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A dilemma - bath v shower v bedrooms!

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Hi everyone - first time posting here though have found info from these forums very very useful for a long time! :)

So - my reason for posting... We're currently in the process of buying a 4 bedroom semi-detached house. Really nice property, beautiful garden etc. HOWEVER... The catch is the bathroom is tiny. Really, really tiny. Like 1150mm x 2400mm tiny.

At the moment the bathroom has a minute sit-in style bath - probably OK for bathing small children but I'd be lucky to get my feet wet; it's certainly wouldn't be possible to have a proper relaxing soak!

So, although we've not moved in yet doing something about the bathroom would be high on the priority list. Our options as we see them are:

1) Refit the bathroom to improve the decor but keep the layout as-is - i.e. a tiny sized bath with shower above.

2) Refit the bathroom with a walk-in shower only, disposing of the bath.

3) The expensive option! Move the bathroom to the current front bedroom (Which is 7' x 7'1") - meaning we could have a proper full size bath with shower above. We wouldn't be able to make a bedroom out of the old bathroom so this would have to become a small study or something - so we would be losing one bedroom.

We're probably not going to be in this house forever so not just thinking about what suits us, but also what potential buyers in the future might be looking for. We also don't have kids yet but hope to within the next few years!

So - would love to hear any thoughts. How much would lack of a bath put you off? Would you prefer a 3 bed with decent bathroom over a 4 bed with a micro bathroom? Any other options I've missed?!

Thanks v much for any advice or comments! :T
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Comments

  • GwylimT
    GwylimT Posts: 6,530 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    How large is the bedroom that is next to the bathroom? Would it be easier to simply extend the bathroom into it by a meter or so, that would give plenty room to have a full bath with a shower above it.

    Or, if the bedroom next to the bathroom is large you could move the family bathroom to the front room and turn the current bathroom into an en-suite.

    Pictures might help, is the property on rightmove?
  • jimmy_81
    jimmy_81 Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the reply GwylimT - no pics as we're still in the process of buying & not sure about posting pics whilst the vendors are still living there - I know the chances of them being on these forums too is ridiculously small but you never know! :)

    We have thought about extending into the adjacent bedroom - however, it's only 9'5" by 7'9" so already a fairly small room. In addition due to the way it's laid out that would only increase the length of the bathroom & wouldn't help with the 1150mm width that's the real limiting factor...

    Regarding an en-suite; yes we possibly could do that & we're thinking about it. Obviously yet more added £££ though! I guess 3 beds, one family bathroom & 1 ensuite is better from a sale point of view...

    Thanks again for the reply!
  • A 4 bed family house with a tiny bathroom doesn't stack up I'm afraid. Far better to convert to a decent sized 3 bed with family sized bathroom and add an en-suite if possible to the main bedroom or fit out as a study. Value will not be reduced, in fact you could enhance the value by adding a wow factor bathroom anyway.
  • phoebe1989seb
    phoebe1989seb Posts: 4,452 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 24 August 2013 at 6:33PM
    tonygold wrote: »
    A 4 bed family house with a tiny bathroom doesn't stack up I'm afraid. Far better to convert to a decent sized 3 bed with family sized bathroom and add an en-suite if possible to the main bedroom or fit out as a study. Value will not be reduced, in fact you could enhance the value by adding a wow factor bathroom anyway.

    I agree - we faced a similar scenario in our current house and it just didn't work as a *family* property. The layout was as follows -

    Ground floor - kitchen, five reception rooms (1 set up as a bedroom) & ok sized bathroom

    First floor - three bedrooms & a very tiny family bathroom

    Second floor - two bedrooms & storage room

    We have re-configured the downstairs layout, including building a new extension that includes a d/s loo and opening up part of the space that meant moving the current d/s bathroom to a better location so that a downstairs bedroom with en-suite shower room could be available if required.

    More importantly, on the first floor we realised the minute bathroom was just not up to par for servicing three bedrooms (not counting the further two on the attic floor) so we're converting the old bathroom into a shower room and have transformed the *middle* bedroom into an en-suite bathroom to the master.

    Fortunately the layout would allow it to be repurposed as a family bathroom further down the line as the original door to the landing is still in situ and the opening to the bedroom could easily be blocked up. Plumbing is also in place to convert the attic storage room to a further bathroom should future buyers so wish.

