Adding a 2nd toilet or ensuite to small 2 bed terraced victorian house

[iamallin]

Hi, wondering if it would be possible to add a second toilet or small ensuite to this plan? It's a small terraced victorian house. I'm guessing would need to move the stairs so can build over the existing bathroom? Please any ideas welcome, willing to spend some decent money to make it work. I need the 2 bedrooms but wouldn't mind an open plan kitchen/living room if it helps... It'd be nice to maybe extend the entrance down a corridor for some extra hall space too, dont know if it'd take up too much living room space...

We were looking to move to a similar property a few years ago and had planned to make it open plan and add a downstairs toilet. Would something like this work (see image)

Forgot to share the link to the design company that renovated the property shown: https://www.maehousedesign.com/?fbclid=PAAaY6UnJxjEvm1k2qP9-86KJJ7bT1m_Pk18-z4lo9T-hpBf1uteUx8tD2D-s. I'm not affiliated with them in any way just love their style! 😀

Thank you! This seems like a great option. Do you think this design company could give some ideas? No idea how pricey it'd be to just get a draft project through...

I'd definitely contact to at least get an idea of their fee. If their extortionate at least you can take the images to a builder or another designer

Do you know if there is enough space under the stairs currently for a loo and a small sink? If you don't have to move the stairs you will save alot of money, which you could probably spend elsewhere.

Your house is almost the same layout and size as ours. We have a shower room upstairs. There is a stud wall between the smaller bedroom and bathroom, a small window (blue on pic), a corner shower cubicle, loo and sink. We dont have a downstairs bathroom, the back room and extension at the back of the house is a combined kitchen/family room but goes all the way across the back of the house.

Two ideas. One is an extension downstairs with a larger bathroom and separate loo. The other cuts into the bedrooms to make a jack n Jill ensure for both.

I guess the most important question I should have asked is do you like having the bathroom downstairs?. Are you looking to make it work upstairs so you could have a bigger kitchen. I've done this recently but we already had an upstairs bathroom so wasn't much thinking needed.

Thanks everyone! Ok so swapping the stairs would be expensive and wouldn't work as I'd need to sort the landing upstairs. This is what I thought, but not sure I could open all these walls and extend a toilet upstairs over the old extension, even if I want to shorten the walls to the downstairs toilet to have more kitchen space... I have clearly no idea how the structural work would hold all this together, if I'd need permission from the council... But this would be my ideal world. Please tell me it's possibly doable! Maybe would need a column between new kitchen extension and dining area?

My partner and I have 2 kids each, but none of them lives with us full-time time so trying to see if we could turn his small house into a cool enough place, with the big room for them for whenever anyone shows up without having to get a super big house that will be empty half the time. We both earn enough to live somewhere larger, but really quite like the idea of living in a small house, doing it up super nice, and having enough spare for travels etc. plus a possible retirement without forever in mortgage debt!

So are you proposing an extension on the left side of the kitchen to make the overall area bigger?. I'd think about going for glass bifold doors to the garden to the left so you can maximise light. We have bi-folds and they are fantastic particularly as our garden is west facing.

I lived in a similar house and down our street there were a million different changes. I watched a lot of house programme - at the time it was Sarah Beeny but your house made perfect might be good.

for the cost of moving the stairs you might be able to do a second floor on the back? That would potentially give a third bedroom and a shower room?

If you have 4 children between you I wouldn’t have one big room downstairs. I’ve heard so many people with this arrangement say they wish to they hadn’t done it because you need space away from the kids sometimes! If you are cooking you don’t always want to hear what dc are doing in the sitting room.

Is this still about a tiny 2 bed house for 2 adults and 4 dc? How does this work? It’s going to require a lot of extension!

Beams can be installed to hold up floors where a load bearing wall is removed. It’s clearly a lot of money to spend. The attached design company works in south London it appears.

Is the attic an option?

Be aware of the all in one toilets and sinks you can get now - they are a game changer in a small space.

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/toilets/toilet-and-sink-combos

I wouldn’t want the bathroom off the kitchen, unless it was off a utility room in the kitchen.

Alternatively, could you turn the whole downstairs on its head and have an extended hallway with a downstairs loo in it, with the hall leading into the kitchen (good for bringing in shopping), then the dining room, then a living room with bifolds right across the back. Another option in this scenario for your upstairs extension could be, instead of the large en suite, having a full bathroom with toilet plus a separate toilet with wash basin.

Having said all that, I can’t see how having just one room for possibly 4 kids would work, unless they are adults and only come when it’s convenient all round. The extension upstairs could give you another bedroom/home office rather than a bathroom.

Or you could go mad and extend over the “new downstairs bit” which opens up lots of options. Depends on how much you’re prepared to spend.

This would be interesting, but possibly a lot more money...? I'll definitely ask around, but wouldn't give up on 2 toilets (not necessarily 2 showers), as even when there were 4 of us, it was an issue.
On the 4 kids, his 2 live down the road at mums so dont sleep over that often, my eldest will be in uni so only over every other weekend and holidays, and my youngest would split time between us and dad so I don't think they'd often be all 4 in the house save for holidays etc. Their main "stuff" wouldn't have to be stored there so we think it could work if we have a bunk with pull-out bed in the bigger room, and my eldest can have sofa bed in the living room when she's over with everyone else. My partner and I are somewhat minimalists so the size of the house is quite ok for us.
A lot to consider, of course... and a risk. We havent talked to kids for their thoughts yet as it's too soon, we are just looking into options and trying to have an idea of costs. I think if they hate it, we'd need to reconsider.
We could then obviously sell and get somewhere bigger, hopefully get the investment back. The issue with buying somewhere bigger is then there would be no extra money possibly to make house nicely designed, and rooms would be empty for a good chunk of time...

Attic not an option btw

Do you already have this house? I cannot imagine making a small 2bed work for 6 people. It's just not really fair - if you can afford to do all this work, why not just look for a 3bed somewhere?

Yes we already have the house. If we invest say £50k for the work (not sure realistic), we'd have a beautiful home at a great location and I think it could work with our logistics with kids (as I said, unlikely all 4 there for more than a few weeks on holidays). For this money plus selling, we cannot get a 3 bed at the same location, and even if we did, it would be very basic, with old /antiquated design, surely not be as nice as this could become, and there would be no money left for renovations, so it'd be bigger, but that's all.

We both earn enough to live somewhere larger, but really quite like the idea of living in a small house

For this money plus selling, we cannot get a 3 bed at the same location

But these two statements are at odds with one another.

I think it's really crap not to have somewhere for all of the kids that you both chose to make to sleep. How does it work now? Who has say over the bedroom available?

I can see you are using two usernames on this thread.

I think given your other thread where you only just met his dc yesterday and it's tense, and presumably the kids haven't spent time together - planning on having them all share one room in a very small house is actually batshit.