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Original poster

Big utility or small utility and downstairs loo

42 replies

Perfidy · 14/05/2020 21:14

5 bedroom house. Currently there’s an en-suite, a family bathroom with loo and a separate additional loo and an outside loo.

We are going to lose the outside loo for extension, the extra loo next to family bathroom will have new hot water cylinder. That’ll leave 2 loos.

I want to put a downstairs loo in and have a small utility. Dh wants big utility/boot room/ storage/ dog room.

We are short of storage.

OP posts:
BigBairyHollocks · 14/05/2020 21:18

5 bedrooms people will expect a downstairs bathroom. I would keep a loo downstairs

Sunbird24 · 14/05/2020 21:21

Having a downstairs loo is really useful, my parents lost a bit of space from their utility a few years back to add one, and they’ve got 3 upstairs. It’s a lot quicker when you’re coming in from the garden with muddy shoes!
Have you tried drawing out your extension to scale on graph/squared paper and seeing how much space it would take up or leave for everything else you want in there? It makes a lot easier to visualise and make the decision

dibble15 · 14/05/2020 21:23

downstairs loo 100%

nameychange · 14/05/2020 21:25

We have a joint loo utility room. Works well.

clippityclop · 14/05/2020 21:26

Definitely keep downstairs loo. Plan your utility really carefully to maximise use of space. Pinterest had some great ideas. What's a dog room?

Soontobe60 · 14/05/2020 21:27

Yep, downstairs loo with smaller utility. Get a washer and dryer that stack in top of each other to save floor space.

Original poster
Perfidy · 14/05/2020 21:28

Dog room is basically a room to bring a muddy dog straight from a walk and to dry off, wash. Also somewhere to feed her and the cat.

OP posts:
CuppaZa · 14/05/2020 21:29

Small utility and downstairs loo 100000%

quietheart · 14/05/2020 21:30

Downstairs loo no question but how do you struggle for space in a 5 bed house?

PragmaticWench · 14/05/2020 21:32

We're mid-extension and have gone for smaller utility with downstairs toilet. Main bathroom and ensuite upstairs.

Our new downstairs toilet is 150cm long by 110cm wide and isn't at all cramped (pocket door to save space), you could get away with smaller.

Unless a house is tiny people expect a downstairs toilet (thinking of resale value) and it's nicer to have guests stay downstairs and not trek up to the family bathroom.

PragmaticWench · 14/05/2020 21:33

Dog washing happens outside here since I had a hot and cold mixer tap installed outside. Works really well, no more washing DDog in the bath, hurrah!

chunkyriverfish · 14/05/2020 21:34

Definitely downstairs loo. Anything from visitors with mobility issues or even if anything happens where someone breaks a leg, a loo on each floor is worth it.

My utility is small, I think it is about 1.6m long which is where the washing machine and tumble dryer are and about 1.3m wide. I have a hanging rail that is 1.6m long meaning I can hang up shirts that don't get tumble dried and I use it to hang up tumble dried stuff before carting it all upstairs.

Think about if you are storing an ironing board, mop or hoover in there, how you want to store these.

Pinterest is your friend.

Karcheer · 14/05/2020 21:35

I've seen some new builds where they've had a room that was a d/s loo and utility room in one, it worked really well.

AntiHop · 14/05/2020 21:37

Downstairs loo

LesleysChestnutBob · 14/05/2020 21:37

Definitely downstairs loo

Africa2go · 14/05/2020 22:09

Our utility is small, about 2.4m x 1.2m but you'd be surprised at how much storage it provides. Our loo is tiny too (we didn't put it in, previous owners did), its under the stairs. As a pp has said, pinterest is brilliant, particularly American pins as they seem to have less space.

Africa2go · 14/05/2020 22:11

P.s. do you use all your bedrooms? Just thinking outside the box, could you maybe have an upstairs laundry room. Most American houses have their laundry / utility rooms upstairs.

randomsabreuse · 14/05/2020 22:16

Downstairs loo is an absolute essential for a family home. Toilet training logistics, pre dinner hand washing, hand washing on coming in from outside, kids in frantic denial until dancing. All improved by downstairs loo. We had a loo/utility in last house (replaced downstairs bathroom with family bathroom upstairs) and it was really useful.

savetti · 14/05/2020 22:19

I’d combine it all
I have a dog bath, loo , washer/dryer/fridge
Clever planning wouldn’t need that much space

BruceAndNosh · 14/05/2020 22:20

Downstairs loo and a well planned utility room

PatsyJStone · 14/05/2020 22:20

Got to be a loo downstairs, so visitors don’t have to trek upstairs for a start. Additionally the size of the house I agree would require a downstairs loo.

PissOffStayAtHomeDogMum · 14/05/2020 22:25

In my marital home, we ended up with a downstairs dog room/utility room which also had a loo in it. It was initially going to be two separate rooms (loo/utility), but we then changed our minds. So we ended up with 3 loos upstairs and one downstairs, but in a bigger room which also housed the appliances, dog washing sink, floor to ceiling storage, etc.

Not having a downstairs (or even a second) loo and storage is one of the few reasons I am sorry I left abusive XH.

ChocoTrio · 14/05/2020 22:35

@Perfidy - Have you got any floorplans or diagrams to assist with visualising this?

Otherwise, yeah I would go with the consensus that a downstairs WC is important and can come at the expense of a utility room.

SoloMummy · 14/05/2020 22:39

Both?

Big utility or small utility and downstairs loo
smokescreen · 15/05/2020 03:22

@Africa2go

Upstairs utility room kind of makes sense. Most of the laundry will be generated and stored upstairs anyway. And doesn't make a difference where cleaning products are stored anyway. Hmmmm