Keep toilet and bathroom separate or knock down wall and integrate?

[HarryBoa]

We moved into our house a year ago. We have two toilets - one downstairs toilet and one upstairs - a tiny room with a toilet and then the actual bathroom is in a separate room. We can't decide whether to keep the toilet in its own room (and add a little sink because the walking next door to wash hands is a bit rank) or knock down the wall and incorporate it into the bathroom.

I'm leaning towards keeping it separate on the basis that with four of us and two toilets it means that we can keep the toilet rush in the mornings separate from bath / shower times and keep the bathroom fresher smelling(!) DH thinks it's weird and wants the traditional option of toilet, shower, bath, sink all in one room.

Has anyone faced this choice and what did you decide to do? And did it work for you?

We had this in our previous house. 2 toilets, one downstairs one upstairs. Separate bathroom upstairs. After about a year of living with the toilet separate from the bathroom, we decided to knock it into one room and put a shower cubicle in the corner where the toilet door was. Best decision ever! There were four of us in the house and never had any issues with queueing for the bathroom in the mornings.

My mum and dad's house is like this. I'd keep it separate but add a sink, I think. Whilst it's great for someone to be able to use the loo whilst someone else is in the shower, it was always a pain not to be able to wash your hands (I had a sink in my bedroom and had to use that instead). A bigger family down the road kept it separate but added a toilet to the bathroom as well.

I’d keep the loo separate if you can comfortably fit a basin in. We are a family of four and it’s unbelievable the amount of times dd is in the bath in the upstairs bathroom whilst DH is having one of his epic half hour shits in the downstairs loo and I’m hopping about bursting for a wee!

I kept ours separate. ..I much prefer it this way. ..guess it depends on how big your rooms are.

If I had the use of another toilet I would love to knock the bathroom and toilet into one. It would allow me to re-juggle everything to have a shower also installed.

Maybe for a month monitor how many times both toilets are used at the same time.

My old place had it all together and it remained fresh smelling. When the boys were going through toilet training I put a ball in the bowl for them to aim at and the ex was told to go and clean his piss properly.

Personal preference for me would be to knock them into one lovely size family bathroom.

The house I'm buying has a bathroom with a toilet inside, then another standalone separate toilet outside, all on the first floor. I'm turning the standalone toilet into a double shower, then knocking through to make one big family bathroom, given there's another loo downstairs.

I don't understand men who spend half an hour having a poo.
If I feel like I need to poo, I go to the loo, poo and it takes me all of three minutes in total- all aspects, including handwashing and flush. Am I strange?
DH is the same. Why do some men take half an hour- are they doing other things in there?

@Underbox

We had this in our previous house. 2 toilets, one downstairs one upstairs. Separate bathroom upstairs. After about a year of living with the toilet separate from the bathroom, we decided to knock it into one room and put a shower cubicle in the corner where the toilet door was. Best decision ever! There were four of us in the house and never had any issues with queueing for the bathroom in the mornings.

That is exactly what we did! And we also think it was the best decision ever.

Oooh mixed responses but interesting reading all your experiences. I'm leaning more towards keeping them separate and putting a sink in for all the reasons that people have suggested above, but I can understand the preference to have it all in one.

Good suggestion to monitor use for a month though, thank you.

@LuluJakey1 we have one of our number who takes an age to poo. The most frustrating thing when you're trying to get ready. I'm not sure what he's doing. Thinking? Pushing? Ruminating?

I wonder if it would affect resale value.

We have exactly the setup you describe. We kept the loo separate, but added a little basin in there.

In our case the bathroom is a good size and has room for a separate shower as well as the bath. Combining rooms often doesn't give that much more usable space, as you end up with a shorter length of wall.

We had this in a flat and chose to have a big bathroom instead. It meant the hall became just one long area as it lost the space in front of the former toilet room. It felt a bit claustrophobic at first, but we got used to it.

I think it can only add to the resale value as it’s a new bathroom and it will look better than two dated, poky separates.

we have one of our number who takes an age to poo. The most frustrating thing when you're trying to get ready. I'm not sure what he's doing. Thinking? Pushing? Ruminating?

If it is the same person who wants the two combined then obviously they won't see the problem but monitor it and then cite that as the problem, especially if they use the upstairs one for their long ruminations, that could put the whole bathroom out of action.

We decided to keep the toilet separate from the bathroom and put in one of these:

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/metro-combined-two-in-one-wash-basin-toilet-500mm-wide-x-300mm

I’ve never really understood why they used to be separate rooms - it makes washing hands after using the toilet that but more difficult (and less likely to happen) and entirely eliminates the option of popping out if the bath/shower for a pee.

We are knocking ours together as the ceiling of the main bathroom slopes and makes it extremely difficult to put a separate shower in. We have a downstairs loo and an ensuite as well.

@thelegohooverer

I’ve never really understood why they used to be separate rooms - it makes washing hands after using the toilet that but more difficult (and less likely to happen) and entirely eliminates the option of popping out if the bath/shower for a pee.

Well I've never popped out of a bath or shower to go to toilet, always go first! I think the Victorians and Edwardians thought it was insanitary to have a toilet in the room you use for washing yourself.

When my parents did this they added a small sink to the loo and managed to squeeze a small loo in the bathroom with a smaller sink. Worked much better when they had a few guests at Xmas say.

I had this in my previous house. I knocked down the wall and made one big bathroom with enough space for a separate shower cubicle as well as a bath. Worked brilliantly.

“ In our case the bathroom is a good size and has room for a separate shower as well as the bath. Combining rooms often doesn't give that much more usable space, as you end up with a shorter length of wall.”

We had the same issue and overcame the wasted space issue by changing the door so it opened outwards, and hung the sink along the short wall, which made a big difference.

Separate all the way! I just can't fathom the advantage of having a loo in your bathroom when you've got the option of keeping them separate.

Definitely knock through...makes for a nice big family bathroom rather than having a cramped loo etc. Family of 5 here and most morning routines are loo then jump in shower...no one can queue jump you if you're in there.
Also some of these wash hand basins are just too small for adequate washing and cause much splashing of water on walls, tiles and floor!

we kept it separate and replaced the toilet with one with a sink on top of the cistern.

no gate crashing of relaxing bathtimes. hurray!

My childhood home was like this only without the extra toilet. When we sold it a few years ago the chap who bought it knocked it through into one room.

I would keep it separate.
Nothing worse than going in to brush your teeth when someone has just done a poo.

I’ve never really understood why they used to be separate rooms - it makes washing hands after using the toilet that but more difficult (and less likely to happen)

Or you could use the basin in the loo. We are about to remodel our bathroom, the loo is separate now and it’s staying that way.