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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why MN hates en-suites?

414 replies

Greenbluestar · 21/01/2022 08:25

Just curious 🤨

OP posts:
2bazookas · 21/01/2022 14:54

@SpinsForGin

Oh and we live in a conservation area so adding additional windows requires a very lengthy planning process which is likely to be rejected!
" We live in a CONSERVATION AREA " is just another brag.

Try "automated extractor fan driven by sensor". Fit one in the kitchen incase the AGA makes it too hot in summer, and another in the conservatory.

lagerandcigars · 21/01/2022 14:55

Number of bedrooms and bathrooms is an indication of purchasing power and wealth. You don't need to go inside a house to know how much it's worth - you can tell by the outside and the postcode - no need to know the details.

layladomino · 21/01/2022 15:12

I'm really surprised to read some of this stuff. I don't have strong feelings either way. We have an en-suite and it has some benefits. It was designed that way, and is a decent size, has a window and is pleasant to use. It's lovely to lay in the bath and not worry that someone else is waiting to use the room.

I think some of your DH's must do very loud and smelly poos! With the door closed, it's no different to someone being in the bathroom next door. And the trailing water on to the bedroom carpet.... what happens in your main bathroom? Do they trail the water on to the landing / hallway carpet? Or do they get dry in the bathroom? Because you can do that in an en suite too.

So, I'm not precious about it. Each to their own and all that. But to 'hate' an en suite?? That's a bit weird.

stuntbubbles · 21/01/2022 15:36

Surely you don’t mean go for a wee. I can’t imagine what sort of sex life you have if that makes you 🤮
A sex life that doesn’t involve piss play, perhaps? Honestly, it’s quite easy to have a healthy sex life and not want to be woken by your partner having a wee in the middle of the night. They’re not mutually exclusive.

limitedperiodonly · 21/01/2022 15:40

Why would anyone do that?

@JeffThePilot because we can't be experts in everything and you'll always find a builder to say it's okay. Even apparently reputable ones - just look at the scandal over cladding on blocks of flats.

I had an extractor hood over my hob which looked great and whooshed when I switched it on before I realised it wasn't on an external wall and there was no flue so it was just for show. I've had the kitchen redone and haven't bothered with a fancy stainless steel hood because I have only one external wall in the kitchen and that's already taken up with the sink, washing machine and boiler. I just open the back door if it's smoky and repaint the kitchen every year.

You find the same with internal bathroom extractor fans that make the right noise but don't actually vent to the outside. And cladding outside tower blocks. We think they look nice and assume they must work because otherwise people wouldn't be allowed to install them, would they?

A lot of builders will say it is okay to have a Saniflo or machinator toilet (shit muncher) as a secondary to a properly plumbed in primary loo. But in my experience there are always problems because the system can't cope no matter how careful you are with what you put down there.

I might have an ensuite if I could connect it to the existing sewage pipe or have an external wall where I could install a new one. But for me it would be a faff and a waste of space.

My bathroom is on the landing next to my bedroom - same as many people. There's a solid wall between them and two doors and proper plumbing. It's no hardship to get up for a wee in the middle of the night, nip to the bathroom and flush the loo and jump back in bed. I prefer it to using a loo behind a door in part of my bedroom which is better off as a wardrobe and listening to the noisy motor run and the extractor that goes nowhere running for 10 minutes.

heyitsthistle · 21/01/2022 15:41

I like them when they have a window. I wish I had an en suite with a bathe plus an extra area to use as a dressing room.

Exhausteddog · 21/01/2022 15:49

Snobbery. Associated with new builds, (which in turn are associated with well off WC) and less commonly found in the 'period properties' they see as socially superior.

I've noticed this too. And new build "boxes".

SpinsForGin · 21/01/2022 15:53

" We live in a CONSERVATION AREA " is just another brag.

It's really not. It was a response to why everyone can't just add an en suite with an external window should they feel like it.

Try "automated extractor fan driven by sensor". Fit one in the kitchen incase the AGA makes it too hot in summer, and another in the conservatory.

People could do that. I personally don't want an en suite. I'd much rather use that space for something else. Other people feel differently and that's fine.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 21/01/2022 16:05

I've always disliked them but there's one in our new house and I'm used to it already.
But then again it's a good size, my DP very very rarely uses it in the night, doesn't make disgusting sounds in it and it's pretty much just mine.

I'm heavily pregnant and am in and out of the en-suite all night. The main bathroom is quite a walk plus needs a complete renovation so I'm pretty happy with my en-suite now.

CounsellorTroi · 21/01/2022 16:15

We’ve got a family bathroom with a toilet and a downstairs toilet in our 1930s semi. I’m thinking about extending the utility room to include a downstairs shower. An ensuite to our bedroom is out of the question even if we wanted one, as we only have one outside wall which is taken up by a very large window.

