Property/DIY
Where should we install a downstairs toilet? (floor plans included)
Downstairstoilet · 21/02/2023 22:19
We are in desperate need of a downstairs toilet but don’t have a huge budget so an extension won’t be possible. Our first thought was under the stairs but it doesn’t meet the height requirements.
Second thought was to take up part of the garage space (see picture two) but our long term plan is to knock through from the kitchen to utility/laundry room to create a larger kitchen/diner with bifold doors. So we’d already need to take the back section of the garage for that. Installing a toilet in front of this would mean the garage would no longer fit a car. This is our forever home and we have a driveway plus two spaces in front of our house so we never use the garage to store our car but I worry about devaluing the house long term.
Any other opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 21/02/2023 22:55
Where is the upstairs loo? If budget is an issue, you need to be fairly near it so you can use the existing pipe work.
Dont be fooled into thinking a macerating loo will do, they are a nightmare for blockages, sulking at heavy jobs ( ahem) : and of course you can’t use them if the power is off.
bestbefore · 21/02/2023 23:08
Can you add a door to the garage at the bottom of the stairs in the hall? Close off the door from the utility to the garage and add a loo to the far right of the utility, with a sliding door? That way you have more space in the utility and the loo is a distance from the kitchen?
MaggieFS · 21/02/2023 23:09
If you have a driveway and two spaces, I wouldn't worry about not being able to fit a car in a garage. So few people do that. I would keep the front section of garage for bike/large bulky storage similar to your picture, but I think you could take more space from the garage so also be able to fit the utility into the garage allowing for your full width kitchen diner in future.
I can't see this devaluing.
Alternatively, despite what you've said about height, your hall looks massive. It would be costly but can you move the stairs to go round the corner or reverse them to give you the space needed? It's hard to tell from the plans.
Silvergone · 21/02/2023 23:14
In between your utility and garage. Don’t worry about car going in garage unless you’re in an area where people have very expensive cars.
Or could it perhaps fit under your stairs?
But before getting too thoughtful about all that make sure you know where your drains are. Toilet is going to need to connect to the underground drain in a very short distance, you can’t just run sewage horizontally around the house, that’ll get blocked up all the time.
Also your toilet will need to connect to a soul vent pipe or have a 1m tall valve pipe behind the loo.
So basically work out where your drains are and where a soil vent oooe can go and that may narrow your options a lot.
If you can, don’t out it in the utility. No one wants to dry their knickers in a room that smells of poo.
WinterMusings · 21/02/2023 23:28
i think maybe some posters missed your future plan to knock through & have the kitchen/diner with bifold doors?!
if it were me & I've thought about this for mine. A lot! I'd leave the garage door and a good chunk of space for all the stuff we keep in a garage- bikes/decorating/gardening gear etc
turn the next chunk into a combo loo/shower & utility, ending where you'd put the back wall of the kitchen/diner.
youre not going to devalue your property by doing this, people do want the garage for storage & ease for getting bikes in & out etc, but very very very few will want it to park a car in, so you'll restrict your pool of buyers a tiny bit, but not the value.
Shamoo · 22/02/2023 00:51
If you are worried about value you need a utility long term, even if you make a bigger kitchen diner. So work out where that will be and put the toilet there, so you can combine it in due course.
Totally agree with others that you don’t need to worry about fitting a car in the garage.
QOD · 22/02/2023 03:37
We made the corner of the hallway a loo
one wall is the door to under stairs cupboard and the loo (macerated) has a sink on the cistern
you step passed the loo then sit down. A macerated loo is fine for occasional poop but it’s the wee loo mostly
ours is nowhere near plumbing. Pipe goes straight up then along floor joists of upstairs before it joins the waste
we buy 2 ply easy disintegrating caravan loo roll for it
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