Toilet but no basin downstairs; bath and sink but no toilet upstairs!

[JulieAnderton]

I've been looking at some properties on Rightmove to potentially view. There is a nice 1930's 3 bed detached with some original features that looks really nice, but from the looks of things there is a downstairs cloakroom WC, which doesn't have a washbasin and an upstairs bathroom with a basin, but no toilet!

Seems a very bizarre set-up to me. I've heard of toilets being in a separate room next to the bathroom, but not on a completely different floor! DH quite likes the house and wonders if it'll be a deal breaker. I think that it would be highly irritating to have to keep going up and downstairs to go to the toilet and wash hands!

From the floorplan there seems to be ample room to put a toilet in upstairs, but I'm wondering if there is a practical reason why, over the last 70 years or so, no-one has thought to put one in.

it may be that the soil-pipe is at the front (or back) of the house, with just a gulley at the back (or front) where the bathroom is, so that it would be a bit of effort to dig up and alter the drains. There might even once have been an upstairs WC that was removed for some reason.

It would probably not be difficult to put a basin in the WC.

Thank you Piglet John. Going by the floor plan it looks as though the downstairs WC is directly below the bathroom. How big a job and how much would it be to re-fit a soil pipe to the upstairs?

I lived in a student house like this, toilet at the bottom of the stairs and bath/sink at the top.

Most people never washed their hands or used the kitchen sink.

There was room in the toilet for a sink, it was just we were students and the LL couldn't be arsed. Upstairs the bedroom next to the bathroom was huge and could have had a bit taken out of for a toilet - or the bath could have been swapped for a shower and toilet.

If the rooms are broadly in-line then it shouldn't be too much hassle to add a loo.

The house we are buying has an odd loo/bath/shower room arrangement and we have just accepted we will need to rectify it as soon as we move in. I don't know how the family have lived with the arrangement but they have for .

I guess people often don't get round to doing stuff and then get used to it.

older houses will have a soil pipe (100mm diameter) on the outside of the house where it is easily accessible. It may be cast-iron which needs some skill to cut.

newer houses will have the pipe indoors, often boxed-in in the corner of the bathroom and kitchen.

I think it is B&Q who do a toilet with a sink as part of theunit, so no need for a seperate sink.

Pil house was like this except the loo wasn't under the bathroom. There was no real reason for it and there was no reason why they didn't change it for so long (just time and finances).
They now have loo downstairs with a basin in (small corner one) and a new bathroom inc toilet upstairs. Vast improvement! It actually raised the value of their house considerably and also the rental income they could achieve (which they're now doing).
It wasn't a particularly hard job either.