Moving a bath

jellybean73

Hi, we’ve viewed a house that we like and (mostly) suits our needs.  But the 4th bedroom is a little small (we have 3 teens who spend a lot of time in their rooms).  We’ve (when I say we, I mean me…. Husband thinks it expensive) had a thought about moving the stud wall between the bathroom and the 4th bedroom to give the bedroom a few more feet.  This would mean the bath and shower over the bath would have to move.  Is this a crazy expensive idea?  The bathroom is big enough to cope with this and still be a good size.  The bathroom is dated and could do with an update anyway.  I have no idea how complicated this would be…. And as I say may just be unrealistic / expensive.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts! 

Grenage

The biggest factor is the joist direction, if they are going in the right direction then it can be trivial to extend the waste and water. 

Either way, it's not a particularly complicated job, especially if you are doing the bathroom anyway. 

You'll obviously need to make sure the stud wall doesn't have structural value.

Alderbank

Not enough information to say yet.

Pivoting a standard bath 90 degrees round the taps and plug end would be relatively simple. Physically moving it to an inside wall, or relocating a toilet, much less so and more expensive.
The overbath shower would be relatively easy. Is it electric?

Is there a solid floor (ground floor) or timber?
If timber, where do the joists run?

A plan, such as estate agents produce, would be good. Photographs inside and outside would be useful too.

Bigphil1474

Should be straight forward (unless the house gods are against you). Don't forget bathroom noises - if you are the one with the bedroom that is against the bathroom, it can be very off putting hearing everyone else using the bathroom, especially at night. In our last house, we installed some fitted wardrobes on the wall between the bedroom and bathroom to at least reduce the 'clarity' of what was happening in the bathroom. We did move our bath round 90 degrees no problem, but it was quite a simple move with only some minor pipework changes. I would say, if you aren't moving it far it shouldn't add much to the bill if you are getting the bathroom done anyway. Ask a builder to have a look.

jellybean73

Bigphil1474 said:

Should be straight forward (unless the house gods are against you). Don't forget bathroom noises - if you are the one with the bedroom that is against the bathroom, it can be very off putting hearing everyone else using the bathroom, especially at night. In our last house, we installed some fitted wardrobes on the wall between the bedroom and bathroom to at least reduce the 'clarity' of what was happening in the bathroom. We did move our bath round 90 degrees no problem, but it was quite a simple move with only some minor pipework changes. I would say, if you aren't moving it far it shouldn't add much to the bill if you are getting the bathroom done anyway. Ask a builder to have a look.

Thank you for your reply.  Fortunately the upstairs toilet is actually separate from the bathroom and has a solid wall.  It’s also the opposite side to the wall we’d like to move.  We may take down the wall between the bathroom and toilet to, type of wall depending of course.  

Belenus

jellybean73 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

Should be straight forward (unless the house gods are against you). Don't forget bathroom noises - if you are the one with the bedroom that is against the bathroom, it can be very off putting hearing everyone else using the bathroom, especially at night. In our last house, we installed some fitted wardrobes on the wall between the bedroom and bathroom to at least reduce the 'clarity' of what was happening in the bathroom. We did move our bath round 90 degrees no problem, but it was quite a simple move with only some minor pipework changes. I would say, if you aren't moving it far it shouldn't add much to the bill if you are getting the bathroom done anyway. Ask a builder to have a look.

Thank you for your reply.  Fortunately the upstairs toilet is actually separate from the bathroom and has a solid wall.  It’s also the opposite side to the wall we’d like to move.  We may take down the wall between the bathroom and toilet to, type of wall depending of course.  

Think about that carefully.

With three teenagers and two adults in the house, having separate bathroom and toilet might be more convenient in terms of waiting times etc than having both in one room.

Consider installing a toilet in the bathroom as well as keeping the separate toilet.

Is there a second toilet, downstairs possibly, or is there a space to install one?

casper_gutman

Our house has the upstairs loo separate from the bathroom, and we've kept it that way. It's honestly worth as much to us as having an extra ensuite bathroom - one person can have a shower or bath and others can still access a loo and washbasin. And unlike an ensuite, nobody has to go through anyone else's bedroom.

If you're lucky, moving the bathroom wall could be very straightforward, and a relatively minor add-on cost-wise if you're planning to renew the bathroom anyway. Things could be very different if you were talking about a structural and/or solid wall, or if the joist direction complicated the drainage though.

We recently had our bathroom re-done, including relocating the basin from an outside wall across to the opposite side of the room. By the time the floorboards were up and the walls were stripped back to the studwork, redoing the actual studs themselves would have been relatively easy. There would have been additional cost in terms of making good and decorating in the adjacent bedroom of course, but this would be relatively minor in the cost of the whole project.

ThisIsWeird

As asked, Jellybean, a link to the listing should help folk on here figure out the chances of it being a straightforward job. And probably other helpful suggestions, too - they are pretty nifty that way.