Removing downstairs loo, will we de-value the house?

NEH

Personally i would always want a downstairs toilet....

Regardless of the need for one for infirm, children, elderly etc, if you break your leg that's it you're stuck upstairs unless you want to keep battling up and down the stairs every time you need the loo...It is something to consider...

Also i would want one because sometimes when people call i really can't be bothered to tidy/clean up upstairs just on the off chance someone may need the toilet...

It's also very handy when coming in from gardening'car stuff etc saves mud being traipsed through the house or having to take shoes off and then putting them back on again...

Catblue

Our downstairs loo is tiny. Getting rid of it would give you the space for a small cupboard in a new kitchen so no way would it be worth doing.

Is there any way you could reduce its size by just a bit? 3 bed semis are prime "parents with young children" houses and I know a lot of my friends with young children would see a downstairs loo as more desirable than a slightly bigger kitchen.

Wouldn't it make more sense to extend the kitchen outside into the garden rather than extend the kitchen into inside the house? That way you keep the loo and get a bigger kitchen.

hazyjo

NEH wrote: »

Also i would want one because sometimes when people call i really can't be bothered to tidy/clean up upstairs just on the off chance someone may need the toilet...

Good point. I'm certainly not the tidiest lol! Although the lounge is on Floor 1 of the house we're buying so I suppose I'll have to keep 2 floors tidy when we have visitors!

Jx

Doozergirl

If it suits you to have a bigger kitchen, do it. You know if someone asks about it when you come to sell in the future, you can tell them exactly where to put it - the drainage already in place etc.

I don't want to compromise for what other people might want in the future. I've had small kids and numerous toilets just wind me up - we've lived with four of them in the past and my kids can produce enough waste to ruin all of them within minutes. We've ripped out the downstairs loo in our house and turned that and some more space into a utility. There is a ready-to-go cupboard under the stairs with a new walnut door which we were going to convert but frankly, I don't want another toilet to clean and I'd rather spend the money on improvements that I will benefit from!

The loo won't add any more value than a nice big kitchen will, so have what you want - it's cheaper to take it out for you anyway, so it's little wasted money.

I spend my life building houses to appeal to as many people as possible and if I have learned one thing, it's that almost everyone will find something wrong with even the most thoughtfully designed house!

Amara

I've got only one in my 3bed semi, there's another one in the outbuilding, but I wouldn't dared to go in this weather. You've got two already,though. I'd personally stick to downstairs loo.

NEH

hazyjo wrote: »

Good point. I'm certainly not the tidiest lol! Although the lounge is on Floor 1 of the house we're buying so I suppose I'll have to keep 2 floors tidy when we have visitors!

Jx

Yip and you have to clean a whole bathroom instead of just a loo and a basin, because trust me if you have a drity bath or shower folks will notice....

The unexpected guests are what downstairs loos are essential for imho...;)

spendapennyortwo

I'm afraid I'd be put off buying a house without a downstairs loo. That's only because I've been living in a house with one, and so have gotten used to it now. I suppose it depends what your priorities are though. We have a bathroom upstairs and a cloakroom downstairs. It is convenient when toilet training a toddler and also ideal when you have visitors.

hazyjo

NEH wrote: »

Yip and you have to clean a whole bathroom instead of just a loo and a basin, because trust me if you have a drity bath or shower folks will notice....

The unexpected guests are what downstairs loos are essential for imho...;)

Ours will be using the downstairs loo as there's not a loo on the lounge floor. Hadn't even thought of not having to have the bathroom clean for visitors any more (unless they're staying over)

Liking your style, NEH lol

Jx

g_attrill

Catatonia wrote: »

Maybe that's my problem.

I must admit that it's one of my property bug bears. See also houses/ flats having a main bathroom and an ensuite, but only a shower in the ensuite, so you have to parade through a bedroom to shower.

I viewed a house last year where they had installed a shower cubible in one of the bedrooms. It was in what used to be a cupboard in the void over the stairs. However there was just the cubicle, so there was a bath mat on the carpet and a towel rail on the bedroom wall, looked very strange.

getmore4less

THis thrad might be redundant because I have a feeling that once you have a ground floor toilet you may not be able to remove due to current building regs.

IIRC it is all in the part M an disabled access