New house has just one bathroom with a loo, should I change the use of the separate loo, shower room?

[PareyMortas]

We are a family of five, our youngest is ten so very soon we'll have a houseful of teens. They new house doesn't have an ensuite and I can't see how we can put one in without losing a needed bedroom. However next to the bathroom is a separate wc with loo and basin. As the bathroom also has a loo and there is one on the ground floor I'm wondering what I should do with the separate loo.

I'm trying to work out what we will miss most from the ensuite at peak times. At the moment only DH and I tend to have a morning shower the dc's all have theirs at night so during the morning the most need is for loo's and a sink for a wash/brush teeth. Would you just update the separate wc and make the basin as big as we can given the restricted space? Or lose the loo and make it into a shower room? I'm not sure how such a small room would work as a shower room at the moment there's just the space for the door to open inwardly and the the loo and basin side by side. Has anyone ever done anything like that?

Arghhhhh I don't know what to do.

How long do you envisage living there

You currently have:

downstairs cloakroom with WC & handbasin
upstairs WC & handbasin
upstairs bathroom with WC & handbasin

In which case if I were you and planning on being there several years yes I'd convert with "cloakroom" into having a shower even if it meant losing a toilet.

with a lot of people, separate loos are useful. Preferably with a basin but no mirror to discourage extended use.

you will have at least one person who hogs the bathroom for extended periods.

Can you steal a bit out of one the other rooms to making either of the existing cloakrooms bigger to accommodate shower and loo?

PigletJohn at no large mirror I do have two dd's. there's no way to make a cloakroom or extend the existing ones. However there is a converted cellar with two rooms and the hallway which runs directly under the hall/front door/porch. I have seen houses with a cloakroom with shower, loo, basin in this space however the bedrooms are on the first and second floors so wouldn't it be a bit odd to go into the basement for a shower?

Our plan is to stay in this house until the dc's have all left home and we sell it to live in a penthouse city centre apartment .

Okay put it this way. Someone is in the shower, you want a shower your choice is either wait or go to the cellar... but at least the choice is there.

Another option to ease congestion is tiny sink in cloakrooms for hand washing and extra basins in a couple of bedrooms - easy to do if they are next to bath/cloak rooms - means less hogging for teethbrushing etc.

I've thought for a long time that people have gone overboard with the number of toilets and en suites.

I've seen ridiculous 2 bed flats with an en suite. What on earth is that about.

I'd much rather have bigger rooms than a room I go to piss in once every few hours.

Your children will leave home soon and then you are going to have all these spare toilets/rooms just lying there.

But will they ItsYoniMe? I keep hearing tales of children living at home for years as they can't afford get their own place.

PareyMortas that's what I'm thinking. My current solution is that they pay us board and we spend our lives going around the country on the £9 per night deals and eat out every day... either that or rent a 1 bed retirement appartment so we get some peace!

I'm not looking forward to 5 of us (6 if eldest returns from living at her Dad's) and only 1 shower as they approach teenage hood...

I'm just beginning to suspect there's a catch 22 to them paying you board: if they can afford it easily, they won't be living at home; and if they can't and you insist, they'll never save up enough to leave!

I'd leave it, three loos with a bunch of teens is a must. Then as the numbers dwindle as they leave home you could change one of the small cloakrooms to a utility room or something else if you want.
I wouldn't do a shower room, unless you have fantastic water pressure, you can't run two showers at once anyway, can you?

Around where we live the cost of a room in shared house is so 4 x dc each paying half that amount would be a tidy sum

For us it would be a no brainer... convert the second upstairs toilet to a shower, if you can find a way to do it. An extra shower will be so much more useful than a third toilet when you've got a house full of teens.