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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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:
EggysMom · 05/02/2020 07:47

We only have one toilet for three of us, but it's separate to the bathroom - which at least means you can have a wee whilst somebody is in the bath or shower and then flush so the shower goes really cold momentarily-

Cineraria · 05/02/2020 07:48

I don't care about an extra bathroom at all but an extra loo would be wonderful. I have a 2 and 4 year old whose bladders seen to be synchronised and have to resolve multiple pushing and shoving disputes over who goes first each day and have also personally made use of their Potette in the utility room when DH is showering more times than I can recall.

Vulpine · 05/02/2020 07:49

My ideal house all the bedrooms would have their own ensuite shower toilet

ladyflower23 · 05/02/2020 07:52

I agree. Have looked around so many new builds with 3 bathrooms and no storage. I can't understand why this has become a thing. We are a family of 4 and manage fine (most of the time) with one bathroom but are planning on putting in an ensuite before DC become teenagers. My friend who just lives with her husband wants another bathroom because she says they need one each Confused

bigbluebus · 05/02/2020 08:04

We have 3 bathrooms (one is en suite) plus a downstairs toilet. DH and I both use the ensuite - which has an opening window and doesn't take any space off the bedroom as it is above the stairs. When DS is home he uses one of the other bathrooms. When we were reconfiguring the rooms we decided against having either of the other 2 bathrooms ensuite as thought that 2 bathrooms easily accessible to 4 bedrooms in a family house was a better way to go - and all the bedroom doors are opposite or next to a bathroom door. Glad I don't have to clean them all on a regular basis though ( as they're mostly unused now).

courderoy · 05/02/2020 08:05

We have a Victorian house, 3 beds one bathroom and a downstairs toilet. I’d like to turn the downstairs toilet into a utility as it is hardly ever used. One toilet seems enough to me for 4 people and occasional visitors - but then I can remember when the toilet was outside....

Fatfat · 05/02/2020 08:06

We’ve just renovated our house and have now got 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (2 upstairs and one downstairs) there are two shower rooms, one of which is ensuite to our master and the other is a walk in shower downstairs. The other bathroom has a very fancy bath in it with a hand held shower - it’s heaven!

PuzzledandPuzzling · 05/02/2020 08:22

When I viewed my now home with the agent, I said to her I would rip the en suite out as I wanted wardrobe space - she was horrified and said I would knock money off of it. It was a small 3 bedroom house with a loo downstairs, en suite and family bathroom. It is now a small 3 bedroom house with a downstairs loo, family bathroom and 3 double wardrobes - bliss!

Beautiful3 · 05/02/2020 08:22

We have 2 toilets and thank goodness we do. Because someone is always on one! My last house only had the one, it was wonderful upgrading.

MrsMonkeyBear · 05/02/2020 08:28

I'd love to have an ensuite. Our current bathroom is right next to the DCs bedroom, so I can't shower in the morning when I get up without waking them (our shower automatically switches on the extractor fan and its noisy.)

We have the space to install one in master bedroom and if I could I would do it.

SerenDippitty · 05/02/2020 08:29

DH and I, three bedrooms, one family bathroom and a downstairs loo. Fine.

notalwaysalondoner · 05/02/2020 08:55

I think it all depends on the overall size of the house or flat and the number of people. If you have a big detached house where en suites don’t mean that you have tiny bedrooms with no storage, go for it. But I agree, the tendency to shoehorn them into tiny new build flats or starter homes is baffling to me. I understand wanting two bathrooms if you have more than two people in the house but not if that means you have no storage.

And I struggle to understand how even a family of 5 or 6 really need more than two bathrooms and a downstairs loo. That’s what we had growing up (we had a parents and kids bathroom) and it was plenty. Now we have one bathroom for three of us in a small two bed London flat and while there are rare occasions I need the loo while someone is in the shower the flat would be so cramped if we tried to fit another one in, it just wouldn’t be worth it.

