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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask people not to poop in new under stairs cloakroom?

482 replies

keepswimming38 · 17/05/2026 20:46

We are just having a new cloakroom installed downstairs. AIBU to put a sign up saying ‘no poo loo’ or ‘if you plan to do a poo do it in the upstairs loo’?

My DH thinks it’s not reasonable. I just down like the idea of people doing a poop in there and then the macerator having to … anyway AIBU?

OP posts:
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Ohdearnotthisagain · 17/05/2026 22:54

No. Super weird. Don’t install one if you can’t rely on it. Also if it’s going under stairs does it have any ventilation ie a window or extractor fan? If not, dont install it. Gross.

katepilar · 17/05/2026 22:54

keepswimming38 · 17/05/2026 21:34

There’s no window. The hall is in the centre of the house. No external wall. Hence the need for a macerator.

What does toilet placement got to do with external walls? I am obviously missing something.

Comtesse · 17/05/2026 22:54

Sounds like you have got inadequate plumbing if it can cope with standard usage. Couldn’t you have got a better solution??

katepilar · 17/05/2026 22:56

SnowFrogJelly · 17/05/2026 22:52

People who poo to a timetable are so weird

I think its weird when people think everyone does something just because they do.

Ohmygawdflippingheck · 17/05/2026 22:57

SnowFrogJelly · 17/05/2026 22:52

People who poo to a timetable are so weird

It's not intentional! 😂 it just happens. Wake up, have a coffee, poo. After reading this thread I have a new found appreciation for my regular bowels 😂

MotherOfCrocodiles · 17/05/2026 22:58

I n the bad old days when Google Translate was rubbish, I once saw a sign in a bar in Beijing that simply said “prohibit shit”.

PyongyangKipperbang · 17/05/2026 22:58

fashionqueen0123 · 17/05/2026 22:44

I can’t believe people haven’t heard it being called a downstairs cloakroom before?!

Here’s a right move listing as an example!

written by people who are want commisssion from pathetically MC aspirationers who think that saying the word "loo" will devalue their house.

katepilar · 17/05/2026 23:01

Ohmygawdflippingheck · 17/05/2026 22:45

This thread has been eye opening. Do people really sometimes go for a wee and then suddenly have to poo without warning? I always go about 30 mins after I wake up, like clockwork. The unpredictability must be annoying....anyway, just direct people upstairs when they ask op.

Not everyone's body is like clockwork.

FourSevenThree · 17/05/2026 23:01

I don't think it is reasonable or practical trying to keep it as "no poo ever".
On the other hand, if you are nervous about it and the main reason is your DD convenience, I think it's not unreasonable to protect it a bit "for now", you'll see over the time how reliable it is.
But let your DD to use it however she needs, it's for her anyway and as it should work, she can be the one who will test it.

People will expect that the default preference is for the guests to use the downstairs loo and not encroach on the privacy of your upstairs. So you want to tell them this isn't the preference. What about telling your regular/close guests that you have installed a new loo, but as it's a different technology and you don't know how well it will work, you treat it as emergency one for now, and everyone is welcome to keep using the upstairs one which is bigger and has a proper window?

CaseClosedWineOpened · 17/05/2026 23:01

Everyone Is looking at this the wrong way. The sign doesn’t actually prevent you from pooing if you want to. It just warns you that, if you choose to do so, you face the possible mortification of having to tell your host that you have blocked their loo.

So I would rather have the warning! ⛔️

PigletJohn · 17/05/2026 23:02

Comtesse · 17/05/2026 22:54

Sounds like you have got inadequate plumbing if it can cope with standard usage. Couldn’t you have got a better solution??

I suggested one today at 21:27.

LaburnumAnagyroides · 17/05/2026 23:04

ImFinePMSL · 17/05/2026 22:09

We are just having a new cloakroom installed downstairs

I’m extremely confused as to why someone would do a shit in a cloakroom?

Or do you actually mean you have a downstairs toilet and are having some rails installed to hang your coats? Because if that’s the case, then just get rid of the toilet.

You can’t just call you downstairs toilet a “cloakroom” because you want to hang your coats in there that’s nuts 🤣

Your lack of familiarity with the term doesn't negate it's existence.

