Shall I buy a 1 bed flat where the bathroom is in the bedroom? Can I partition parts of the bedroom?

koalakoala

That wouldn’t bother me if I lived alone and didn’t have overnight guests.
But if you regularly have guests staying I would say no

Herzlos

saajan_12 said:

For those trying to move around the bathroom / utility, do pay attention to the floor plan. The utility room and bathroom are very far apart, and unless there's already plumbing for sewage in the utility, that'll be very hard to move. The vertical sewage pipe is usually near the bathroom which is around the same place, on top of eachother in each flat. Note plumbing for water is usually thinner and not sufficient vs toilet waste pipe. Laying a near horizontal waste pipe between the utility room so that it meets the original bathroom will also be costly and prone to blockage. 

If you're going actually make layout changes then far easier to move the bathroom door and/or walls around the bedroom entrance. 

I was assuming that the utility room would have water in/out already for washing machine, sink etc, but you're right that probably isn't going to be sufficient for the toilet.

I'm also assuming the internal walls aren't load bearing, so moving the bathroom door to the lobby side would likely be easier.

user1977

Herzlos said:

saajan_12 said:

For those trying to move around the bathroom / utility, do pay attention to the floor plan. The utility room and bathroom are very far apart, and unless there's already plumbing for sewage in the utility, that'll be very hard to move. The vertical sewage pipe is usually near the bathroom which is around the same place, on top of eachother in each flat. Note plumbing for water is usually thinner and not sufficient vs toilet waste pipe. Laying a near horizontal waste pipe between the utility room so that it meets the original bathroom will also be costly and prone to blockage. 

If you're going actually make layout changes then far easier to move the bathroom door and/or walls around the bedroom entrance. 

I'm also assuming the internal walls aren't load bearing, so moving the bathroom door to the lobby side would likely be easier.

Except the toilet is on that bit of the wall (and the wall looks more structural if the thicknesses on the plan mean anything). Not sure what layout of bathroom you'll end up with even if moving the door there is feasible.

kinger101

thegreenone said:

I'm clearly missing something.  There's a utility room in a one bed flat.  That in itself is amazing.  But could it be made into a shower room or at least a cloakroom?  Will it fit a space saver toilet?  Nes Home Nova 2 in 1 Combo Toilet and Basin Combined Sink Cloakroom Space Saver Unit

Agree it is very hard to understand why the developer put a utility room in a one bed flat.

But a regular toilet cannot be installed if there is no soil pipe in proximity.  I believe there are units that have macerators, but not sure how reliable these are

user1977

kinger101 said:

thegreenone said:

I'm clearly missing something.  There's a utility room in a one bed flat.  That in itself is amazing.  But could it be made into a shower room or at least a cloakroom?  Will it fit a space saver toilet?  Nes Home Nova 2 in 1 Combo Toilet and Basin Combined Sink Cloakroom Space Saver Unit

Agree it is very hard to understand why the developer put a utility room in a one bed flat.

I guess it doubles up as (compulsory?) storage space. I'd also view it as a selling point if it means you don't have a washing machine chugging away in the living room.

TripleH

How often would you envisage having overnight guests?

Once in a blue moon inconvenience is different to every weekend and requires different solutions.

Section62

kinger101 said:

thegreenone said:

I'm clearly missing something.  There's a utility room in a one bed flat.  That in itself is amazing.  But could it be made into a shower room or at least a cloakroom?  Will it fit a space saver toilet?  Nes Home Nova 2 in 1 Combo Toilet and Basin Combined Sink Cloakroom Space Saver Unit

Agree it is very hard to understand why the developer put a utility room in a one bed flat.

But a regular toilet cannot be installed if there is no soil pipe in proximity.  I believe there are units that have macerators, but not sure how reliable these are

I think probably 3 reasons -

1) It creates additional wall length for cupboards and appliances to fit in more efficiently.  If the washing machine was in the kitchen then it would be harder to fit the table in and/or the kitchen would encroach further into the lounge.  The wall betwen the utility and kitchen creates more wall length without adding too much dead space.

2) There's an issue with the front door and lobby area. The utility door is set back which creates extra space adjacent to the door for 'circulation'.  Without the utility you'd either need to set back the whole wall along the length of the lobby (losing kitchen space) or else have an odd-shaped kitchen (with a corner missing) which would make it harder to fit the units and appliances into the available space.  If the lobby was the narrower width all the way to front door then it wouldn't be possible for someone in a wheelchair to turn round without first going all the way down the lobby to the lounge or bedroom. I suspect the setback of the utility wall was necessary to comply with building reg requirements for accessibility.

3) And thirdly, for some people having a utility may be a priority, noting user1977's comment about noise in particular.

As a general rule, development designers do stuff for a reason.  If they've given the flat a utility room it is probably due to a technical requirement (e.g. 1 or 2 above) rather than thinking about what a future occupier might want.  For similar reasons I suspect (as user1977 also comments on) the toilet is where it is because that is where the foul drainage stack needed to be. The design is constrained, therefore the toilet/shower room ends up being accessed from the bedroom.

Herzlos

user1977 said:

Herzlos said:

saajan_12 said:

For those trying to move around the bathroom / utility, do pay attention to the floor plan. The utility room and bathroom are very far apart, and unless there's already plumbing for sewage in the utility, that'll be very hard to move. The vertical sewage pipe is usually near the bathroom which is around the same place, on top of eachother in each flat. Note plumbing for water is usually thinner and not sufficient vs toilet waste pipe. Laying a near horizontal waste pipe between the utility room so that it meets the original bathroom will also be costly and prone to blockage. 

If you're going actually make layout changes then far easier to move the bathroom door and/or walls around the bedroom entrance. 

I'm also assuming the internal walls aren't load bearing, so moving the bathroom door to the lobby side would likely be easier.

Except the toilet is on that bit of the wall (and the wall looks more structural if the thicknesses on the plan mean anything). Not sure what layout of bathroom you'll end up with even if moving the door there is feasible.

Yeah, it's not a trivial job, especially compared to fitting a blind to the ceiling.

RedFraggle

Herzlos said:

user1977 said:

Herzlos said:

saajan_12 said:

For those trying to move around the bathroom / utility, do pay attention to the floor plan. The utility room and bathroom are very far apart, and unless there's already plumbing for sewage in the utility, that'll be very hard to move. The vertical sewage pipe is usually near the bathroom which is around the same place, on top of eachother in each flat. Note plumbing for water is usually thinner and not sufficient vs toilet waste pipe. Laying a near horizontal waste pipe between the utility room so that it meets the original bathroom will also be costly and prone to blockage. 

If you're going actually make layout changes then far easier to move the bathroom door and/or walls around the bedroom entrance. 

I'm also assuming the internal walls aren't load bearing, so moving the bathroom door to the lobby side would likely be easier.

Except the toilet is on that bit of the wall (and the wall looks more structural if the thicknesses on the plan mean anything). Not sure what layout of bathroom you'll end up with even if moving the door there is feasible.

Yeah, it's not a trivial job, especially compared to fitting a blind to the ceiling.

Yup, plus you can push it back when not required and have full use of the space. 

Tiglet2

Whatever you decide, try to do something that can easily be put back to its original layout, as it can cause delays when selling in the future if there is a discrepancy between the current layout and what is shown on the lease plan.