Gwenhwyfar · 21/01/2022 16:19

[quote Notjustanymum]@Gwenhwyfar
"What other features of a house are for bragging only, out of interest?"

When I decided to upgrade my loo brushes to silicon ones (I thought they might be more hygienic than the nylon-bristled kind) the man at the counter exclaimed “Ooh! Two loos, very posh”!” In a very loud voice, so it’s each to their own, I think - one man’s two loos is another woman’s wine cellar, so to speak![/quote]
Well I'm used to just one bathroom so I do find two loos a bit posh. It was only when I joined MN, however, that I realised loads of people have more than one bathroom as opposed to just more than one toilet.

LunaLoveFood · 21/01/2022 16:20

No idea, love mine.

MagicKit · 21/01/2022 16:22

I love mine. Not keen on sharing a bathroom with four others

katepilar · 21/01/2022 16:25

@RidingMyBike

Thanks to the people who suggested an adhesive battery light in the en suite. I will look into it but our tenancy agreement bans anything being stuck to any walls or surfaces (including painted wood and tiles!) so it's a bit limiting.

Can't wait to buy our own place and get away from all the rules and the en suite! Wink

You can have a freestanding light or if there is any metal surface you can get a magnetic one. or a small light that plugs straight into a socket.
spongbob · 21/01/2022 16:38

@Exhausteddog

Snobbery. Associated with new builds, (which in turn are associated with well off WC) and less commonly found in the 'period properties' they see as socially superior.

I've noticed this too. And new build "boxes".

It's not really snobbery though is it? I work in that sector around buildings etc. New builds are tiny because developers want the highest possible margins, that's just a fact. I definitely do not live in a big house, 2 bed flat here, and I cannot even afford to live here alone.
spongbob · 21/01/2022 16:41

@lagerandcigars

Number of bedrooms and bathrooms is an indication of purchasing power and wealth. You don't need to go inside a house to know how much it's worth - you can tell by the outside and the postcode - no need to know the details.

Ok but that doesn't disprove my point. Saying in conversation you have 3 bathrooms or your getting an en-suite done is not something you can do unless you're a homeowner and have the extra space. So it is an indicator of wealth

spongbob · 21/01/2022 16:45

People are complaining about new bios snobbery (made by profit driven developers who's properties are full of snags) is very ironic. Adding a bathroom is used to drive up value that's why they are shoehorned on where they don't fit ie. already small houses, poor ventilation.

Most people vehemently defending their new builds tend to be the snobbiest. "Where do you live that a sofa is extravagant, I have six bedrooms scoff, scoff"

EdithRea · 21/01/2022 16:51

Two in my house. Fucking hate them. They're converted from walk-in wardrobes which would be much nicer. Shitting next to where you sleep is gross. Bathrooms without windows or ventilation are gross. Listening to people use the bathroom is gross.

"No shitting in the cupboard" is the rule in my house until we rip the revolting things out.

ExtraOnion · 21/01/2022 16:53

En-Suite… listening to your partner have a shit from behind a piece of plywood ..

entropynow · 21/01/2022 17:10

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe

I don't know anyone who has one that hates them. Only people who haven't got them dislike them 😀 - jealousy perhaps?
Of course. Can only be jealousy. Can't be that there are only two of us and we don't need one.

SIGH

Lampzade · 21/01/2022 17:16

Don’t like them. Deliberately chose a house which didn’t have them.
I have three full bathrooms instead

pastypirate · 21/01/2022 17:19

We had one I hated it. I don't want to hear exh using the toilet or smelling it. Vile

FirewomanSam · 21/01/2022 17:22

En-Suite… listening to your partner have a shit from behind a piece of plywood

What is the obsession on here with people shitting in en suites?!

We have one and I have never once heard my husband pooing in it, or vice versa. If you have an en suite, you almost always have another bathroom too. It’s not hard to choose your toileting location appropriately depending on what other people in the home are doing. If it’s night time and someone is sleeping in the bedroom, use the other bathroom. It’s not difficult! But on the flip side, if you have guests over then an en suite is brilliant for giving you some extra privacy.

I can understand some of the other arguments on here about en suites often being badly designed etc, but I just do not understand the whole ‘but people might POO in it!!’ hysteria. Surely that goes for every bathroom with a toilet? Why is pooing behind a door off your bedroom more gross than pooing behind a door off your hallway or kitchen?

TheHoptimist · 21/01/2022 17:30

Because they squeeze tiny windowless ones onto tiny bedrooms

Mine is the size of a good double bedroom. It has free standing bath, loo sink and chaise longue . I love it.

TheHoptimist · 21/01/2022 17:32

Oh and I live in a conservation area and have an Aga

I fail on all fronts it seems

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