Only bathroom in house is through bedroom 3?

[Unihorn]

We're going to view a house this weekend on a street we love. However the house only has one bathroom/toilet and it's upstairs through bedroom 3. It's an end terrace that has already been extended at the back so the kitchen is 17'x8'.

We have two children who will be sharing bedroom 2 and my stepdaughter who will be with us about 8-10 nights a month in bedroom 3. She's currently primary school age so we can only get away with the walking through her room situation as it is for about 3/4 years max I reckon.

I've attached the floor plan, but I'm thinking:

• take about 4x8 of the kitchen away to make a downstairs cloakroom, but there are currently patio doors at the rear
• take the top right chunk off bedroom 2 (??) and put a partition in bedroom 3 to make a corridor, which would reduce bedroom 3 to about 8x6
• possibly do something with the rear left side of the building that's not been extended
• there's also room to go back again into the garden

Any had a similar situation, or know much about building as to whether this is doable!? I'm not sure whether we should go to the viewing otherwise.

This is a really common layout in a couple of the towns where I have lots of friends.

The most frequent adaption is to put a corridor through Bedroom 3, as suggested, but other options include an extension to downstairs as well to make the floor space upstairs bigger, so the corridor doesn't take out as much floor space or moving the bathroom into Bedroom 2 and re-jigging the other rooms (though this can be expensive if you are dealing with chimney breasts as well as waste pipes)

It's worth asking what the neighbours have done, and standing outside looking up at the rest of the street to see what seems the most popular option

We actually viewed another on the street that had split bedroom 1 and converted bedroom 3, and didn't have an extension at the back, but we felt it was just too small. My parents used to own on a similar street and said they were approved for a loft conversion (for about £4k in the 90s!) so that could be another option I think

Shower room where bedroom three was, bathroom now bedroom 3.

We bought a house with a similar layout. We put in the corridor as suggested upthread, what was left of bed 3 became the bathroom, it was small but just fitted a bath with shower overhead. The old bathroom became bedroom 2. We also managed to squeeze an en-suite into the master and put in a downstairs loo under the stairs.

It's just a shame that your bathroom would be windowless if you converted bed 3 to a bathroom.

I lived in a house of similar size and layout and the decent sized bathroom was at the back and our bed 3 (where your bed 3 is now) had obviously had a wall put up to make a corridor and was a long thin single room, but crucially it had a window.

Infact, weren't all Victorian terraces laid out like this? Upstairs plumbing wasn't a thing for many years after most of these properties were built. The privy was out back beyond the scullery. The only plumbing would have been cold water to the rear of the house on the ground floor.

If you are thinking of moving the bathroom to bedroom 3 definately get a builder out to look before offering. I rennovate a lot of houses and as a few others have said swapping a bathroom into another room is not as easy as it sounds. You need to make sure there is enough space under the floor for a decent run on the soil pipe and that might not always be the case on an upper level.

There is nothing wrong with a bathroom with no window as long as the ventilation is good. I have four bathrooms in my holiday house with no windows and they are pretty luxurious. Neither bathroom in my daughter’s flat has a window nor do I in one bathroom in my London flat. You can make a wonderful bathroom without a window - you just need decent lighting and imagination!

How about removing the wall between the bathroom and bedroom 3 and making it into a large bedroom, then split bedroom 1 into a smaller bedroom and a bathroom?

The plumbing is at the other end of the house.

As you've just mentioned, stepdaughter's need for a bedroom may become more infrequent as she's getting older. I'd go with making a temporary partition in bedroom one (using some tall shelving) to create a private space for her and have all of them in that room and use bedroom 3 as toy and/or clothing storage. Or, if she isn't staying very often would a decent sofa bed downstairs, plus bedroom 3 for her clothes etc. be a possibility?

A wallthrough room shouldnt be counted as a bedroom. Theyre trying to sell a 2bed house as a 3bed

Could you incorporate the airing cupboard into an en-suite in the biggest bedroom?

Would a Velux solve the windowless bedroom issue?

@Curious0yster I had considered bedroom 1 having an ensuite or using the airing cupboard, but the boiler is currently housed in the airing cupboard, and the more I think about it, the more I would want a downstairs toilet/shower room as the girls get older.

I think if we do really like it after viewing, we are going to go with putting all three girls in bedroom 1 and using bedroom 3 as a bit of a playroom/dressing room until we can afford to put a downstairs toilet in. As my stepdaughter gets older and visits less frequently we could then change bedroom 3 to more of a guest room with an ensuite then use downstairs as the main toilet.

It's decorated to our taste and under budget, with a lovely garden, garage and off road parking, so it is only really this that's the sticking point unfortunately!

I think Bluntness100 suggestion is best with a skylight or velux for more light into the hall. Generally rear extensions on houses have a shallower roof so shouldn’t be much work.

Don’t do a bedroom with no regular window with a velux.

My street is fully of 2 bedroom terraces with a very large bathroom in the 3rd bedroom. Some have converted to 3 bedroom as per Bluntness100 suggestion and get 20% more for their house.

One house has done it with a windowless room with a velux and they can’t sell it for below the price of the 2 bedroom houses.

Thanks for the further thought. The stairs turn to the left to reach the level of the corridor though so I assume this would be more work than first thought...? I could do with having an architect or builder friend willing to come with me!

Can you save up and do a loft conversion and put another bathroom up there?

I'd also go for the loft conversion when you can afford it.

I’d be thinking loft conversion for a bedroom or two, and just forget about using bedroom 3 as a bedroom at all (it’s not) - playroom would be ok then teenage hangout/study.
Your two won’t want to share forever either.

Loft conversion is likely to be too pricey I think!

Also “bedroom” 3 gives plenty of space for stairs up to loft.

Sounds like a great solution. There are these room dividers if you want to divvy it into big girl and Little girls.

www.diy.com/departments/karalis-room-divider/1012710_BQ.prd Forgot the link to the room divider!

We bought a similar layout as it's typical of Victorian terraces in our area and we wanted a Victorian house.

The proportions make up for the current inconvenience until we can afford to put another bathroom in or loft conversion.

I love that divider link thank you! We've now seen the house and made an offer, but so have several others (allegedly, according to the really annoying, pushy estate agent) and because it's not the "perfect" house I'm not sure I'll be devastated if it goes for above our offer.