Please could you give me your thoughts on our bathroom plans?

[SleepBecomesHim321]

Could I ask for some bathroom advice in a quick straw poll please?

Three-storey 1960s house. Currently:

Ground floor: unconverted integral garage, small 3rd bedroom, utility room with access to garden, downstairs loo

First floor: open plan kitchen, dining, living room

Second floor: two bedrooms, bathroom, large airing cupboard

Planned:

Ground floor: convert integral garage to bedroom, convert current 3rd bedroom to a bathroom (bath and shower), keep utility room, convert downstairs loo to a cupboard

First floor: unchanged

Second floor: convert current bathroom to a bedroom, convert current airing cupboard to a bathroom or shower room (it would be a good sized shower room but a squeeze with a bath - would prob have to go for an omnibath type option)

So my question is: would you be put off by or OK with only a (good-sized) shower room (with toilet and sink) on main bedroom floor (second floor)? There would be a bath, shower, toilet, sink on ground floor but that's two floors down.

Should add: daily-use bedrooms will all be on second floor with shower room; new fourth bedroom on ground floor will be for guests/grandparents. Three of us live here - two parents, one toddler.

Obvious downside is that bathing children would require then carrying them up two floors to bed. So we could try to fit in a second bath on top floor but it'll be pokey/awkward.

Any comments thankfully received.

No. I think it would cost a fortune and knock resale value down. I've looked at houses where bathroom is on ground floor and bedrooms on first and even being in the industry (so we can do the work ourselves) it's been a limiting factor.

I don't like downstairs bathrooms full stop but I can't imagine anyone thinking one being 2 floors down from the bedrooms is a good idea.

Can you do a total remodel and have downstairs as utility/ kitchen / diner / living then on middle floor have 2 beds and a shower room and leave the top floor as it is?

That would cost more as you'll have to move the Kitchen but would get a much better result.

If you're planning to stay at the house then crack on. If not, then don't. 4 bedrooms and only one living space isn't appealing imo.

Just have a shower room on the ground floor for visitors and a proper family bathroom with the bulk of the bedrooms.

Make the second floor airing cupboard a walk in wardrobe for one of the bedrooms or a small study/office.

Have the garage conversion as a flexible space, so it can be a separate family room with a sofa bed in it, etc. Think about storage so anyone sleeping in there has somewhere to hang their clothes, etc.

Can you post a current and proposed plan? It sounds like you are doing this to get all the main bedrooms on one floor? And you'd go from a 3 bed to 4 bed house is that right? I think depending on the space it might be fine, but I'd like to see a floorplan :)

I think people are missing the point that the existing bathroom will become a bedroom and therefore add significant value to the property. From the layout (now) as descrived I am assuming it is a modern(ish) townhouse style property.

As long as there is one bath in the house (which according to your plan) would be on the ground floor as this is the proposed bathroom where there is space for both bath and shower it shouldn't put people off.

I would then just put a decent lovely walk in shower in the bathroom upstairs as most people shower on a daily basis and have baths less frequently (and can then use the downstairs one). It makes sense for there to be some type of bathroom on the ground floor with a bedroom down there.

I would go with your plan (but not worry about an upstairs bath).

It's not likely to be a very big room if it's a 1960s town house though. It would be a pain if you have kids to not have a bathroom on the same floor as the bedrooms.

Thank you very much for all your comments - very helpful.

I tried to post floor plan earlier but couldn't seem to upload pictures. Basically, we could either:

• Ground floor: convert garage to 4th bedroom/multi-purpose space and leave current 3rd bedroom/study as is - but have nothing more than a loo on ground floor (no shower or bath)
• Second floor: leave upstairs as is, meaning two bedrooms and family bathroom with bath and shower upstairs
• Result is 4 bedrooms but two floors apart, with 2 on ground floor, 2 on second floor, one bathroom total

Or, we could:

• Ground floor: convert garage to 4th bedroom/multi-purpose space, convert current 3rd bedroom/study to bathroom with bath
• Second floor: rejig to get 3 bedrooms with a small bathroom which could be just a shower room or a pokey bathroom
• Result is 4 bedrooms, with 3 bedrooms and shower/small bath upstairs, and one bedroom plus full bathroom on ground floor

So it really boils down to how off-putting the distance between bath and children's bedrooms is! That would inform whether we attempt to crowbar a second bath into a v small space on second floor or not. My sense is that it's preferable to have three bedrooms on same floor (two kids' rooms, parents' room) rather then 2+2.

It's a 60s townhouse and so the main asset is the big windows/first floor living aspect.

Thanks again.

Should have added: yes, whatever we do we'll gain a bedroom, going from 3 to 4

What are the dimensions of the airing cupboard you are proposing to convert on 2nd floor?

Hi, about 1.2m x 2.5m, with the shorter dimension being the one which will have a door in it.

I think 1.2m by 2.5m will fit a bath just fine. Put the toilet and the bath on the far 1.2m wall side by side, then a sink to the side of the door at the end of the bath.

Unless the door is bang in the middle of the 1.2m wall, that should be fine.

You definitely need a proper bathroom on the second floor if you want to sell as a family house. Someone would buy it without but it would really limit your number of possible buyers.
Logistics for one toddler (one or two parents putting them to bed, carrying from bathroom to bedroom) are very different to those of older children or a toddler plus baby. We have three youngish children and I wouldn't even view a house with that floor plan because I would struggle to bath them and get them in bed on my own, sorry.

I think your plan could work, except I would probably change two things.

1. convert the garage into a bedroom but with a shower en suite and keep the extra downstairs room as an extra space.
2. put a mini bath tub with a shower (like this in the new bathroom on the 2nd floor so that for young families little people can be bathed near their bedrooms. Of course the obvious downside is that you won't end up with a full sized bath in the house.

Thank you - excellent points! I hadn't thought of bathing multiple children at once and then transporting them (spot the one-child family)...

We could leave the family bathroom in place on second floor but that would mean 2 bedrooms on 2nd floor and 2 bedrooms on ground floor - not ideal for a family house either is it?!

I think we may just have to try to cram a bath into small upstairs bathroom too... This would be making an assumption that having 3 bedrooms on same floor (with a smaller bathroom) is preferable to the 2+2 split.

Will have to try to source a teeny bath!

I think you are right about 3 beds on the same floor but I think you do have to try to squeeze a bath in that bathroom somehow. It may requre making the bathroom slightly bigger by stealing some bedroom space to add on to the airing cupboard space, i.e. move a wall. Kids's bedrooms don't have to be big, especially if you can allocate some of the new ground floor space as a playroom (which is what I would do once kids are 3+).

OK I've made the short wall 1400 rather than 1200 (could you pinch 20 cm from another room??) but you can also get 1200 baths. A small but not tiny bath should easily fit though...

Thank you!

I've re-measured and the width of current cupboard is 1180mm (1.18m), not 1.2m. I'll have a look for tiny baths but I think any bath will need to run lengthways, not across the back. However, will also investigate grabbing a bit of (our) bedroom next door. Would require moving our bedroom door though...and so it spirals....

Maybe we should look at corner baths (not really my style but perhaps needs must!)