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Original poster

Why don't people like downstairs bathrooms?

60 replies

Maebe · 15/03/2013 10:41

I keep seeing this pop up on so many threads and I'm always confused why people feel quite so strongly against downstairs bathrooms.

We have one - old converted/extended 2-up, 2-down, so it is off our kitchen. I've not only got used to it, I really quite like it now. It's surprisingly handy. For example...

It's great with young DCs, you can go to the loo without being a whole floor away from them (say if you only have an upstairs bathroom)

It makes getting ready in the morning so easy. I can have the baby's milk warming and the kettle boiling etc while I start the shower. I find that saves time as compared to when I had a house with an upstairs bathroom and was trudging up and down between floors. I can see it being easier when the DCs are older, they can be eating breakfast in the kitchen while I'm ten feet away showering etc.

And the same thing in the evenings - one of us bathes DC while the other is in the kitchen starting dinner, it's quite sociable really!

Also, I spend most of my time in my house downstairs. Where the loo is. Which is all very handy, really Grin

Yes, once in a blue moon I wake up in the middle of the nights and think, arse, I've got to go downstairs to pee, but that's so rare. The only time it was an issue was when I was heavily pregnant, and then I just admitted defeat and had a bucket in the spare room. And tbh, the stairs were so annoying I half suspect I would have put a bucket somewhere downstairs if the bathroom had been upstairs!

Now, obviously the ideal would be some form of toilet on every floor, but not every house has room for that. So why do people hate the thought of a downstairs bathroom quite so much?

OP posts:
DontmindifIdo · 15/03/2013 10:45

Most people hate it because most people store their clothes upstairs and get washed and dressed before going downstairs for breakfast, so they have to go downstairs in their jammies, have a shower, go back upstairs to get dressed then come down again. Also they are often off kitchens, and not everyone is relaxed about lingering poo smells from bathrooms to kitchens.

Mintyy · 15/03/2013 10:47

I find people usually put their reasons for disliking downstairs bathrooms on the threads about them. We had one yesterday or the day before, would you like me to find it for you?

Pootles2010 · 15/03/2013 10:48

Because when we have guests in the kitchen i don't want them to hear me peeing.

jammybean · 15/03/2013 11:42

Who wants to have the eau de toilet next to the kitchen?!

GemmaTeller · 15/03/2013 11:48

I don't think I'd like it as you'd be running up and downstairs to get ready in the morning and would seem a long way to go to the loo in the nighttime.

MyMelody · 15/03/2013 11:55

it wouldn't bother me at all , for all the reasons you just mentioned, plus if bathroom is downstairs you have more room upstairs

AliceWChild · 15/03/2013 11:58

I feel the same as you OP. I imagine people who don't like them usually don't have them. I was sniffy before I had one. Now I'm moving from one house with a downstairs bathroom to another. Makes it cheaper so great for me. I agree it was a pain when pregnant but I did same as you only with a lidded jug.

shrimponastick · 15/03/2013 12:00

I guess it does make more sense to have a bathroom downstairs, apart from the privacy aspect.
we have a proper upstairs bathroom, but next to the kitchen is the utility whihc also has a toilet, sink and a disconnected shower.

I prefer to use the upstairs bathroom durng the day - as it is more private. But with teen boys in the house - it is handy having more than one loo/toothbrushing place. We are considering re instating the downstairs shower too - to make sure we all get time to shower on a morning..

nipersvest · 15/03/2013 12:06

couple of reasons i don't like them, first, lived in a house with one as a student, it was cold, damp and we had to scrub the walls with bleach once a week to keep all the black stuff at bay, put me off for life to be honest. and second, the thought of waking up in the night, feeling sick and having to dash all the way from one end of the house to the other to use the loo, no thank you!

actually, there's more than 2 reasons, when we have people round for meals, i prefer the loo being far away from the kitchen.

pickledparsnip · 15/03/2013 12:12

My bathroom is down below street level, that is more of a pain in the arse as my house is on 3 floors! Makes going to the loo at night a bit of a pain, bit generally I don't mind it. Keeps me fit going up all those stairs.

I grew up in a house with a downstairs loo, never bothered me.

weegiemum · 15/03/2013 12:13

I used to live in the outer Hebrides and for some reason downstairs bathrooms are pretty much ubiquitous there - very few houses are plumbed upstairs, very few ensuites either (though also quite a lot of downstairs bedrooms and upstairs lounges - our house there has an amazing upstairs lounge and the views are awesome). Now we mainly live in Glasgow, I've got used to upstairs (and - finally at the age of 42 - to an ensuite!) but I don't find downstairs ones off-putting or wrong at all. A friend who was an OT up there said it made home visits for elderly/disabled very easy!

