom due to our requirements and the hours we keep.

Wouldn't buy a new build though, or a fairly new house, the bedrooms seem so small which makes the bathroom requirements cramped. Have always had decent sized rooms and the master with ensuite has always been big.

Lifeinthedeep · 04/02/2020 23:08

YANBU we want to buy a 2 bed new build near us because they’re affordable and can get us on the ladder (2 adults and a baby). Unfortunately, they all seem to be matchbox sized with an en suite ridiculously contorted into the double bedroom and the main bathroom squeezed in between the bedrooms and parallel to the en suite.

I’d rather a large cupboard tbh.

Bluewavescrashing · 04/02/2020 23:08

We have 4 x bathrooms.

1 for me (master ensuite)

1 for DH (guest ensuite--he moves back with me if we actually have guests)

1 x family bathroom for the DCs to make mess in

1 x downstairs cloakroom

Our last house had one bathroom only. No other toilets or showers. I couldn't go back to that now 😀

Purpleartichoke · 04/02/2020 23:08

I’ve lived one place with only one bathroom. It is not an experience I ever hope to repeat.

If everyone in your household ever gets food poisoning or the flu at the same time, you will understand.

Plus, Loos break and sometimes plumbers take time. bodies don’t wait so a second bathroom really is important.

Cremebrule · 04/02/2020 23:11

We ripped one of our en-suites out and turned it into storage. It was madness. It was a horrid shower with no windows or toilet and the bedroom didn’t have space for a wardrobe. God knows what the previous owners were thinking but they were shit at designing a sensible layout across many other things in the house too.

Mycatwontstopstaring · 04/02/2020 23:12

Absolutely! We’re doing some building work and the builders think It, really strange not to want an en suite. I’m like why do I want my husband to listen to me using the loo?

An odd fashion. I know someone with 4 toilets in a 2 bed flat. (2 en suite 2 general). Very odd.

Itsagrandoldteam · 04/02/2020 23:12

We have 5 bathrooms, between the 3 of us.

Everyone has their own, plus a couple spare. I do not have to smell anyone else's shit, or fall into the loo in the middle of the night because my DH hasn't put the seat down. That only happens when we have relatives to stay.

NoProblem123 · 04/02/2020 23:14

3 beds, 1 family bathroom, my en-suite show room and a downstairs loo.

Could live without a downstairs loo - a bit too close to the lounge iykwim.
Love the 2 upstairs though - no kids coming I when I’m relaxing in bath to do stinky poos

Ginfordinner · 04/02/2020 23:18

Our en suite has a window so we don't get steam or smells in our bedroom. We open the window and shut the bedroom door.

namechangetheworld · 04/02/2020 23:21

We have the smallest three bedroom in the world with a frivolous two bathrooms and a downstairs loo. The ensuite attached to our miniscule Master bedroom would have been much better served as a large cupboard as we literally have no built in storage anywhere in this godawful house. To rub salt in the wound further, there's also no room whatsoever for a wardrobe in the master once you have a bed and a chest of drawers, so it's shoved at the end of the bed meaning that we can't open one of the wardrobe doors properly. It's a 20 year old house, so not even a new built, just shite planning.

lyralalala · 04/02/2020 23:30

We have 4 bathrooms and both an upstairs and a downstairs loo

It's great - DH and I share the main family bathroom with the 3 littlest.

MIL, DS & DN, and DD1 & DD2, have an en-suite each in their room. The teenage boy bathroom I don't even set foot it. The Teenage girl bathroom stinks worse than a Lush store so I don't set foot in there either.

Everyone feels sorry for me as I don't have an en-suite and share my bathroom with the small ones. In reality I spend as much time in the bath playing the water shoot the duck game on the wall as I do reading now Grin

Pollaidh · 04/02/2020 23:31

2 bathrooms in a 2 bed flat is for professional sharers. They don't expect to share a bathroom anymore.

Once viewed a 5 or 6 bedroom period house which had the tiniest shower room cut into each bedroom, ruining the room proportions. Showers were so small you couldn't hope to wash your hair in them. It was bonkers and decided us against the house.

But then again my inlaws have just renovated a holiday flat, and it's got 4 bathrooms for 3 bedrooms. The 4th bathroom is used only to store ski boots!

Noconceptofnormal · 04/02/2020 23:38

Think a lot of the time enduites are not done in a very space saving way. Not going to lie, I do live in quite a big house with quite a few bathrooms... But they're mostly done in a very space efficient way, eg the room I'm using at the moment has got an ensuite less than half the size of a normal bathroom, works v well.

If you're gonna put them in, make them as spave saving as possible.

But I couldn't go back to having room without an ensuite now, and if we're doing a holiday that involves sharing a house then own bathroom is a necessity.

Shinycat · 04/02/2020 23:38

@BadRuby

YABU.

As someone who has a husband, who spends an hour to an hour and a half - in the bathroom, (5 or 6 times a week,) and also spends 20-25 minutes in there when he just goes for a shit, I would love to have an extra loo at least! Maybe not an extra bathroom, but an extra loo.

He says to me (every time he goes in for his marathon bathroom stint,) 'do you need the toilet, coz I am going in for my shower/shit/shave/preen/moisturising session/goatie trim, fuck knows what else!!!!!!!!' And I say 'no' because I don't need it.

Then an hour later I need a wee, so I say 'can I come in - I need a wee.' Cue a load of huffing and puffing about how I said I didn't need the loo! I say 'well I didn't when you asked me, an HOUR ago!'