AIBU to ask people not to poop in new under stairs cloakroom?
Bettermuseli · 17/05/2026 23:04

Amazing - I have just been having exactly the same conversation with myself. Macerators are much less likely to block if they are only used for wees and a small amount of loo paper. I'd like to tactfully suggest that people go to the main bathroom for the other function.
But how?? I can only think of that horrible League Of Gentlemen host who asked his guest, 'Did you pass a solid into the upstairs lavatory?'

Sevenh · 17/05/2026 23:04

bethepeace · 17/05/2026 21:24

Are people really pooing at other people’s houses? I genuinely don’t think I’ve pooed at a friends house since I was a kid!!

I have IBS and have no choice but to use other people’s loos when I need to. I always have perfume in my handbag and try to make sure that there are no unpleasant odours lurking after use, but I genuinely have no other option. I hate it because everyone prefers using their own loo don’t they, but I just try to be as considerate as I possibly can.

Topseyt123 · 17/05/2026 23:07

Just tell your guests that in your household none of you do poo and you would appreciate it if they didn't either.

Then you can keep your lovely, shiny toilet in a glass display cabinet and polish it daily.

Bettermuseli · 17/05/2026 23:08

katepilar · 17/05/2026 22:54

What does toilet placement got to do with external walls? I am obviously missing something.

The loo usually has to connect to the soil stack which goes down the outside of the building, so the loo needs an external wall or at least to be close to one. Occasionally a downstairs loo goes directly into a drain in the gruond.

fashionqueen0123 · 17/05/2026 23:09

maudelovesharold · 17/05/2026 22:45

Wouldn’t it be quite unusual to need to poo in the morning and the afternoon?

No. Some people poo several times a day. And if she has mobility issues she may need more time to get upstairs

lizzyBennet08 · 17/05/2026 23:09

Honestly just spend the money on a stair lift for your daughter.

fashionqueen0123 · 17/05/2026 23:11

PyongyangKipperbang · 17/05/2026 22:58

written by people who are want commisssion from pathetically MC aspirationers who think that saying the word "loo" will devalue their house.

You’d never see loo on a house listing. 🤣Cloakroom is a common term.

cloudtreecarpet · 17/05/2026 23:14

I see your problem but a sign like that would be so odd and embarrassing to display wouldn't it? I would cringe every time someone went to the downstairs loo if it was me
And if anyone chose to go upstairs they would be announcing to everyone that they were off for a poo wouldn't they?
Sorry, it's just too much! 😳

Denim4ever · 17/05/2026 23:15

For me this is even more odd than the old thread about not pooing in the en-suite

ImFinePMSL · 17/05/2026 23:17

LaburnumAnagyroides · 17/05/2026 23:04

Your lack of familiarity with the term doesn't negate it's existence.

Forgive me, as I wasn’t raised by pompous twats.

PyongyangKipperbang · 17/05/2026 23:18

fashionqueen0123 · 17/05/2026 23:11

You’d never see loo on a house listing. 🤣Cloakroom is a common term.

Exactly.

Garderobe would be more appropriate

AlmostAJillSandwich · 17/05/2026 23:25

My ex moved into an emergency shithole flat without viewing and only found out it was a macerator toilet afterwards. Odd set up, was an upstairs bathroom but in a house where it had been split vertically into two properties. He was in the front half with no back yard etc, so his bathroom was like an ensuite, no soil pipe, it connected to the neighbours soil pipe. It had no window, and a broken extractor fan. He had no idea he couldn't use toilet wipes with a macerator, or certain cleaning products, until i told him.

I HATED visiting him. As someone with toilet related severe OCD, i use excessive paper even for wees, plus i have IBS and typically need wet wipes so was taking immodium before every visit as the distance meant an overnight stay and i struggle even weeing in public toilets to go on the journey home. I tried that wype gel that makes regular loo roll into wet wipes, it did not work well at all. There were a handful of instances in the 18 months he was there that i just had to go, and the anxiety of it was awful. Including the fear of a power cut meaning no flushing loo!

I don't think the majority would intentionally use a downstairs toilet for a crap (minus my late grandma once at a family houseparty, it was, memorable) because it's obvious it will cause a stink that lingers, most would surely be more comfortable going upstairs where nobody will hear or smell their bowels, so i doubt a sign is neccessary.

You do need to accept though that it is going to happen sometimes. Your daughter should get a free pass really, plus it could be unavoidable if the upstairs bathroom is in use and someone really needs to go.

PigletJohn · 17/05/2026 23:27

I used to work in a place that had a gentlemen's cloakroom and a ladies' powder room.

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