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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Would it be very odd to put a downstairs loo in our utility room?

44 replies

wheelsonthebus · 15/08/2006 14:57

we already have a basin in there which we never use and the room is big enough for a loo which we really want. would it be too horrible?

OP posts:
Original poster
wheelsonthebus · 15/08/2006 15:19

tks bozza. that slightly scuppers things

OP posts:
Original poster
wheelsonthebus · 15/08/2006 15:21

unless we do the cupboard thing as suggested

OP posts:
UrsulatheSeawitch · 15/08/2006 15:50

I have washer and dryer in huge cupboard in bathroom, with louvre doors. There are very specific requirements re distance from water supply etc (oh, and machines have to be hardwired into sockets, not plugged in, which is a PITA when you have to replace one)

Would love to put a loo understairs but a) it opens off back room right next to open doorway into kitchen and b) the leccy meter is in there and it would cost a lot to move it because of high voltage wire coming in from outside (or so I was told once ) So we haven't got one downstairs

Bozza · 15/08/2006 15:53

I OTOH would love an understair cupboard. But obviously not enough to give up my downstairs loo!

Personally I don't see why a toilet should count. I mean you have a sink in the kitchen. And it is not like a bath or shower that will get all steamy.

Marina · 15/08/2006 16:07

Well, one hopes not Bozza

Bozza · 15/08/2006 16:51

You are being very naughty today? What happened to that very prim persona you were putting on ks's thread this morning?

MrsBadger · 15/08/2006 17:12

ooh, I'd love a downstairs loo!

Salient points:

  • should have two doors between actual lavatory and food prep area ie utility room must open into a hall/lobby off the kitchen.

  • obviously you shouldn't need to walk through it to get to the garden

  • you can have electrical appliances in there with no problem. The IEE regulations only have special rules for 'locations containing a bath or shower' - there aren't any special requirements for rooms like kitchens that have a sink in, so this is really no problem.

UrsulatheSeawitch · 15/08/2006 17:25

Ah, of course, it's the wet feet issue that matters with electricals - just make sure nobody wees on the floor with bare feet and then touches a live wire

nikkie · 15/08/2006 20:22

The regulations re doors have changed ,Only needs to be one door now but think there is a distance thing now, I had a bathroom added last year off my kitchen and the building inspector advised removing hall way as 2 doors weren't needed now and I would get a bigger bathroom.

bnm · 16/08/2006 00:52

Our old house had a loo in the utility room and it did seem odd at first but so convenient just glad to have a downstairs loo, better than in the kitchen or hall

littlefrog · 16/08/2006 09:43

Agree with Nickie and MrsBadger: I think the rules have all changed again recently. We're having to have our house rewired, and are also putting in a loo-cum-utility room. NO requirement any more to have two doors between kitchen/loo; also the electrician has made NO fuss about having ordinary sockets in the utility room - so long as you can't put your hand in the sink and also have your hand on a plug. (Which I think means a distance of something like 1.4m between sink and socket - a real pain).

MadamePlatypus · 16/08/2006 16:12

Only odd if you were expecting people to sit on the loo while you loaded the washing machine. I think I would probably try to decorate the room so that it looked like a proper bathroom though. (Not sure quite how to do this - make sure proper blinds? nice soap and towel rail? just so it didn't look like an after thought or make people feel as though they were in an outside loo.)

dizzydo · 20/08/2006 19:48

Is it big enough to partition off the loo in any way?

crumpet · 20/08/2006 19:58

We had a utility room/downstairs loo in our las house - we put the washing machine etc in a floor to ceiling cupboard (louvre doors) so that when they were closed all you could see were the loo and small basin - we had a bigger steel kitchen type sink above the washing machine behind the cupboard doors.

LIZS · 20/08/2006 20:00

Sounds fine as long as there is room to get around and if the loo can be around a corner out of direct view then so much the better. Think I'd install an extractor to ventilate the room better though.

childern · 20/08/2006 20:16

we have already got down stairs loo and utilaty room comes in dead handy with the kids, haveing a extentiom done so its out of bounds at the mo and i'm missing it loads

ntsmum · 20/08/2006 20:16

I'm a Building Control Officer so can confirm that you don't need 2 doors, but you do have to install mechanical ventilation to comply with the regs. It's very common & practical to combine a utility with a d/stairs wc.

Orinoco · 20/08/2006 21:34

Message withdrawn

Toothache · 20/08/2006 21:36

My utility room has a toilet just off it. I thought it was the norm?

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