I swear he never used to be this bad. We had a whole family of 2 adults and 2 kids for almost 20 years with one bathroom/one toilet, and I don't remember a fight for it then, ever. Not once! And no-one ever spent more than 5 minutes having a shit, or more than 15-20 minutes if they were having a shower or bath. But now, DH spends HOURS in the bathroom, and I'd give anything to have 2 toilets.

So I can understand people wanting 2 from the onset, and also separate bedrooms from the onset too, as it's so hard to sleep in the same bedroom with your husband/partner long-term. For the first decade/decade and a half or so of your relationship yes, but beyond that/past the age of 40? No!

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture, and most men snore. And kick and flail about, and grunt, and fart, and poke and jab you, and hog the bed. So if someone can afford a place with more bedrooms (and bathrooms) that some think they should have, then good for them.

scarbados · 04/02/2020 23:39

Our 2 bedroomed flat has 2 bathrooms and that's one of the reasons I love my home so much.

Possibly spending most of my childhood in a house with a tin bath we put in front of the fire on Friday nights - traditional bath night - and an outside loo that froze in winter has affected my opinion. I also think the fact that there's a heated towel rail in each bathroom is nothing short of a miracle.

Retpark101 · 04/02/2020 23:43

@Dividingthementalload howling at how you’ve described that Grin

Sonichu · 04/02/2020 23:48

Meanwhile in the real world, most people have little choice but to live in "backwards" properties with only one toilet.

Alsohuman · 04/02/2020 23:52

One of our kids has a tiny new build with a family bathroom and an en suite, the entire first floor is about the same size as our bedroom. It’s got a downstairs cloakroom too. We have four bedrooms, a shower room, a bathroom and no en suite which we don’t miss at all, my dressing room means a lot more to me. I couldn’t live without the downstairs loo though.

TheHagOnTheHill · 04/02/2020 23:53

When we moved her we had the3 bed,family bathroom,mini ensuite and downstairs toilet.
I have removed the down stairs one(leaving in the down pipe incase future buyers want this back) and put in the washing machine,tumble drier and lots of shelves.This has freed up lots of space in n my mini modern kitchen.
2 of us didn't need 3 toilets that only one of us would ever clean.

Chickenitalia · 04/02/2020 23:57

I grew up in a house with one bathroom, parents and 3 kids. It was beyond awful, I spent I don’t know how many hours waiting for the bathroom as df spent Christ knows how long having a shit. I hate visiting my family even now for this reason.
When it was just dh and I, one bathroom was fine. We have no issues with each other being present if they need to use it. Until the whole bathroom needed refitting, and we ended up having to use a bucket for a week. I know people used chamberpots back in the day, and they had servants to clean them. Just nasty.
When we had dc and were looking to move, more than 1 bathroom was a necessity. Good job too, as dd appears to have inherited her grandads need to spend hours in there daily.
It’s fine having one bathroom, until it’s not. You only get caught short once and realise the benefits. I’ll happily clean 3 bathrooms for the peace of mind it gives me 😁

SonjaMorgan · 05/02/2020 00:03

When I first started seeing my DH we only had 1 toilet in the main bathroom. He took an extra long shower and i didnt want to tell him I had a dodgy stomach and needed a poo ( would have wee'd Infront of him at this point). He took so long I ended up pooing in a bag in the shed. 2 toilets is utter bliss. Plus there is no chance of standing in teenage DS's wee at 2am in an ensuite.

AJ1425 · 05/02/2020 00:11

We looked at a house when we were renting, small two bed terrace. It was ok. We went in the bedroom and opened a cupboard door next to the bed and there was a shower in there. Not a shower room. Just a shower in the cupboard. I still cant get my head round it, the main bathroom was just opposite the shower bedroom.

Itwasntme1 · 05/02/2020 00:14

GrobagsforeveR

I need to hear more about a house with two bedrooms and three full bathrooms.

How did this even happen? When you say full bathroom I assume you mean a bath in each room?

My house has one full bathroom - but also an en-suite and a downstairs loo. So three loos but only on full bathroom (en-suite has shower no bath). With only three bedrooms it seems like overkill. I can’t imagine three baths

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo · 05/02/2020 00:26

@shinycat I so agree about bedrooms! I have at least two nights a week in the spare room to get a good nights sleep, plus more if one of us has a cold or something....Grin! Couldn't live without it!

I think the en-suite thing has got a bit silly. Depends of course on numbers in a house etc - but a two-bed should have one bathroom and a downstairs loo, I would think. In fact all houses need a downstairs loo! I bought my first house (Victorian 2 bed terrace) alone and lived there for 15 years - with lodgers and occasionally short lived boyfriends. One upstairs bathroom was fine, but I also had an outside loo (joined onto the back of the kitchen but accessed via the backyard) which was a godsend in case of emergencies/lodger in the bath or late night parties!

But I wouldn't have swapped half a bedroom for an en-suite - that would have been overkill. However, if I was a family of two/more older children sharing one room, and two adults - then maybe? (But you still need a downstairs loo for when you rush in from outside or have been gardening, etc)!

Itwasntme1 · 05/02/2020 00:29

Downstairs loos are also great in case of injury, illness etc/. My mum broke her leg last year and couldn’t have made it up and down the stairs regularly during the day. Downstairs loo was a godsend