No downstairs toilet or very cramped downstairs toilet?

[OneCyanHiker]

Our house is a small 3 bed semi. From looking at Rightmove, not many have downstairs toilets, obviously aware this could also mean that they ‘re so happy with their downstairs toilet they don’t have to move lol. The ones that do, have them in the space under the stairs, which is about 1m x 0.7m with the door in the kitchen.

I think we could move the door to the kitchen so the toilet wouldn’t be in the kitchen but the wc would be very small. And we’d lose our breakfast/ small dining table so there’d be no seating in there anymore.

I would like a downstairs toilet but not sure it’s always worth it…can adding a toilet detract from the value?

thanks

You’ll get a lot of different answers but personally if you don’t mind not having one, I’d leave it. There is scope to put one in but you have no way of guessing whether new owners would rather have toilet door into kitchen or lose the breakfast table. Personally I’d choose “no downstairs loo” over those options but other people would choose differently.

we had a tiny downstairs loo in our old house ( known as the toilet cupboard) and tbh I’d walk upstairs rather than use it.

What's your downstairs floorplan? Do you have a hallway by your stairs that leads into the kitchen?

I need toilets near bedrooms I don't need a downstairs one

We put an absolutely miniscule one in our old house, it’s was a little old larder or something although it did have a window. Had trouble fitting a sink in but just about managed a tiny one,
it was great though because it saw us through potty training 2 dc.

if you don’t need it for you, I’d leave it and then someone in future has the option.

if it’s going to make a difference for you eg potty training, then do it

I don’t think not having one is a massive deal breaker for most people especially if many similar houses in the area don’t, I think a bigger deal is only having a downstairs bathroom.

I don’t think it’s worth giving up the seating in your kitchen.

Downstairs loo is super handy, especially with kids!

However I don’t think it’s so handy that I’d lose dining table space for it

Losing kitchen seating is a step to far for me.

Depends on a few things: (floor plan?)

Do you have a separate dining room? If so, not so worried about losing small kitchen table. If that's your only table, then no

Are you potty training? If so downstairs loo is a godsend!

Do you have a lot of guests? Family, friends, kids' mates... Are you happy with them all tramping upstairs, or do you prefer that to be your private space?

A loo downstairs definitely adds appeal, but not if you lose your only eating space

Can you post a floor plan?
We stole a few inches fr the entrance hall rather than the kitchen

My aunty has a downstairs loo where the room is literally 65cm x 65cm so your 1m x 0.7m seems perfectly ok.

Also depends if there is one or two loos upstairs. I might be more inclined to do it if there is only one other loo upstairs. One loo in the house can be unpleasant sometimes.

I definitely wouldn't loose kitchen dining space for it, but I do think it's better to have one downstairs than not. Especially with young kids, and especially if only one loo upstairs and you have a DP that spends hours in there

Downstairs toilet is useful for small kids and visitors especially elderly or anyone who may struggle with stairs. A second toilet is always useful especially with a family, but could both be upstairs. Our downstairs toilet is in a former kitchen alcove but has the door into the hall, is under stairs and small. Dining table doesn't need to be in the kitchen if there is room for it elsewhere.

I would only do it if this is likely to be your forever home, and even then I wouldn’t do it now (presuming you’re still young!).

If it’s a typical 1930s 3 bed semi, I know the layout you mean. The only time it’s ever been an issue in our family, is as people have got a lot older and not having a loo downstairs has been an issue for mobility reasons. So if you stay, maybe something to contemplate for the far off future.

But for now, I’d keep your kitchen/diner space because I think you’ll use that a lot more and also I do think it will be more appealing to future buyers if you sell.

We recently moved in order to get a house with a downstairs toilet due to my medical conditions. Previously whilst selling and buying our home before this one we rented and it had a downstairs toilet. It was perfect for toilet training. For me one of the pros of having a downstairs toilet is that guests don’t need to go upstairs! However in this instance I would say the seating area in the kitchen is more valuable than having a toilet downstairs!

Yea we need a floor plan. I don't understand if you are ticking it under the stairs why you'd lose your table space? I find downstairs toilet extremely convenient!

If there's no dining room either then I would much rather visitors went upstairs to the loo than have to juggle plates on laps. But if there is other seating downstairs I would prioritise a downstairs WC over an extra table.

Our downstairs loo is about that size and I wouldn’t be without it now. That said, we didn’t lose our dining space for it, if we had, perhaps we wouldn’t have added it in the first place. What you never had, you never miss and all that.

NB my sister has the tiniest WC under the stairs, which works very well

It used to be the case that you had to have two doors between toilet and kitchen but the building regs have now changed. A lot of people still won’t like the set up you are providing though and that could make selling difficult in the future.

if you are going to do it, you need to have a big enough space to have a washbasin in the same room as the toilet and there are also mandatory ventilation and air extraction requirements which could be expensive.

Only one toilet upstairs

kitchen seating could be replaced with stools and narrower cabinets on one side

We don’t have a separate dining room, it’s just one big room that’s living/dining so we put a small dining table in the kitchen instead.

We’re not potting training atm.

We’d prefer to not have guests always going upstairs to the toilet.

Ive added the layout. Sorry, drawn it really badly. First one if downstairs layout. purple line is where the new wall would be to make the toilet door open in the hall not the kitchen

Second one is kitchen only-

left- L shaped counter and pink is food and pots/ pans/ coffee machine and fridge. green is table.

right- moving the fridge and storage means we lose worktop space so added it to under the window, where the table is now.

Do you know how big it is?

That is small! All the toilets I’ve looked at are about that depth. You don’t happen to have a photo do you? lol I can’t even picture it

Let's hope you never injure yourself or get old because then you might. My Dad's last few years were very difficult with no downstairs loo. The stair lift just wasn't quick enough. A colleague's husband had to use a commode downstairs (which she had to empty) when he injured himself running.

I like having a downstairs toilet as it's handy when working outside so would try to accommodate if I could.
This sort of WC can help in a small space.

All the downstairs loos, I've come across have either had a double door from the kitchen to the toilet (making a small lobby or open into a hall.
I'm pretty sure building regulations mean toilets cannot open directly into a kitchen.
Someone may already have pointed this out to you, if so sorry about double posting.