Is it possible to demolish the downstairs bathroom at back of house fairly cheaply?

[allgonebellyup]

and to move the bathroom upstairs eg do all the plumbing ourselves?

has anyone done this?
its a victorian house, and we need the space for our garden to be bigger!!!

Umm, well, it depends where the bathroom is - I'm assuming at the back of the house, behind the kitchen - and what skills you have. Demolishing bit easy if it is just an add-on tacked to back of house with no structural issues (although, if you live in a terrace, getting rid of debris is not much fun). You will then need to have some pretty good bricklaying and plastering skills to block up old door. You will also need to cap off all the old water supplies and make sure that things like hot water tank and boiler don't need repositioning.

Moving bathroom upstairs is much more complicated and depends if you already have designated room for it or will have to subdivide existing one or build first floor extension. Unless you or your dh/dp is a builder/plumber or very, very experienced diy-ers, I would get the professionals in.

my ex dh is a builder so was hoping to get him to do all of it!
do we need planning permission?

You could make an informal enquiry at your local planning dept but unlikely you would need permission unless you are planning upstairs extension or you live in listed building or in conservation area.

You will need building regs approval but your ex dh will know all about that. (Thought I had already posted this but it doesn't seem to have gone through - apologies if it appears twice.)

Thanks Copper
Anyone else with any experience?

im wondering, as we are a semi and not detached, would we have to do a lot of work separating the bathroom from the house we are joined on to?
Would we need their written permission?

Or is this whole thing a stupid idea?

bump

If they have an extension that is attached to yours then you may need a party wall award. Your planning office should have leaflets explaining it - if your neighbours want to go down the surveyors route, it will cost at least £1200.

unless your garden is teeny weeny I would have thought it made more sense to leave it standing and extend the kitchen into it...