Could you put a shower room in this house?

kunekune

I like this house:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-20023789.html?pageNumber=1&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FsearchType%3DSALE%26locationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E159%26radius%3D0.0%26displayPropertyType%3D%26minBedrooms%3D%26maxBedrooms%3D%26minPrice%3D%26maxPrice%3D200000%26maxDaysSinceAdded%3D%26_includeSSTC%3Don%26sortByPriceDescending%3D%26primaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26secondaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldSecondaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26newHome%3D%26retirement%3D%26auction%3Dfalse%26partBuyPartRent%3Dfalse%26x%3D59%26y%3D10&locationIdentifier=REGION^159&radius=0.0&maxPrice=200000

(what DID rm do with links when they "upgraded" recently?)

There are a couple of problems, though. There is no shower in the upstairs bathroom (and for health reasons, we really need a walk in shower) and, although there is a toilet downstairs, it is tucked away down a hall from the kitchen, and can't be accessed through the main hallway. There is also no utility room - something I'm keen on because we have a second freezer and I don't like having the washing machine/dryer in the kitchen (which is small, anyway).

Various ideas come to mind, but I don't know whether they would be ridiculously expensive.

1. Not ideal, but upstairs, knock the bathroom and toilet into one big family bathroom, to make enough room for a separate shower; put the dryer in the boxroom and put up with having the washing machine in the kitchen; leave downstairs toilet untouched

OR as above, but turn the 'coat cupboard' into a small laundry area with the dryer stacked on top of the washer

2. Upstairs, leave bathroom as it is, but turn the boxroom into an en suite for the master bedroom (it's not far from plumbing, so far as I can see). The other utility options as before.

3. Swap the pantry and coat cupboard, and open up the pantry into the downstairs wc, use that space to install a shower; washer in kitchen, dryer in boxroom

We wouldn't pay more than £165-170K, it is over-priced, since there's a similar one same price that doesn't need modernising and that has a garage, this one doesn't and probably can't. The house is empty, though that doesn't always mean negotiable! A good bit of town, ticks all the other boxes apart from bathroom/kitchen/laundry facilities. But if we can't sort out those things and do it cheaply, there's no point thinking any more about it, because DH will at some point need a walk in shower, and it would be best if it was on the ground floor.

poppysarah

You could. Probably. Depends on how much you want to spend.
Would you be prepared to spend shed loads and have to do all the work? And does it make financial sense to you?

RedBern

could you make the cupboard, pantry and wc downstairs into something - block off the kitchen access and go through the cupboard for entrance to it - not sure how big a space you'd have - or is there space a walk in shower off bedroom 1 into that cupboard space? (ok it would be a small shower... but...) Nice house though.

silvercar

I can't see the value in having the dryer in a different room to the washer. Who wants to traipse around the house with baskets of wet washing?

You could try the american idea of putting the washer and dryer upstairs. The idea that your washing machine needs to be near the kitchen is odd, more logical to have the washing machine near the laundry baskets in the bathroom(s).

By the same logic, I prefer showers to be upstairs.

PasturesNew

kunekune wrote: »

(what DID rm do with links when they "upgraded" recently?)

If you choose the "send to a friend" link near the top of the listing, you get the old-style shorter link.

kunekune

Money would be tight. We might have surplus but it depends on OH not being made redundant/his health being ok. I need to plan on the basis of one income.

I wondered about that idea of opening it through from the hall, Redbern. Great minds, perhaps. The shape of the staircase means there is a lot of space underneath it - they've got a toilet and two cupboards already. But I have a horrid idea that it would be expensive to do things involving moving walls.

Silvercar, I'd agree with you about washers. I am not into the UK thing of putting them next to food - a bit yucky really. But installing plumbing is a lot more tricky than just plugging in a dryer, and all the clothes have to end up upstairs in the end, it's just the difference between lugging dry and lugging wet, so if they can't both be upstairs, and there isn't room downstairs for the dryer, it isn't that bad. The shower downstairs is because DH has parkinsons, and we don't know whether he'll have trouble getting up the stairs eventually - the 'dining room' could eventually be turned into a bedroom.

Doozergirl

It's a shame there aren't any dimensions, it would make it easier to envisage!

If the sensible long term option is to have a shower downstairs then I would consider whether you might somehow get a new toilet into the existing family bathroom? Perhaps a refit with space saving sanitary ware - corner toilet etc. Then have the old separate toilet into a laundry with the washing machine and tumble dryer stacked? At least the plumbing already exists there and it won't be prohibitively expensive to get power to it aswell.

That way any extra space - pantry, cupboard, WC - you have downstairs is freed up for your shower room and it doesn't matter if the family bathroom is small if you have another one downstairs.

I'd be losing the coat cupboard - if it's an average three bed semi you're going to struggle for everything you want. If the box room isn't a bedroom then it's not the end of the world but it makes the space relatively unusable for much else, also lugging heavy, wet washing upstairs would be a nightmare. Our barn conversion will have an upstairs laundry - I really do agree with silvercar, what's the point of dragging it around - it doesn't need to be in the kitchen area!

shirlgirl2004

If it's big enough I'd put a shower in the pantry/coat cupboard and then put a tumble dryer in the hall by the toilet. It would mean losing the external door but you have a rear door from the lounge anyway. Alternatively is the garage near the house could you have the dryer in there?

kunekune

No garage, and the house is quite a long way above street level, so that it's difficult to get a dropped curb and all that. It's a 'posh' street, but a lot of people use street parking.

The more I look, the more I think that the price is unrealistic because what people want nowadays is quite tricky to achieve.

shirlgirl2004

Sorry read it as the one you liked had a garage not the one that sold. Must read more carefull in future!

baby_fuzz

first instincts were to make a good-sized bathroom by knocking the WC into the bathroom as per your suggestion. Is there any reason why you can't just ahve the shower over the bath - with a walk-in side?