Family of 5 - do we NEED 2 showers?

[SueGeneris]

Or just two loos?

We definitely need two loos. We currently have one upstairs bathroom with a decent enough shower. We're in the process of getting Builders to put in a downstairs loo and shower room but tbh I think I would prefer to have it as a downstairs loo with space for the washer and dryer. It's an existing room (old pantry) so there's only room for a 760 x 800 shower. There is not enough room for loo, shower and appliances. Washer and dryer are currently in the utility which is an old scullery that we intend to convert into a 'garden room' (it's at the very back of the house beyond the kitchen) and it would be much more convenient to have the washer dryer in the pantry/intended downstairs loo as it's more central in the house and I am using them several times a day. If we get them out of the old scullery it will make redesigning that easier as we won't have to fit them in.

Kids are currently small but my feeling is compared to the number of occasions two people will want to shower at the same time (and we need to check pressure will be good enough to handle that) is miniscule compared to the number of times we're doing laundry. DH primarily wants the downstairs shower so he can shower around 10pm twice a week after training without waking the kids but tbh using the upstairs bathroom doesn't wake them anyway.

So I'm wondering if there's anything I'm missing before I try to persuade him to use the intended shower space for appliances. As long as there's a decent sink, loo, mirror and shaving point etc in there, is a second shower REALLY worth it?

Sorry this was unnecessarily long for a post about showers!

See if you can get the 2nd shower upstairs - dont need to create a full ensuite with loo and sink - just chip out enough space for an extra shower somewhere. I am not keen on them downstairs - but they do work for some families. We have just out in our 2nd shower (already had 2 loos) - 4 teens, 2 adults and an au pair shared one bathroom for last 10 years - needed a bit of scheduling but was nt a 'nightmare".

Spend your money and do what you want for NOW - not when you sell to imaginary buyers in x years time or when your toddlers are teens...

Ideally 2 Showers .. and one should be an ensuite ( in a perfect world )

When they’re teens they will want to shower in the morning , and it will make life so much easier

I would say yes to 2 showers, but no to a downstairs shower. Actually puts me off when house hunting as we would never use it. Most people try to get rid of downstairs bathrooms

I agree with yes to a second shower but only if it's upstairs.

A downstairs shower might be worth it if you were making a wet room and ensuring that the rest of the house was wheelchair accessible, but otherwise there isn't much benefit in having one downstairs.

But then I grew up in a family of five with only one bathroom (which also contained the one loo), so...

Some great ideas, thank you. I'm wondering again about the upstairs ensuite idea now as I'd much prefer to have the extra shower upstairs. It's useful to hear how much use two showers get as the kids get older! And I hadn't considered things like converting but putting it back to sell. We do hope to stay here for a good while, so it makes sense to do what we need. We had a downstairs bathroom in our first house and it was a bit annoying trekking about upstairs/ downstairs but we did get used to it. Hmm.

I know people are divided on en suites though. That said, if we did convert the upstairs box room it would probably just be a second bathroom - it's directly outside the main bedroom so there would be no real need to move doors around.

Thanks. Lots of useful stuff to think about. I'm not sure we've quite reached the perfect solution yet.

We are 2+2. We have an ensuite shower for us and upstairs bathroom with shower for kids and a downstairs cloakroom room with shower for the downstairs guestroom and general daytime use. Works well but downstairs shower rarely used except by guests and i would forgo it and just have a loo if we didn't have a downstairs bedroom. Definately try for 2 showers upstairs and a loo downstairs.

I'm really wondering about the second upstairs bathroom idea now. We had initially written it off as we thought it would devalue the house, but on a quick Google, I'm not sure if it will. It's a 5 bed Victorian house, and bed 5, which could be converted, is not big enough for a bed - something like 5ft x 6ft. As we have another four bedrooms, and the bathroom is quite far from beds 1 and 2 (which are next to bed 5) having a bathroom there would make a lot of sense.

Otoh I have often thought that a box bedroom is more and more useful these days now most families have a computer and many people have hobbies (sewing/art/photography/music/model making etc etc) which are well catered for by a small room that can be devoted to that activity.

I would 100% prefer a second bathroom as you describe than a box room.

I would much rather have a 2nd bathroom for a 4 bed house, than have a study/hobby room and only one bathroom.

Last night, I had teenagers arguing over showers, while little one wondered where he could rinse his teeth out last night.

One of our showers runs off of hot water tank, the other is electric off the mains, so our 2 showers can both run at once with hot water. This is very useful.

We are a family of 5 with two showers but we rarely use them both at once! It helps that I have two footballers who shower in the evening after practice so don't bother in the morning.

One of our showers is upstairs, one downstairs, this is fine, cuts down on chances of teens in same 2 square metres & therefore on squabbling.

I hate en suites, personally. Bathroom/shower upstairs yes, just yuck to en suites.

final note: my kids only shower in the evening. Morning shower is just too much faff to squeeze in. Even the kid who has been in the Army (they have to take 5 minute shower every morning whether they like it or not) he showers in evening at home.

2 showers, definitely

Family of 5 here, 14,12&8, we never seem to have any problems with one shower (actually have two in the house but one is never used). We all seem to naturally use it at different times.
Only issue is when youngest is resisting bed and suddenly decides that he MUST have a shower when one of the others is in it!

Yes, I know en suites are a bit love-hate. I don't really like them. Hence thinking converting bed 5 could work well as it wouldn't be an ensuite, it would be a stand alone bathroom but just outside bed 1.

The larger problem is that bed 5 is a million miles from the existing soil connection...

HAve you got a floor plan?

Downstairs and upstairs floor plans- excuse the resolution - screen grabbed from rightmove. New downstairs loo and/or shower room is the pink room 'walk in pantry'.

Actual rooms (pantry and bed 5).

We only have one shower and it’s not been a problem. I have mine in morning and teens before bed if they are up early next morning.

bed 5 wants to be a bathroom! Pantry should be utility.

esp if you have draughty edwardian halls?

In your circumstances, with a 5 bed Edwardian, I’m almost certain that you will not lose value by converting the house to a 4bed, 2bath. Going from 4 to 3 yes but not 5 to 4. In many areas, the price differential between 4 and 5 is nominal and as most people don’t need 5 then most would want the 4bed, 2bath option.
Looking at your downstairs pantry room. I would put loo and sink at the far end with a door and use the front half as a utility room. That way, they are technically separate which not only adds value but is more pleasant generally.
In your house, with your configuration, you maximise your resale value and your day to day ease of living by having 4beds, 2baths and downstairs cloakroom and a utility room with your washing machine.

I say this having bought/sold/renovated lots of houses and having 4 children.

Great advice, thank you. Hadn't thought of separating the pantry (though I'm not sure it's big enough). I do want a downstairs loo, especially in a big house. We do have one currently beyond the old scullery, freezing cold - it's basically an outside loo and we don't use it.