Anyone have a downstairs shower in their toilet + utility?

[AbsolutePlonker]

Currently beginning to work with builders on a downstairs extension - bigger dining space in our kitchen, utility (labelled kitchen 2) and a toilet. HOWEVER the builder has suggested we add in a downstairs shower. Especially as upstairs, we only have a shower in the ensuite. Our family bathroom is in the eaves so we only have a bath.

I can't decide if it's genius, OR am I going to hate having guests use that loo because of the shower? Is it going to be too cramped? I previously had planned for a bigger utility, so it would take storage space away.

Why would you hate guests using the loo because of the shower? Surely the shower is a bonus?
Anyway, I digress. We have a downstairs shower. It's great because if one of us is late back they can shower down their and not wake anyone.

Make the toilet door a pocket door, and put it in the middle of the toilet room. Then you can have toilet (with basin in cistern) on the left, and shower on the right, and you won't need to make the toilet room bigger.

We have a bit of an odd house as it was a bungalow and now it’s got 3 beds upstairs and 2 en suites. Downstairs we have master bed, en suite,
son’s bedroom and a main bathroom with both bath and separate shower. I chose the separate shower rather than a storage cupboard as it would be the main bathroom for 2 bedrooms, so felt a shower was much better as visitors don’t have baths really, just a quick shower so perfect!
I made sure I used much of our separate utility room as possible, wall and floor units for storage, shelving under the stairs to get extra
storage in - you can gain plenty of space if you get the right cupboards - good luck with the build

We have a shower in our downstairs cloakroom - it’s great! It’s a spare shower for us as we only have one bathroom upstairs. It’s also great when guests stay in the snug as they can stay with no stairs (great for elderly parents!).
Only down side is you do have to clean it more as it’s on show!!

We don't have one as yet, but I'm planning a utility/bathroom for our new house. It's right next to our downstairs guestroom so it makes sense to have a proper bathroom there, but it's a big space and we can easily fit the utility in their too so I'm going for it. I think it will work fine. There is an option for a separate downstairs loo if we want one but we may not bother.

We’ve got a separate shower room off the utility, we use the loo but never the shower.

We have a shower and downstairs loo off the utility. No comments made by our guests and it is ideal for showering the dogs!

got one and it's brilliant. very handy for coming back soaked or filthy from hiking or bike rides - can strip off and throw stuff into washer and self into shower!

Was also going to recommend getting a pocket door - that's what we have.

My old converted cottage has a good sized utility room with kitchen cupboards, loo and shower. It
is really good to have on wet days, when I don’t want mud and such trailing through the house.

I don’t really use it for guests as we have an en suite and another bathroom.

It’s my room, for laundry and ironing. I mainly use the shower for the muddy dog.

Downstairs shower is a good idea for lots of reasons. I ended up stuck down stairs for 6 weeks one year in the height of summer without a shower when i broke my leg and was non weight bearing and couldn't use stairs.

We are currently having a similar extension and are having a shower put in.

Yes, we have one - right next to the back door, ideal for showering dogs so they don’t trail mud through the house and up the stairs. We live rurally, in the middle of some very muddy fields, and it was one of the top three things I loved about the house on a first viewing, for that reason.

Ours is a boot room by the back door. Shower, toilet, sink, cupboards and pegs. Perfect solution for our family (with dog who will also sleep in there when older).

pocket door and then make it a wet room with a higed door on the shower so when not in use you can still use the whole room , which you couldnt with an enclosure

@newrubylane I’m embarking on a similar project and the architect commented that building control won’t allow switched appliances (washing machine etc) in a bath/shower room, so a shower/utility won’t work

We have a downstairs shower that used to just have a toilet and couldn’t be without it now. We also have a bathroom with a bath and an en-suite off the main bedroom that has a shower. The more the merrier. Although cleaning it all is a swine.

We’re planning to convert half our double garage (which adjoins the current lootility room) in to a room which could be used as a bedroom, and pinching a bit of it to add to the lootility and house a shower. The idea is that we are future proofing in case one of us gets mobility problems as we get older, but I’ve also got one eye on the shower so DH can come straight in from hiking and get in it rather than going upstairs. Him in the shower, his muddy stuff straight in the washing machine and no mud anywhere else for him to have to clean up afterwards 😁

We have one off the boot room with the downstairs loo. There’s an office next door so it could become an accessible bedroom/bathroom. It’s also an electric shower, so we were glad of it when the boiler went on the blink and needed replacing.

Yes me and I love it! It’s tiny but works fine. I have no issue with guests using the toilet, normally when they are here we wouldn’t be showering anyway so it doesn’t make much difference. It’s super useful for washing the dog and kids in haha

Its just DH and myself, but we use the downstairs shower/bathroom 99% of the time- despite having other bathrooms upstairs. A few options:

-If you have the height in the utility, you can stack the dryer on the washing machine and then have a floor to ceiling cupboard next to it for storage
-Other than a pocket door, if you have the door opening outwards, it saves 1m2 of floor space within the bathroom
-As someone else suggested, have the bathroom door in the middle, toilet at 1 end and shower at the other. Just ensure its wide enough that you can bend, dry, dress. This would mean loosing less space in the utility
-You could have a combine utility/bathroom. Possibly not ideal, but you could even have a part wall or a screen covering the toilet area, but the room would feel much larger and airy.

I have a tiny utility (just big enough for a washing machine and cupboard above), with toilet and room for a shower if needed.

So what I did was install the w/m and cupboard, the toilet, the sink, and the builder plumbed in the shower and covered it over with plasterboard. I don't need another shower right now, but as I'm getting older, I might need it in the future.

If that happens, I can have the shower installed, but until then the space is used for all kinds of total crap storage of cleaning materials, mops, buckets, and the mega packs of toilet rolls etc. It's gorgeous ha ha ha. 😊

I have a loo/shower in my utility. Have a bathroom and en-suite too but having teens in the house the more showers the better IMO. Guests tend to use it too rather than the en-suite shower (don’t have one in the main bathroom)

We do - great for muddy dogs and kids but also for (unmuddy) elderly stepfather who can't manage the stairs any longer since he is now happy to stay over for a couple of nights (bed made up downstairs)

Yes…it’s like a jack n Jill between kitchen and my office (4th bedroom) with full shower/toilet/sink. Great for guests, will work should any of us have issues with stairs in future. Also went with electric shower (vrs combi upstairs) which was great for the couple of days boiler was out of commission.

Thanks everyone who took the time to reply, I really appreciate it!!!