No window in Bathroom - offer

Firsttimebuy1991

MoneySeeker1 wrote: »

You might be able to think in terms of some borrowed light from elsewhere in your home.

I was checking out some photos this morning and one was a room they had added an en suite bathroom to and got some light coming into the bathroom from the wall surrounding it being those glass "bricks". The bathroom still had privacy (at least with the light in it off) and the occupant of the bed wouldn't have been able to see into it. On the other hand, the bathroom had some light coming in through those glass "bricks". It looked very nice I thought.

There must be scope, I would imagine, to have a section of those glass "bricks" opening maybe? There would certainly be scope for putting a blind or curtain up inside the bathroom, so that the light could be put on without losing privacy to the rest of the house.

Thank you for the suggestion! Do you have a google link? I wonder how much that would roughly cost. A couple users above suggested a roof window which apparently can work with a loft above too which sounds like the best solution. Now to find some quotes!

Firsttimebuy1991

PasturesNew wrote: »

Having a loft above is irrelevant. You cut a hole in the bathroom ceiling, between two loft joists. Then install a "chimney type of vertical part" with the velux at the top. Cost is: somebody to saw through bathroom ceiling, bit of joinery to reach roof height, a few tiles off, fit a Velux window. Then plaster/finish/decorate.

Omg this is great thank you! I didn’t think i5 would work with the loft above. I’ll start looking at some quotes, do you know how much this normally costs on average?

PasturesNew

Firsttimebuy1991 wrote: »

Thank you for the suggestion! Do you have a google link? I wonder how much that would roughly cost. A couple users above suggested a roof window which apparently can work with a loft above too which sounds like the best solution. Now to find some quotes!

I'm a huge fan of glass bricks, to gain light.

Ask yourself, for the bathroom, if you're after light, ventilation, or both. Glass bricks lend light, but you'd still have no direct ventilation.

I would point out that "few people do either of these solutions", which might, in part, be cost/disruption -v- benefit gained.

LilElvis

Our family bathroom has no windows and in seventeen years we have never had an issue with condensation or mould, despite the fact that we dont the extractor fan. The lack of window has never bothered us either - the room has four led ceiling lights.

The ensuite to the master bedroom has a glass brick wall and it does take up a lot of the useable bathroom space as it's the size of a door. We will likely have it removed when we have the bathroom remodelled as it was installed as a "feature" rather than serving any necessary purpose in terms of providing light into either room as the bathroom has a five foot long window and the bedroom has four windows.

If the bathroom has adequate lighting and there is no signs of mould, or indications that the current owners have covered it up by redoing grouting/ sealant, then I wouldn't go to the expense of making structural changes.

da_rule

A lot of new build terraces have this too (they’d rather have windows in bedrooms than bathrooms). Building regs for current developments set out that a bathroom with no window must have an extractor and the extractor must have an overrun.

PasturesNew

Watch this BBC clip where a woman changed a cupboard at the top of the stairs into a study area - and got light from a Velux window. I think she got the bathroom and study area with a budget of under £7k. £6k for all her bathroom work/changes and she spent £1k on bathroom fittings.

2 minutes 20 seconds in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p026vbht

Doozergirl

Firsttimebuy1991 wrote: »

Unfortunately I have a attic above the bathroom so a roof window wouldn’t work but I’ll look into an new extractor fan, hopefully not too expensive!

Even a really, really good one is about £100.

Doozergirl

LilElvis wrote: »

Our family bathroom has no windows and in seventeen years we have never had an issue with condensation or mould, despite the fact that we dont the extractor fan. The lack of window has never bothered us either - the room has four led ceiling lights.

The ensuite to the master bedroom has a glass brick wall and it does take up a lot of the useable bathroom space as it's the size of a door. We will likely have it removed when we have the bathroom remodelled as it was installed as a "feature" rather than serving any necessary purpose in terms of providing light into either room as the bathroom has a five foot long window and the bedroom has four windows.

If the bathroom has adequate lighting and there is no signs of mould, or indications that the current owners have covered it up by redoing grouting/ sealant, then I wouldn't go to the expense of making structural changes.

Structural changes for a window are just convoluted.

re: glass bricks, opaque glass within a frame will do the job perfectly, involve less labour and look a bit less dated.

If one is keen to make something more of the bathroom, then a bit of money spent on proper lighting design and a decent extractor is going to do far more benefit than structural changes to create a window.

Natural light is great, but most of us shower/bathe when it's dark outside with pretty ordinary lighting in the bathroom throughout the winter, so a constant quality of light is actually more beneficial than spending a couple of thousand looking for daylight. You can do amazing things with lighting design, better than anything coming in through a window - you'd be waiting for it to get dark!

https://www.johncullenlighting.com/inspiration/lighting-tips/bathroom-lighting-ideas/

We are building an airtight house and I opted not to have windows in the kids' bathroom, but I am organising the lighting design and will also have the lighting coming on via a PIR when you open the door, so it will never be seen to be dark. Our managed ventilation system costs £6,500 so that is never going to be an issue, but any decent humidity sensing fan is going to do the job anyway.

I can't believe that not having a window needs to affect value at all in this century.

Doozergirl

da_rule wrote: »

A lot of new build terraces have this too (they’d rather have windows in bedrooms than bathrooms). Building regs for current developments set out that a bathroom with no window must have an extractor and the extractor must have an overrun.

Humidity sensing is much better than a timed over-run. It will run as little or as much as is needed.

phoebe1989seb

Our (detached) cottage has no bathroom window. It's a 400 year old former agricultural building converted to a dwelling about a hundred years ago at which point it had three bedrooms. Inside facilities (upstairs only) weren't installed till 1999 when the middle bedroom (approximately 17' X 10') was carved up to create a bathroom and large landing area.

The owners before us added a high section of glass blocks to let in some light from the landing window. [STRIKE]They also chose a headache inducing shade of orange emulsion![/STRIKE]

Personally we hate both the claustrophobic atmosphere and the hideous glass blocks.....the light they let in is minimal and they are so incongruous with the style of the property

We are in the process of reconfiguring the space in order to have a window in the bathroom (there's space for a second bathroom that also needs a window adding ) and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve this for a room we're happier to spend time in. Currently it's in and out as quickly as possible whereas I prefer a long relaxing bath.....