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Original poster

Which would you be more inclined to buy?

33 replies

JuniperTisane · 27/04/2014 15:32

A 3-bed semi detached property with either:

A) Bedroom 3 4ft7 x 7ft6, bathroom 7ft7 x 8ft10 with normal toilet
or
B) Bedroom 3 7ft7 x 8ft10, bathroom 4ft7 x 7ft6 with saniflo toilet

In other words, would you prefer a reasonable size 3rd bedroom and tiny bathroom with macerator loo or tiny 3rd bedroom suitable for toddler bed only and reasonable size bathroom and normal loo?

Bedrooms 1 and 2 are decent sized doubles and there is a good sized shower & loo downstairs.

Our house is currently in configuration A, not sure if its worth converting to B or just putting the boys in together when DS2 outgrows a toddler bed and hoping someone else is happy with a very small 3rd bedroom.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 27/04/2014 15:39

B

WitchOfEndor · 27/04/2014 15:39

Would the bathroom be the only one upstairs? If so I would prefer a bigger one, if not I would prefer a bigger bedroom. The saniflo would put me off a bit because of problems if the wrong thing gets put down it looks at DS

FortuneFavoursTheFit · 27/04/2014 15:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LynetteScavo · 27/04/2014 15:46

Larger bathroom with the possibility of extending to make a larger bedroom.

cece · 27/04/2014 15:50

I would not buy a house with a saniflo toilet.

Original poster
JuniperTisane · 27/04/2014 15:55

Yes only 1 bathroom upstairs. If we did switch the rooms around it would be possible to put a normal loo in there but the soil pipe would have to run through bedroom 3 taking up storage space under the window. I'm actually ok with that but DH is not. Neither are we really keen on a saniflo but that would keep the boxing and pipework to a minimum.

It would cost in the region of £3-5k to do it but I just wonder if we would get that back and more when we came to sell or if it wouldn't make a difference really?

Do people looking for 3-bed houses expect 3 decent bedrooms or is 2 and a tiny one ok?

OP posts:
NoArmaniNoPunani · 27/04/2014 15:58

Our third bedroom is small. We still bought the house. I'd leave it as is if I were you

Ludways · 27/04/2014 16:04

I'd want the bigger bathroom

TunipTheUnconquerable · 27/04/2014 16:05

A.

I hate tiny bathrooms and IME a lot of the people who buy 3 bedroom houses aren't planning to use all the bedrooms as bedrooms.

HolidayCriminal · 27/04/2014 21:34

Bigger bathroom.

MrsJohnDeere · 28/04/2014 10:21

I wouldn't consider a house with a saniflo toilet.

magimedi · 28/04/2014 10:57

A

Just don't even consider a saniflo loo - especially with young kids.

HauntedNoddyCar · 28/04/2014 11:00

Saniflow would put me right off. Especially if it was the only toilet

BorisJohnsonsHairdresser · 28/04/2014 11:30

I would want the bigger bedroom, I would not want a saniflo loo though.

LondonGirl83 · 28/04/2014 12:01

I think you have a two bed house with a study. Its not that unusual to have a small box room in supposed 3 bed semis. I really hate macerators so I would avoid that at all costs. I don't know if it would be a deal breaker but it would be a major negative for me if a house had one in a bathroom accessible by children.

I think the bathroom you option B is too small for a bathroom. I think the minimum dimensions for a bathroom are either 7.5ft by 6 ft or 8ft by 5ft. Anything less than that is too cramped. How large is your downstairs shower room? Do you have a floor plan?

Could you turn the shower room downstairs into a bathroom with loo and then just have a shower room with loo upstairs? It is less than ideal but if you made the upstairs room a nice shower room instead of a bathroom you could make the box room even larger and it might be worth it then. I think a family house needs a bath in it but as long as its somewhere and you have a shower and loo near the main bedrooms most people could live with that. Kids only take baths for a short while so you might eventually find having the shower room upstairs more useful.

lessonsintightropes · 28/04/2014 13:45

Mascerator loo would massively put me off purchasing the house, regardless of kids, I'd leave it the way it is.

MerryMarigold · 28/04/2014 13:48

That's not a bedroom if you can't even get a bed in it.

Is the loft do-able for future? I would get the one which could be extended somehow when you have saved some funds for it.

Floralnomad · 28/04/2014 13:50

I wouldn't buy a house with a saniflow toilet . Does it have to be a choice between these 2 or could you keep looking ?

Pinkje · 28/04/2014 16:03

I agree, a saniflo would drive me bonkers. Small 3rd box/bedroom is perfectly acceptable if your marketing it as a FtB house.

Original poster
JuniperTisane · 28/04/2014 16:19

Ok. No saniflo then. No cash for extensions or loft conversions for the forseeable so really it seems not worth it moneywise to swap the rooms back (Tiny room was the original bathroom when the house was built prewar) as people won't want a small bathroom now.

Can't see DH being keen to uproot his lovely shower downstairs for a bath instead and put a shower upstairs.

I think we will stick for now with configuration A and put the boys in together when DS2 grows out of the cotbed. DH isn't keen on this but I really can't see an alternative without swapping the two rooms...

Can you tell we bought this house pre thoughts of children?

OP posts:
MerryMarigold · 28/04/2014 16:31

It'll be great for them to share. I didn't realise it was your house! Definitely not worth the money to swap around. Loft extension would be investment in long run though.

Original poster
JuniperTisane · 28/04/2014 16:58

Loft is definitely possible. House has a big loft space but we extended downstairs when we moved in so no wiggle room in the finances right now.

OP posts:
LondonGirl83 · 28/04/2014 18:00

Small bathrooms are okay. I think the saniflo is the bigger issue. Are you sure this is really necessary?

Karbea · 28/04/2014 18:46

Definitely A, wouldn't have a house with a saniflow.
You can get some nice bathrooms specifically for small rooms.

Original poster
JuniperTisane · 28/04/2014 19:28

Yes you can fit a good suite, we measured it and its definitely ok to out the bathroom in there. We dont need to fit a saniflo, just the soilpipe boxing will be a bit intrusive with a normal loo.

Its more about deciding if swapping the rooms would benefit us when we do sell. If we dont gain anything by the house being an actual 3 bed rather than a 2 and a cot room then its silly to do all that work just to give our boys a room each. Hard to see which way round other people orefer it.

OP posts: