To want to shut off downstairs toilet

[Daisydu]

It’s next to the kitchen. You have to walk through the kitchen to get to it. I hate it. I’ve tried telling everyone in the house it’s not to be used for no2s because I think it’s bloody gross. But the kids don’t always listen and quite frankly I just don’t want it there anymore. We have a perfectly good bathroom upstairs. 9 people in our house though which does make me question in a bit. We’re renting so can’t get rid of it altogether but we also have zero storage in this house so we could use it for that. What do you guys think? Would I be silly to just shut it off? Honestly the fact it’s next to the kitchen winds me up

Keep the toilet! Hopefully it has a fan and make sure door always shut

You haven’t met this cat. But that’s another thread 😬

Yes he needs to go out at certain times because he’s an absolute pain and jumps up at the kids eating their tea ect, so yup he has to go out at times. He’s always in for the night time. Also besides the annoying cat… having the window open on the ground floor is probably also a security issue I would think.

No fan: but I’m getting the answer I needed which is yup I need to keep it useable.

Can you ask your landlord if you can put a limiter on the window, like this?

amzn.to/3Juvxpo

@Daisydu If it bothers you that much maybe you should rent a house that doesn’t have a loo off the kitchen. Meantime get a diffuser or one of those motion activated sprays. 9 people using one loo would be crazy.

And as for the “bloody cat” 🐈‍⬛ being made to stay out, maybe you should re-home it.

Oh yes because the rental market is so easy right now 🙄. And believe me I want to rehome the cat but dh isn’t keen

People managed for years with 9 people 1 toilet. This toilet per person is a relatively new phenomenon

You could buy auto closing hinges. They are about £17. Dh wants to put them on our bathroom because when the doors left open it makes upstairs freeze even with the window shut and heating on.

would This work on really old big wooden doors?

This is true!

I would keep it, but with the window always slightly open and the door always closed. The cold in the bathroom wouldn't bother me and would discourage people for settling in for a poo.

There is no way I would have an otherwise unventilated loo ventilating into my kitchen.

Good idea in principle, but probably not right now with a two year old running about. Nipped-finger central, especially if the doors are heavy wood.

I think with 9 people in the house you’ve just got to try and be rational about it and reduce any odours with a window limiter and daily cleaning. Our last new build had a loo off the (not massive) kitchen diner- if there was genuinely a huge hygiene issue with it it would never have got passed building control.

9 people in one house? how many bedrooms? Sorry
I can't get over 9 people in a house.

We have six toilets between four people 😀However, only three are allowed to be used because I would be cleaning all day and I won't do that.
Out of the three, the downstairs one is exclusively for guests. It is inside the conservatory so near to the kitchen but a few solid doors away.
It is lovely and freezing in ours so I almost never have to deal with guests doing number twos. I think that they would be put off by the lack of comfort and save it for later if possible. It is the only one in which I use full strength cleaning sprays. Hose down without getting too close and leave door open to the garden on a windy day!

Can you ask the landlord to put an extract fan in? A loo off a kitchen without an extract is seriously gross.

Poor cat. Of course he wants to come in if it's freezing. It's not all about you, you know. There are other people in that house who need consideration, including the cat!

Should do but also take note on what another poster said about the 2year old so maybe not wise unless you can make sure they cannot access that toilet or depending on the one you buy you can tune them to how fast and hard they close as such.

I get it @Daisydu . I wouldn't like my kitchen stinking of shit while I'm cooking either. Especially when you've asked them not to do number 2s in there.
Until you can get a better rental your best bet is to keep the window open on a limiter and keep telling the family that they must go upstairs if they need a number 2.

In a rental, getting a powerful extractor fan installed is your best bet. It can be done via the window by removing and replacing a pane so no need for structural work.

So there’s 9 people in your house but because you don’t like something you think that your opinion matters more than everyone else’s? Wow.

Just leave the window open a crack and ask them to close the door after them.

How do you think people in flats or studio apartments cope?

I don’t really understand why you have a cat.
You say it’s too cold for the window to be open but it’s fine for the cat to be out there 🤔

Open the window, keep the door closed and put a cat bed in there.
The smell will soon go with the window open and it’s not the end of the world if the cat comes in through it. If he’s a pain when you are eating then make sure he’s not in the room when it’s meal time.

I think you like to cause a drama tbh.

It's normal in older housing stock where they've integrated what would've been an old outside toilet onto the end of the kitchen.

If it's about smells get some poo pouri or similar.

You need to find a way to leave the window open a tiny crack. Some sort of opening limiter? Gross without ventilation but reasonable with.

Wow, I thought that was illegal. Don't you need two doors between a kitchen and a toilet?

How do you think people in flats or studio apartments cope?

Presumably without 9 people needing to poop every morning?