    We felt that the previous layout was just not conducive to the way families live today and that such a small bathroom was impractical and not in proportion with the scale of the house ;)
    Mortgage-free for fourteen years!

    Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed
  • LondonDreamer
    LondonDreamer Posts: 725 Forumite
    edited 24 August 2013 at 7:30PM
    Personally, I would rule out option 2. The market for a 4 bed house will be mostly families, who generally will want/expect a bath no matter how small. But equally, I'd also rule out option 1 as I think a tiny bathroom would be off-putting for potential buyers of a 4 bed property. I'd say a 3 bed with a good bathroom would be easier to sell. And not to mention be much nicer to live in while you're there.

    For the current bathroom, I would suggest making it into an en suite ONLY if the adjoining bedroom is the logical master bedroom. And if so, you'd then be fine to rip out the small bath and replace with a walk-in shower. But since you said it's fairly small, I'm guessing this isn't the case. So I'd rip it out and make it a box room or study, you can then market as a 3+study which shouldn't lose too much value compared to a true four.
  • keystone
    keystone Posts: 10,916 Forumite
    edited 25 August 2013 at 10:37AM
    tonygold wrote: »
    A 4 bed family house with a tiny bathroom doesn't stack up I'm afraid.
    as I think a tiny bathroom would be off-putting for potential buyers of a 4 bed property.

    Why not and why? The logic of this position escapes me. House has attracted the OP. It will attract others. Phoebe had the same issue with hers but still bought it and changed it to suit. Simples.

    Cheers
    The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits. - Einstein
  • mummyroysof3
    mummyroysof3 Posts: 4,566 Forumite
    I would always prefer a small bathroom and more bedroom space. I think big bathrooms are a waste of space. If you buy it as a 4 bed and do all theat work then sell it as a 3 bed would it then be worth less?
    Have a Bsc Hons open degree from the Open University 2015 :j:D:eek::T
  • Valli
    Valli Posts: 25,472 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Option 2 - converting the current room-with-a-tiny bath to a shower room is not a good idea if you're planning a family - babies/children ideally need a bath to be bathed in; though a tiny bath will work.

    A family bathroom and an en suite shower/toilet/handbasin is an ideal combination.

    A downstairs cloakroom is useful too; especially when toilet training.
    Don't put it DOWN; put it AWAY
    "I would like more sisters, that the taking out of one, might not leave such stillness" Emily Dickinson
    :heart:Janice 1964-2016:heart:

    Thank you Honey Bear
  • jimmy_81
    jimmy_81 Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks very much for the advice everyone, much appreciated! :T
    Valli wrote: »
    A downstairs cloakroom is useful too; especially when toilet training.

    A downstairs loo might be on the long-term plan... Always subject to funds, of course!
    For the current bathroom, I would suggest making it into an en suite ONLY if the adjoining bedroom is the logical master bedroom. And if so, you'd then be fine to rip out the small bath and replace with a walk-in shower. But since you said it's fairly small, I'm guessing this isn't the case. So I'd rip it out and make it a box room or study, you can then market as a 3+study which shouldn't lose too much value compared to a true four.

    It's adjacent to the smaller bedroom, yes - so an en-suite would only be possible to the master bedroom by moving a corridor and doorway, essentially shifting the room over by 3ft. Big and expensive job for sure, probably not worth it.
    keystone wrote: »
    Why not and why? The logic of this position escapes me. House has attracted the OP. It will attract others. Phoebe had the same issue with hers but still bought it and changed it to suit. Simples.

    Fair point. However... The house needs quite a bit of improvement anyway - our view is that for prospective buyers in 3-5 years we'll be trying to sell as a "ready to move in" house rather than as a project, which it certainly is at the moment! So we don't want to get the choice of bathroom wrong - and especially not spend money on a new bathroom that won't add value.

    I think we're veering towards option 3 - but still a lot of thinking to do! Thanks again for your replies all. :)
  • jimmy_81
    jimmy_81 Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    I would always prefer a small bathroom and more bedroom space. I think big bathrooms are a waste of space. If you buy it as a 4 bed and do all theat work then sell it as a 3 bed would it then be worth less?

    Ooops, meant to reply to this too - even with our proposed option 3 it wouldn't be a "big" bathroom! Think 7' square. The existing one really is absurdly small - imagine stretching one arm out full, your opposite shoulder would be nearly touching the other side. It's pratically microscopic! :rotfl:

    Thanks also for the reply...
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