Family bathroom behind kitchen. Why?

[Deleted User]

The real answer is because the UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe. Partly due to it not getting destroyed in the wars, and partly due to it being terrace housing that can't easily be demolished and replaced.

As such a lot of housing is badly laid out for modern living. It might have made some kind of sense a century ago, but now... And renovation is extremely difficult and expensive due.

That said, most new builds are so poorly designed they are already obsolete and unsuitable for human habitation, so you are lucky if your house isn't stupid.

Skiddaw1

We previously lived in a Victorian terrace and had the downstairs bathroom off the kitchen at the back of the house thing. We did consider moving the bathroom upstairs (and sacrificing the third small bedroom as we couldn't at the time afford a loft extension) but in the end we left it where it was and just had it refurbished rather than lose a bedroom. We just became used to it. I think I'd much rather have a downstairs bathroom than the thing you get with some new-builds where they insist on the master bedroom having an en-suite even when the bedroom really isn't large enough to comfortably take it.

Spendless

My 1st house, mid terraced built 1910. Originally a 2 up, 2 down with an outside loo. By the time I bought it the 2nd bedroom had been divided up, to be an upstairs bathroom and an L shaped single 2nd bedroom. My neighbours on either side still had the large 2nd bedrooms but both had bathrooms that had been built downstairs taking up a lot of their garden/yard straight off of their kitchens.

When I was selling it, the EA long experienced in these type of houses, took the view that when grants had become available to create indoors bathrooms, the then owners of my house had decided to spend less than those who had had an extension built to create a downstairs bathroom. Of course the others might not have been in a position to compromise on space either, if he was correct.  

Section62

w12ee3e said:

I don't get it. Why were properties of a certain period all configured with the toilet / bath / shower room all behind the kitchen? It seems like the most utterly brain dead place to locate those facilities. The only logical explanation I can think of is this was some sort of weird compromise on the out house concept, also long dead. But then again those never had showers or bath.

When most of those properties were probably built it was entirely logical.

Before central heating and whole-house plumbing, the obvious place to have a bath was in the warmest part of the house, and closest to the source of hot water (to minimise the amount of carrying) which was usually the kitchen.

Also for people with a 'dirty' occupation the logical place for the bath/washing facilities was as close to the back door as possible, so they didn't carry 'dirt' through the house to get to the bathroom.

As basic household plumbing developed it remained an expensive add-on (almost luxury) so it made sense to minimise the amount of pipework needing to be installed.

All of which made it logical to position the bath/washing facilities near to the kitchen which was typically where the water supply and drainage would be found.

Behind the kitchen makes sense because everyday living involves frequent movement between the kitchen and the main living space, and unlike a bathroom/toilet, the kitchen doesn't require privacy.  Putting the bathroom between the kitchen and the rest of the house would (1) increase walk distance from kitchen to living area and (2) require valuable floor space to be given over to a corridor to maintain the privacy of the bathroom.

There's a logic to the layout - it only seems "utterly brain dead" looking at it from a perspective 100+ years later when people's lifestyles and expectations are very different to those whom the houses were built for.

Shelldean

My Nans house built 1925, only had an out door loo originally. Tho it was next to the kitchen you had to wait the back door and go in the toilet door.
The outside loo was still there when I was born and growing up. Born 1969.
But by this time we did have an actual bathroom on the opposite side of the kitchen, they'd used a section of the kitchen to create the bathroom.
I do vaguely recall the huge long bath we had in there.
But at some point and I don't recall when the loo was moved into the bathroom and the outside loo walls were knocked down to create a slightly larger kitchen again .

As someone has mentioned previously, Windows that froze on the inside in winter just a gas fire in the front room no other heating at all. 
We had double glazing installed in the mid 80's bit the gas fire remained the only source of heat till she passed on 2007. As she refused radiators to be installed!g


This was a council owned house so the improvements were done by the council and they put them where they felt beat.

All local council house were the same.


Also Google St Helier estate. London borough of Sutton this estate was built in the 30's without bathrooms as was common then. But there are pictures of ready made bathrooms being lifted over the houses and into place.

This is  HUGE estate so many many houses with bathrooms off the kitchen.

https://www.google.com/search?q=st+helier+estate+bathrooms&oq=St+Helier+estate&aqs=heirloom-srp.4.0l5

Nearlyold

The wooden bungalow we were brought up in had an outside loo down a path at the side, (the cistern would regularly freeze up in the winter). We did however have an plumbed in indoor bath though this was not in a bathroom, it was actually in the kitchen, one end was up against the sink unit and the other end against the side wall which was also the location of the incoming mains, meter, master switch and Bakelite fuse box, you could literally stand in the bath and change a fuse if you had a mind to.

Rumana03

We have been looking at houses in Colchester & Kent and the majority of houses have had bathrooms just like that..past the kitchen. Half of them have even had the bathroom upstairs but you have to go through one of the bedrooms to get to them!! 

Thrugelmir

Rumana03 said:

We have been looking at houses in Colchester & Kent and the majority of houses have had bathrooms just like that..past the kitchen. Half of them have even had the bathroom upstairs but you have to go through one of the bedrooms to get to them!! 

Colchester is a longstanding army town dating back many decades. Hence the similar type of house.