I may eventually not be able to manage stairs any more due to a disability, and then we've the option here of an integral garage which could be converted into a downstairs bedroom with wet room. Hope we won't need to (though we might for extra space when there's 3 teenagers in the house!!)

Original poster
Maebe · 15/03/2013 12:22

I can appreciate the privacy issue, though our kitchen is so small there just isn't room for guests to be in there if we're having people over, for example, so no one hears anything.

Smell-wise - never noticed it at all. Like most people, if a smell has been produecd, the door is shut!

The getting ready in the morning part is really interesting. It's what you're used to, I guess. I get up, get baby, go downstairs, put the kettle and bottle on, start the shower, have a shower while baby drinks her milk, then we both go into the living room and I get dressed in there while catching the breakfast news. (This does force me to get my clothes ready the night before, which is one of those time-saving tips I never managed to achieve when I was getting ready in the bedroom!) Because I've got used to this, I imagine traipsing up
and down stairs between the kitchen and the bedroom would be a pita.

Of course, you get used to what you have and you find the good points. We could only put an upstairs bathroom in our house by losing the 3rd bedroom, and in our area that knocks a huge amount off the price of your house - all the houses in our run of streets are 2-up, 2-downs so a downstairs bathroom is standard. I guess for me, a downstairs bathroom and a 3rd bedroom is preferable to an upstairs bathroom and less/smaller bedrooms.

nipersvest, god, yes, I remember those hideous student conversions with bathrooms that were nothing more that an out-house, the damp was nightmarish

OP posts:
IrnBruTheNoo · 15/03/2013 12:38

Never liked the idea of a downstairs bathroom. We have a WC downstairs and the main bathroom is upstairs. I like the bathroom being upstairs because it means I can chat to the children in their bedrooms as I'm getting ready in the morning. I like guests to use the downstairs loo (which is in the hallway, opposite the kitchen).

DontmindifIdo · 15/03/2013 12:38

weegiemum - that might be because of the risk of pipes freezing, where my parents have a house in france, it's very cold in the winter so it's normal to have all water piping downstairs, nothing upstairs, so if a pipe bursts over winter, it's not the whole house that's ruined.

ILikeBirds · 15/03/2013 13:26

I like to sleep naked, a quick trip across the landing is no problem. Out the bedroom, down the stairs, through the lounge and the kitchen is more problematic. Especially if someone has already drawn the curtains!

Gingersnap88 · 15/03/2013 13:48

I think it's really unhygienic if the bathroom (particularly the toilet)is directly off the kitchen. I prefer a lobby between them.

And with small DC, I find it a pain when I'm trying to cook and DD is constantly running into the bathroom to play with the toilet brush or whatever!

It's beyond horrid when someone is unwell in there and the rest of you are say next door listening to it all.

Mine is freezing cold and damp.

It doesn't smell nice after DH has been in there Blush and I'm trying to cook

Oh I could go on Wink

Goodwordguide · 15/03/2013 13:48

The children often go in the middle of the night - that would be an issue if the loo was downstairs. I like the bathroom near the bedroom so I'm not wandering upstairs between shower and getting dressed (I also tend to walk round naked!).

Really not keen in one off the bathroom - a kitchen for me is a public space, the bathroom is not.

SpringHare · 15/03/2013 13:56

It feels messy to me -- upstairs is for the private and personal, downstairs is for the social. I don't want to be traipsing back and forth in a towel. I think it would be particularly trying with and for visitors.

Magimedi · 15/03/2013 15:57

Wait till you've got something like noro virus & want to lie in bed & have to run downstairs every time you need to go.

MoreBeta · 15/03/2013 16:08

Main bathroom downstairs would be a definite no.

However, big housebuilders put a downstairs toilet in precisely because it is attractive to people with children. We are buying a house and planning to put a troilet in the utility room, not directly off the kitchen. I would quite like a shower there too.

GingerPCatt · 15/03/2013 16:14

Ages ago when looking for a house to buy DH and I viewed one that had a downstairs wc but the bathtub was in the kitchen! It was listed as needed some renovation, but no. DH said it would be handy to make breakfast and have a bath at the same time.

Original poster
Maebe · 15/03/2013 17:36

Bath in the kitchen?!

OP posts:
ILikeBirds · 15/03/2013 17:37

Actually big housebuilders put a toilet downstairs because they are required to do so under building regulations part m

ChocsAwayInMyGob · 15/03/2013 17:41

I need a loo on each floor as I need to pee about 20 times a day. I also like having a bath or shower near where my clothes and dressing table are, not near where the kitchen and the back door is.

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