Bigger Living Room or Downstairs Loo

[user2834728]

I have a terraced house with stairs running across the middle in an open plan kitchen/dining room so it isn't possible to have a downstairs loo under the stairs. The only possible place would be to move the lounge door along in the hallway and take a small rectangle out of the lounge to put a downstairs loo in, with a door onto the hallway. This would take a bit of space out of a decent sized lounge, but would also make it an irregular shape.

I might have to sell one day, so am interested to know what would put you off more - no downstairs loo or a slightly smaller, irregular shaped lounge?

Keep the large lounge.
I’d rather a normal shaped room than an extra loo & an odd lounge.

How many bedrooms? If it’s 3 or less I don’t think a second toilet is essential

Keep it as is.

How big is the lounge?

Could you go right across the room and use the other end for storage cupboards?

depends how big the room is and how many other bathrooms are in the house.

It has 3 bedrooms with a loft conversion which doesn't meet building regulations so can't be called a bedroom. It is a decent size but only has one bathroom. It could be possible to put another bathroom in the loft but we've been told we can't put a en-suite with loo in main bedroom as the soil pipe would have to run down the front of the house. It also doesn't have a bath and bathroom is tiny (previous owners put in a wet room which I don't think was the best thing as it must have put buyers off). It was all we could afford for its size.

Thanks for the storage cupboard idea too as I hadn't thought of it, and all of your thoughts. My friend pointed out today that it would mean you could hear people in the loo whilst you were in the lounge .

I’d find a way to add a downstairs loo. But then I’d have one loo per bedroom plus an extra one if I had my dream house!

I looked up the building regulations and it looks like you don't need two doors between a toilet and the kitchen, I'm not sure it would be good to have a loo on the other side of the dining room under the stairs though?

Is your kitchen off the dining room? With a side return? Just trying to think how the layout would work.

If so, I'd make the dining room a dining kitchen (swap the window for a door onto the yard). Then the kitchen can be split in half. First half (off dining room) is a utility, second half right at the end is a shower room.

We had an en suite put in a front bedroom and they ran the soil pipe through to the back of the house.

put newspaper down or tape off the amount of room the new loo would take out of the lounge and make sure that you can still fit furniture in.

I wouldn't lose the space from a living room though to make an ensuite and cupboard...the proportions would be off.

Thanks, the kitchen is off the dining room with a side return.

I asked a bathroom fitter about putting an en-suite in the front, he said he couldn't do it as it was too far to the back (it's not that far, just through back bedroom). Although I think he may have not wanted to go through the other room and may have thought he would have to go under the loft stairs (he wouldn't need to, he'd just need to go through a wall into the back bedroom). Previous owners said they'd looked into an en-suite, I should have asked more questions. I think I should get a second opinion when coronavirus is over!

The house next to us has an en-suite at the front & no front soil pipe so it’s possible. (I assume they installed a macerator. It’s not something that ever came up in conversation )

www.idealhome.co.uk/diy-and-decorating/macerator-toilets-everything-you-need-to-know-202712

(It’s a mid-terrace, about 25’ front to back, with a small bathroom above the kitchen extension)

Why can't you put a soil pipe down the front of the house? I know it doesn't look very nice but there's no other reason not too. Ours is painted the same colour as the render so doesn't look too bad.

I don’t know if it’s that you can’t, or that getting it connected to the main sewer would be a PITA (and/or cost an arm and a leg...)

On our row all the sewage connections are at the back (there’s a back street) so I assume there isn’t a main one on our side of the road

Can you do us a floor plan, might be easer to envisage?

When we have the money and when coronavirus is over (I think coronavirus will be over much sooner) I'm going to get a second opinion on the en-suite in the front bedroom. I'm going to leave the downstairs loo for now as we can't afford to extend it. Thanks for all the ideas!