No family bathroom

[Youhedge]

Would this bother you.

Downstairs loo

Bedroom 1 - en-suite shower
Bedroom 2 - en-suite shower
Beds 3&4 - Jack and Jill bathroom
Loft - bathroom with access from landing.

I don’t think you can really count the loft as the ‘main’ bathroom, but at least you don’t have to access it via a bedroom.

I don’t care DH does. We could add a door to the J&J but that’s getting crazy IMO, why bother.

It's fine and wouldn't bother me as you do have a downstairs loo.

I'm with you Youhedge. I can't see a problem with this at all. If you are happy with domestic side of things, I can't see why J snd J is a problem. I presume both doors have a lock from inside so no privacy issue.

I wouldn't like to walk through a bedroom to get to the main bathroom, and I've stayed in a couple of US properties and they've always had a separate bathroom too.

ChicCroissant but in what circumstances would you, as a guest, be walking through anyone's bedroom ...?

We have all en-suites and a downstairs loo. Apart from the cleaning aspect, it’s fine.

Gerti in the party situation that the DH is mentioning.

ChicCroissant but there is a loo downstairs for party guests

And there is the bathroom in the attic which is accessible from the landing, so not through a bedroom

Well I can only speak for myself but I'd let guests go upstairs as well rather than queue downstairs, especially if there was 60 of them!

ChicCroissant they can go upstairs because the bathroom is accessible in the loft.

I hate Jack and Jill bathrooms can you turn that into a family bathroom with access from the hall instead of the bedrooms.

If this is literally about a once a year large party where you have a line of guests waiting for the downstairs loo and the layout otherwise works for you then I think you’d be bonkers to change it. Just allow guests to also use the en-suite to the spare room and/or go up to the loft level.

If you’re doing up the house to sell then I’d close up the existing jack and Jill doors and add a door to the corridor instead. I personally don’t like them. They’re ok to be shared between kids maybe but I don’t think they’re a substitute for a family bathroom and I have never seen that arrangement (and I live in the US).

I've read and re-read your post to make sure I understand.
So, all bedrooms have a bathroom they can access on the same floor.
It sounds like the issue is with the shared bathroom?
In that case, I'd put guests in the second en-suite bedroom.
Visitors can be told to use the bathroom in the first floor en-suite, or the Jack and Jill (going via the unoccupied bedroom if you have guests).
This is all of course in case the ground floor loo is in use - how many people might you have around at one time???

Ultimately, in your place, I might consider closing off the doors to the Jack and Jill and getting a door installed on the hallway / landing.

Why don’t people like a JandJ? Realise that wasn’t my original question, but now I’m interested. I think tramping across a landing is much worse, why is locking a second door so bad?

A J and J seems worse than one off a shared landing to me, but I certainly wouldn’t go about changing it. It’s not private enough. In fact, it seems rather too intimate to me. It feels like you are in someone else’s room. A separate bathroom is, well, separate, and therefore more private. But I hate en suites too.

You have one downstairs. You don’t need another “public” bathroom.

There is another public bathroom anyway - on the top floor.

I don’t mind a jack and Jill bathroom. And I wouldn’t be bothered by your bathrooms.

We did view a house that had a downstairs toilet and then all en suites except one bedroom, I thought that was weird.

Why I don’t like them: Two doors are a waste of space. Most bathrooms benefit from better use of space. If you have to go through a bedroom to get to a “double”
en suite jack and Jill, as in this case, it feels like you are invading private space

. New houses don’t have them. They are an unsatisfactory and quirky “solution” to a problem. En suite ones only really serve the two bedrooms, not everyone using the house as a main bathroom could. Although I have seen one with a door on the landing and another door into a bedroom, no guest feels comfortable using a jack and Jill having wandered through a bedroom if the jack and Jill is en suite. Bedrooms tend to be private spaces.

What if you forget to lock the second door?

They are very dated. You never see them in homes magazines.

The en suite should be in the loft and the jack and Jill should be available to everyone. Very important without a cloakroom.

Youhedge

Why don’t people like a JandJ?
I've been puzzling over this too. Is it that there is only a door thickness separating one person in their bedroom from another person using the bathroom next door? Less sound proofing? Letting someone else's bathroom smells into your bedroom when opening the door ...?

En suites in most bedrooms larger homes are normal. You normally have a family bathroom though - as well. My family bathroom serves two guest bedrooms. In my holiday house we have all en suite shower rooms but also s family bathroom with a lovely large bath for soaking in. It’s a luxurious relaxing space. Most people like en suites when on holiday.

Why is a jack and Jill ever necessary?

The en suite should be in the loft and the jack and Jill should be available to everyone. Very important without a cloakroom.
But there is a cloakroom in this scenario

Oops! Yes. Downstairs loo. Still would have a main bathroom though for anyone in the house to access.

Good grief OP - is this a HMO?

Who needs that many bathrooms when it’s probably the room you spend the least time in?