Moving bathroom upstairs

yumyums

Hi everyone

We are moving to a 3 bed Victorian terrace which has the bathroom downstairs at the back of the kitchen like a lot of the houses around here. We'd really prefer the bathroom to be upstairs but most of the time when people move their bathroom upstairs they put it in the 3rd bedroom at the back, leaving them with a two bed house.

I suppose the positives are that you have two good-sized bedrooms and a big bathroom but I'd really like to keep a third bedroom if possible!

This is the floorplan of the house (not entirely accurate but hope it shows a good representation)


I was thinking about moving the bathroom between bedroom two and three and maybe taking a few feet of space from each (3 feet each to make a 6 foot wide bathroom?). Of course then, the problem is that you can't have a window in that bathroom. Is it possible to run ducting for the extractor fan through the loft space? We would probably put a sky light in to bring some natural light into the room.

I know this would be the more expensive method as all the plumbing is at the back of the house. Does anyone know how much more expensive it's likely to be? We want the toilet to be properly connected up and not to make use of a saniflow.

Are there any more disadvantages I should consider?

Can anyone else think of other options for the bathroom? With a small house like this I don't think there are many possibilities! Some of the larger houses have a longer and wider third bedroom which they then divide in two to make a bathroom and a box room.

Many thanks

yums

Mattty

I have seen this done several times. The one suggestion I have is to make sure you have a very good extractor fan and consider one with a humidistat fitted.

A humidistat measures the moisture level (Humidity) of the air and switches on when it is above a set point.

This will help prevent any potential condensation issues that may occur in the rest of the house by ensuring the water vapour in the bathroom is extracted properly.

chunkychocky

Bathrooms without windows are awful. My Dad had a flat with such a bathroom, as do my in-laws. Both have expensive extractor fans and both smell and are dark and horrid, creepy rooms.

bobthedambuilder

There are a number of downsides with your proposal.

1. You are reducing the sizes of two decent bedrooms to something less than decent.
2. You have major work to get the services to and from the new bathroom (I don't know if it is even possible under the BRegs to put in a soil pipe from the centre of a terraced property like this, that needs investigating).
3. The bathroom is small, and and with no direct light.

An alternative would be to take the same width off the side of the largest (back) bedroom, i.e. about 6 feet off the 14 feet width for the bathroom, leaving the back bedroom at roughly 12'11" x 9'7". The bathroom door would be immediately opposite the top of the stairs.

That would give you the same width but longer bathroom than you have proposed, you'd still have 3 more or less decent size bedrooms, and all your connections at the back of the property are available. Plus you could put in a window in the back wall. A much cheaper option, and you're not really losing out on anything.

Edit: just thought of another possible reason for not having the bathroom where you propose, Could the wall you would have to take down be a structural wall? If so, that's definitely a non-starter.

SailorSam

The bathroom you've got now downstairs, would it be possible to have that as a small bedroom if you converted upstairs.

katejo

yumyums wrote: »

Hi everyone

We are moving to a 3 bed Victorian terrace which has the bathroom downstairs at the back of the kitchen like a lot of the houses around here. We'd really prefer the bathroom to be upstairs but most of the time when people move their bathroom upstairs they put it in the 3rd bedroom at the back, leaving them with a two bed house.

I suppose the positives are that you have two good-sized bedrooms and a big bathroom but I'd really like to keep a third bedroom if possible!

This is the floorplan of the house (not entirely accurate but hope it shows a good representation)


I was thinking about moving the bathroom between bedroom two and three and maybe taking a few feet of space from each (3 feet each to make a 6 foot wide bathroom?). Of course then, the problem is that you can't have a window in that bathroom. Is it possible to run ducting for the extractor fan through the loft space? We would probably put a sky light in to bring some natural light into the room.

I know this would be the more expensive method as all the plumbing is at the back of the house. Does anyone know how much more expensive it's likely to be? We want the toilet to be properly connected up and not to make use of a saniflow.

Are there any more disadvantages I should consider?

Can anyone else think of other options for the bathroom? With a small house like this I don't think there are many possibilities! Some of the larger houses have a longer and wider third bedroom which they then divide in two to make a bathroom and a box room.