RiddleyW · 05/02/2020 09:06

I like having two, means I can have a long bath without DS or DH barging in. My cousin just bought a new build with 3 bathrooms two bedrooms though. That seems a bit mad.

Settlersofcatan · 05/02/2020 09:15

I feel the opposite - for us, family houses with one bathroom seem awful. How are 4 people supposed to get showered and dressed for work and school at the same time? What happens when you get a vomiting bug? Or guests?

Anything less than 2 full bathrooms is a dealbreaker for us and preferably a downstairs loo as well

highlandsprung · 05/02/2020 10:08

We have 3 bathrooms after having one bathroom and a spare loo.
It's lovely now. I have a loo dh has a loo which is never cleaned conforming what I thought would happen if he ever had his own one and dd has a loo.
And we all lived happily after shitting like the 3 bears in our respective lavatories.

TinyPop14 · 05/02/2020 11:07

I agree. A friend just bought a 3 bedroom house, it has a downstairs toilet, a main bathroom and an en-suite which is about 2 metres away from the main bathroom! To me this is bonkers. The bedrooms are tiny, I'd much rather have the one family bathroom and have the storage space instead of more toilets.

damnthatanxiety · 05/02/2020 12:16

Only on MN would people speak with disdain about having several bathrooms/loos. WizzyBee goes so far as to suggest that en-suites are awful. Ffs, may as well go all the way and start declaring that indoor loos are an aberration and go all out for an outhouse.

Come on. having ones own bathroom/loo is obviously much nicer than having to share. And houses are built for specific people. Just because you happen to be the only one living in a 3 bed house doesn't mean it was designed for just one person. It was built for potentially 5-6 people. Of course there should be more that one freaking loo.

BlackInk · 05/02/2020 12:28

We are 2 adults and 2 children. We have a family bathroom (downstairs) and a little toilet/sink room upstairs. It's just right for us -- means that there's usually one free if someone needs it, and if someone has v or d we restrict them to the upstairs loo to reduce the likelihood of it spreading.

I'm not keen on ensuites though...

TheSoapyFrog · 05/02/2020 12:31

I don't get it. I lived in a 2 bed flat with my kids and the big bedroom had an ensuite with shower as if the main bathroom wasn't literally 5 seconds away. Just extra to clean. Would rather the space was used for a big cupboard or left so the bedroom was a regular size

OnlyTheTitOfTheLangBerg · 05/02/2020 12:34

I've only ever lived in houses with one bathroom and I'm in my sixth house.

Please send food parcels and recommendations for a good counsellor to [email protected]

Aragog · 05/02/2020 12:41

We like having two bathrooms - it means that I can get ready at the same time as teen dd so we can all leave the house at the same time in a morning, without having to get up earlier. We all shower every morning and do hair, so it's just better for us.

It's also useful when we have visitors overnight. Just makes everyone getting ready in a morning or before bed easier.

PettyContractor · 05/02/2020 12:51

Ideally there needs to be one bathroom for each room actually in use as a bedroom. People who aren't close enough to each other to share a room shouldn't have to share a bathroom.

SerenDippitty · 05/02/2020 13:10

I agree that an extra shower room can be a very useful and sensible thing to have. But the idea that every bedroom needs its own bathroom is ridiculous.

Sonichu · 05/02/2020 13:18

"Only on MN would people speak with disdain about having several bathrooms/loos. WizzyBee goes so far as to suggest that en-suites are awful. Ffs, may as well go all the way and start declaring that indoor loos are an aberration and go all out for an outhouse."

And only on MN would only having one bathroom be considered "backwards" or that having the luxury to turn your nose up at places without multiple bathrooms be considered the norm rather than the exception.

Logfootlightoe · 05/02/2020 13:23

I agree, it's a very American thing. My USA in laws are horrified that we only have two bathrooms and they don't get their own when they stay. I'm baffled that they have 5... all that cleaning plus only 2 of them in the house!