Dormer bathroom

Mrs6653

Hi, I am in the process of buying a dormer bungalow. It has 3 bedrooms, one at each end of the house and a small room between them. 3 dormer windows on the front and a dormer to the rear which is on a landing. There is no bathroom or toilet upstairs and ideally I would like to squeeze in a toilet. Does anyone know if you can achieve this from a little extra floor for left over room space and a larger dormer window? 

Bendy_House

Could you post a link to the house? The floorplans might help folk.

RAS

Think you need to put up a plan, and indicate where the existing bathroom is downstairs.

Adding a toilet upstairs close to an existing water supply and foul sewer connection is one thing. Adding one on the opposite side of the house, and you may be talking macerators, which aren't particularly conducive to a good night's sleep.

Mrs6653

Thank you here is the floor plan and front and rear pics- 

Mrs6653

RAS said:

Think you need to put up a plan, and indicate where the existing bathroom is downstairs.

Adding a toilet upstairs close to an existing water supply and foul sewer connection is one thing. Adding one on the opposite side of the house, and you may be talking macerators, which aren't particularly conducive to a good night's sleep.

Bathroom is directly below where I would want to put it.

Section62

Mrs6653 said:

RAS said:

Think you need to put up a plan, and indicate where the existing bathroom is downstairs.

Adding a toilet upstairs close to an existing water supply and foul sewer connection is one thing. Adding one on the opposite side of the house, and you may be talking macerators, which aren't particularly conducive to a good night's sleep.

Bathroom is directly below where I would want to put it.

Isn't the bathroom directly below where the doorway of bedroom 1 is?

Are you talking about changing the existing dormer on the landing to make it larger, with a toilet leading off the landing?

Most changes are possible... at a cost.  The question is whether the cost is worth it for the benefit you get from the end result.

Is the 'garage' actually large enough to park a car in it, or has the utility room been built in what was originally the garage, leaving only space to use as a store room?  If so, I think I would take a wider view of possible alterations - for example turning bedroom 3 into a bathroom and reproviding bedroom 3 in the space currently occupied by the 'garage'.  I'd also consider moving the downstairs bathroom into the 'garage' space to free the existing bathroom for reception use, possibly as a study/hobby room, or knocked through as an addition to the lounge and/or kitchen.

That possibly sounds like far more work than you had in mind, but if things fall right you may end up with more house for a modest increase in budget, compared to cramming a small toilet into a space that requires quite considerable alteration to the roof.

Mrs6653

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them. Most of the time it’s just me and 2 kiddies, but other times we are a house of 6 so really need at least one other loo and a shower. Ideally in the interim period I was hoping to extend the original dormer for just a toilet mainly for the 2 youngest and then utilise some of the utility for a shower room. I have wondered about an extension over the garage to create and en-suite, at some point, but mindful that it’s not attached to the house and no idea what the foundations are like. It’s a huge space but will likely be gym stuff going in. 

As you can probably tell, I have lots of ideas, but no idea if it is at all possible 😀

Section62

Mrs6653 said:

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them.

So the garage will be too small to park anything but very short cars in.  Doing a proper conversion would be fairly high on my list of things to do, as otherwise it will be an expensive storage space.

Mrs6653 said:

Ideally in the interim period I was hoping to extend the original dormer for just a toilet mainly for the 2 youngest and then utilise some of the utility for a shower room.

Without knowing what the roof structure is like it is hard to be definite, but as an "interim" solution I don't think it is likely to be viable (without significant expense you are prepared to write off).

Doozergirl

Section62 said:

Mrs6653 said:

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them.

So the garage will be too small to park anything but very short cars in.  Doing a proper conversion would be fairly high on my list of things to do, as otherwise it will be an expensive storage space.

Mrs6653 said:

Ideally in the interim period I was hoping to extend the original dormer for just a toilet mainly for the 2 youngest and then utilise some of the utility for a shower room.

Without knowing what the roof structure is like it is hard to be definite, but as an "interim" solution I don't think it is likely to be viable (without significant expense you are prepared to write off).

I completely agree.  I did have a look earlier and couldn't really see it.  It would be cramped and expensive.  

The price of houses these days, I think people are better putting storage into the garden and converting garages into proper rooms, before considering other structural changes or additions.  I had the exact same thought as you - turn bed 3 into a bathroom and garage into a bedroom.  

Where I live isn't one of the most expensive places, but that garage would be worth about £60,000 in living space.   Really very expensive storage indeed when most people's lofts and garages are mainly full of stuff that would have found its way to ebay or the local tip if it weren't for the available space.  

Mrs6653

Doozergirl said:

Section62 said:

Mrs6653 said:

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them.

So the garage will be too small to park anything

Section62 said:

Mrs6653 said:

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them.

So the garage will be too small to park anything but very short cars in.  Doing a proper conversion would be fairly high on my list of things to do, as otherwise it will be an expensive storage space.

Mrs6653 said:

Ideally in the interim period I was hoping to extend the original dormer for just a toilet mainly for the 2 youngest and then utilise some of the utility for a shower room.

Without knowing what the roof structure is like it is hard to be definite, but as an "interim" solution I don't think it is likely to be viable (without significant expense you are prepared to write off).

I completely agree.  I did have a look earlier and couldn't really see it.  It would be cramped and expensive.  

The price of houses these days, I think people are better putting storage into the garden and converting garages into proper rooms, before considering other structural changes or additions.  I had the exact same thought as you - turn bed 3 into a bathroom and garage into a bedroom.  

Where I live isn't one of the most expensive places, but that garage would be worth about £60,000 in living space.   Really very expensive storage indeed when most people's lofts and garages are mainly full of stuff that would have found its way to ebay or the local tip if it weren't for the available space.  

Tbf, there is a big workshop in the garden that is great for storage. I’m guessing it would be fairly easy to join the garage structurally to the house ? 

FreeBear

Section62 said:

Mrs6653 said:

The utility is 12’ 2” x 6’ and the garage is 15' 9" x 13' 3" so ample space between them.

So the garage will be too small to park anything but very short cars in.  Doing a proper conversion would be fairly high on my list of things to do, as otherwise it will be an expensive storage space.

Looking at the roof in relation to the door, there isn't going to be much head room. At best, I would estimate 2.1m. By the time the floor is built up and insulated, you will be looking at ~1.9m. Whilst there is no minimum for ceiling height, 2.4m is a comfortable distance to work with.

Converting the garage into a habitable space will (probably) entail raising the roof height.