Many thanks

yums

I have a victorian terrace which is very similar size/layout to yours except that the bathroom is already upstairs. It had been done before I bought it. In my case the size of the 3rd bedroom had been reduced in width. It now measures 7'5" x 4' 10". I use it as a small study with computer desk. It doesn't have a proper door, just a step down to the landing. The bathroom isn't big but is adequate and has both a window and extractor fan.

ormus

much easier to make bedroom 3 the bathroom, and then convert bedrooms 1 and 2 into three rooms.
the downside is two small boxrooms and a middling bedroom one.

katejo

ormus wrote: »

much easier to make bedroom 3 the bathroom, and then convert bedrooms 1 and 2 into three rooms.
the downside is two small boxrooms and a middling bedroom one.

I wouldn't buy a 3 bedroom house with 1 medium size room and 2 tiny box rooms. I would want at least 2 rooms which were a decent size (as on the plan given here and in my own house).

27col

chunkychocky wrote: »

Bathrooms without windows are awful. My Dad had a flat with such a bathroom, as do my in-laws. Both have expensive extractor fans and both smell and are dark and horrid, creepy rooms.

That is just your opinion and is a sweeping generalisation that is nonsense.
When we built our house we put the bathroom in the middle and it has been perfectly OK for 35 years. It has a large extractor fan and there has never been more than the slightest sign of condensation. There is so little condensation that you can still see your reflection in the mirror after a bath.(Not a pretty sight in my case).
As for saying the room is dark, well, of course it is. But funnily enough, there is a cure for that. It is called an electric light.
If the room smells it is not because it does not have a window. It is almost certain to be due to the lack of ventilation or perhaps a damp problem. Neither of which are unique to bathrooms without windows.
I had much more condensation in the bathroom of the previous house that I built, which did have a window, but no exhaust fan and no double glazing. The condensation in that room was truly shocking until I sorted out the cause and did something about it.

yumyums

bobthedambuilder wrote: »

There are a number of downsides with your proposal.

1. You are reducing the sizes of two decent bedrooms to something less than decent.
2. You have major work to get the services to and from the new bathroom (I don't know if it is even possible under the BRegs to put in a soil pipe from the centre of a terraced property like this, that needs investigating).
3. The bathroom is small, and and with no direct light.

An alternative would be to take the same width off the side of the largest (back) bedroom, i.e. about 6 feet off the 14 feet width for the bathroom, leaving the back bedroom at roughly 12'11" x 9'7". The bathroom door would be immediately opposite the top of the stairs.

That would give you the same width but longer bathroom than you have proposed, you'd still have 3 more or less decent size bedrooms, and all your connections at the back of the property are available. Plus you could put in a window in the back wall. A much cheaper option, and you're not really losing out on anything.

Edit: just thought of another possible reason for not having the bathroom where you propose, Could the wall you would have to take down be a structural wall? If so, that's definitely a non-starter.

Hi,
Thanks for the ideas. I had considered putting the bathroom in the large bedroom. Only thing is - that's actually at the front of the house and all the current plumbing is at the back. It would be nice to have a proper window though. The sewer and water lines are currently under the road at the front of the property according to the water search so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult to connect to?

If we did go with the bathroom in the middle (and if this was even possible) we would definitely have a sky light to let some natural light in.

yumyums

katejo wrote: »

I have a victorian terrace which is very similar size/layout to yours except that the bathroom is already upstairs. It had been done before I bought it. In my case the size of the 3rd bedroom had been reduced in width. It now measures 7'5" x 4' 10". I use it as a small study with computer desk. It doesn't have a proper door, just a step down to the landing. The bathroom isn't big but is adequate and has both a window and extractor fan.

Maybe it would be better to have two bedrooms and a small study area / storage. Another house on the same street went for £20K more than we paid for ours, at around the same time, and it was a 2 bed with upstairs bathroom.

I just feel that if we had a three bed we'd be able to stay in the house for longer but I guess if it was three cramped bedrooms it wouldn't be ideal anyway!