Moving Bathroom Upstairs?!

winnallreed

Hi,

We're currently looking at buying our first home but the one we are interested in has a downstairs bathroom which we would want to move upstairs. The upstairs bedroom which we are thinking of converting has a small toilet next to it. Will this make it easier to put the bathroom upstairs as we can just extend the plumbing?

Sorry if im completely mistaken by these assumptions, we are complete newbies to this!

Any ideas of how much moving a bathroom like this would cost? We are in the West Midlands area if that makes a difference in prices?..

Hope you can help! :j

BitterAndTwisted

It's not a monumental project but will need lots of different skills because you're talking about moving pipe-work, taking down walls and putting new ones up, plumbing, electrics, tiling, flooring etcetera etcetera.

You need an experienced and trusted builder to advise you and draw up plans. I wouldn't get fewer than three quotes for such a project.

My ball-park figure plucked from the air is about £5k

jc808

Cant you live with it as is? A downstairs bathroom is only an issue if theres no upstairs WC - which there is!!

Id save my ££ personally

Werdnal

We have a downstairs bathroom and no upstairs loo at all, and its never been a problem. If you have the benefit of a loo upstairs, I cannot see the issue at all.

IMO You won't really put much value on the house for the effort and expense of moving it, particularly if you are sacrificing a bedroom along the way.

Bear in mind too, that the floor will have to be checked for structural soundness as a bath is heavy even when its empty!

martinthebandit

Werdnal wrote: »

Bear in mind too, that the floor will have to be checked for structural soundness as a bath is heavy even when its empty!

What?

I suppose if you have an antique cast iron beastie maybe but most modern baths weigh a lot less than a person, sorry but your talking nonsense there.

Although I do agree that the OP should think very carefully before going ahead as loosing a bedroom is going to devalue the property, but I would assume they have already thought about that.

Werdnal

martinthebandit wrote: »

What?

I suppose if you have an antique cast iron beastie maybe but most modern baths weigh a lot less than a person, sorry but your talking nonsense there.

Yes sorry, should have said baths CAN BE heavy. And yes, we do have a cast iron bath! They are making a come back and OP may even be considering one themselves!

Even so, a bath FULL of water, with an average size adult (or 2 ) in it, is also something to consider for floor strengths! A litre of water weighs 1 Kg.

googler

Werdnal wrote: »

Yes sorry, should have said baths CAN BE heavy. And yes, we do have a cast iron bath! They are making a come back and OP may even be considering one themselves!

Even so, a bath FULL of water, with an average size adult (or 2 ) in it, is also something to consider for floor strengths! A litre of water weighs 1 Kg.

What else would you suggest checking the floor strength for?

A large collection of LPs in a large Ikea bookcase?
An oak-framed bed?
An large wardrobe?
A piano?

Would you seriously suggest that anyone bringing a piano into an upstairs room should get the floor checked???

winnallreed

Thanks for your replies!

We have thought about it and the property has 3 bedrooms, two of which are huge. There is currently only 2 of us but when the time comes and and we need the room back we were thinking of dividing one of the rooms to make two smaller rooms. We would also strip the downstairs bathroom out which is a large room to create another room with a smaller toilet.

Do you not think the work would be worth it? Dont think I can get on with a downstairs bathroom...

phill99

Once you have a house with a downstairs bathroom you will soon wonder what all the fuss was about. I've lived in my current house for 22 years and always had a downstairs bathroom. My mums house before also had a downstairs bathroom. It has many advantages, especially if you have young children.

googler

Werdnal wrote: »

Even so, a bath FULL of water, with an average size adult (or 2 ) in it, is also something to consider for floor strengths! A litre of water weighs 1 Kg.

So, you reckon that every household in the land has a stronger floor in the bathroom than in the other rooms.... that it has bigger joists, or joists closer together than the others....?

You do realise that this amount of water, plus one person, is typically held up by a moulded piece of acrylic or fibreglass, suspended on a thin metal/wooden frame at the four corners, with a smaller metal/wood frame beneath the lowest point...... which typically doesn't fail; and you suggest that the floor is the part which should be strengthened...?!?!?!

Typical bath capacity - 100 litres.
Typical person - 12 stones, 76 litres or so of water to displace when person gets into bath.
Combined weight of full bath - 100kg or so (assuming acrylic bath)

Baby grand piano - 240 kilos
Large upright piano - 215 kilos

Any need to check the floor when bringing a piano into the house?

Large dining table and 8 chairs - a few kilos
Eight people around that dining table - 600+ kilos (average person at 76 kilos times 8)

Do you check the floor when you have a dinner party?

Werdnal

googler wrote: »

What else would you suggest checking the floor strength for?

A large collection of LPs in a large Ikea bookcase?
An oak-framed bed?
An large wardrobe?
A piano?

Would you seriously suggest that anyone bringing a piano into an upstairs room should get the floor checked???

Yes personally I would. I have a large tropical fish tank and know our floors would never bare the weight of it (not that I would want to take it upstairs anyway). Depends on the age and state of the house really.

My parents lived in a 1950's ex-Council house when I was growing up, with a large solid wood wardrobe in their bedroom, and it did actually go through the floorboards!

If OP has a recent build place, up to modern regs, then shouldn't be a problem, but they would be wise to check before they find their full bath in the kitchen, instead of upstairs when they left it!

Maybe you feel its overkill on my part, but I am as entitled as you are to give the OP advice - whether they choose to follow it is entirely up to them!