When valuing a property, something I started doing is adding in the need for an en-suite.
The way people live these days requires at least 2 bathrooms in a property especially if more than one person in the household has to be up for work at the same time.
So to me …
a 5 bed with no ensuite becomes a 4 bed with one, a 4 bed becomes a 3 bed,
and a 3 bed becomes a 2 bed.
2 and 1 bed houses and apartments can get away with just 1 bathroom, as there is a possibility of a single-person ownership/occupier.
Only bathroom downstairs is an automatic ‘off the list’ for me, and that’s buying as a single person. Just too awkward. And I grew up in a house with the only bathroom downstairs (sensibly, I robbed the only available downstairs bedroom when I was 15); if you had kids it’d be a total mare, even for toilet training not to mind when they were ill…
Very interesting thoughts as usual Mr A
I’ll give you my own personal experience, lived in 3 bed semi with one bathroom until we moved 2 years back. We now have 3 bathrooms including an ensuite. My wife who is into forward planning insisted on a “wetroom” /bathroom downstairs. This was largely based on her experience with an elderly relative who was confined to a downstairs bedroom and had a bathroom upstairs, and a relative who tragically died of a waisting disease but who did have a downstairs wetroom. So her theory was as we get older and if we have to move downstairs we have this facility downstairs if needed
Anyway the wetroom is perfect for when we have the sick or elderly on visits, but is so big comfortable whatever the whole house uses it to shower. So having lived with an upstairs bathroom for years I now see advantages for having one downstairs for when you can no longer manage the downstairs but still capable of living a reasonably independent life . Oh and another thing for those involved with the sick/elderly make sure you can manouver a wheelchair around if possible
Just my thoughts
I think it is a question of preference. We would like to have one bathroom upstairs, a toilet for guest downstairs would be a big bonus.
Not a fan of 3 bed, 3 bathroom houses: first of all bathrooms need a lot of cleaning, therefore I would find an extra one rather a burden on us. Secondly it is also wasted space, I prefer storage space to a house full loos and showers. I would value houses with a utility room higher in value.
Ideal for me, without getting into the realms of fantasy, with Consuela on hand full time to polish the gold taps in the 8 bathrooms…: guest WC downstairs, family bathroom upstairs, en suite for the parents to have someprivacy. More than that is taking up valuable floor space and adding extra cleaning; single bathroom with parents and kids is chaos.
I think that one bathroom (or ensuite) per two people in a household is best, assuming they all take a shower per day.
I also think that even in a house with only one person, there should be two bathrooms, on the grounds that at some stage one of the bathrooms will be out of order, or being re-tiled, etc. and it is best that there be another one to fall back on.
It’s good, if there are kids in the house or if one is to sell on a property at some stage, that there be a bath somewhere, because a bath for children is about playtime as much as it is about hygiene. Many adults also like their bubble baths as a means to relax.
It’s good that there be one toilet and washbasin downstairs for visitors, otherwise you’ll have some of them nosing around in your bedrooms upstairs. Some people have very poor boundaries.
In addition, if it’s a house for life, one needs to factor in the liklihood of needing a downstairs bathroom for oneself and also for disabled or elderly over-nighting guests.
Finally, I have put an indoors shower for the exclusive use of my very hairy dog on my must-have list, because he gets so mucky on his walks and because I wouldn’t feel like washing him outside on a cold night when it’s pouring rain. That one is non-negotiable.
I fail to see a problem. People can have quick showers and can wait for a few minutes. Can’t they? Or is this just another thing where people feel like their life is ‘on the clock’ and every 5 minutes counts. I also don’t see the problem in showering every other day.
I’d definitely require at least 2 bathrooms: one upstairs, the other downstairs.
An en suite would be nice but you can’t have everything.
I am seeing alot of 3 bed, 1 bath (upstairs) houses for sale lately. I’d consider one of these but only if there was space downstairs (most likely under the stairs) for a 2nd bathroom.
Much of the water used in households goes down the drain still perfectly clean, so it makes sense to recycle as much of it as possible to avoid charges based on the amount consumed.
It would be interesting to find more information about devices suitable for domestic use that could separate the water from the dirt or impurities in water that is used for light domestic chores such as cleaning dishes in a sink or washing face, teeth, shaving.
Letting the tap run is a staple luxury of Irish life, possibly even a human right based on our abundant supply of water, so getting charged to do it is not a happy prospect.
That’s why I intend to set up a dual water system for the house, for heavy and light use, the first circuit will discard to the sewer, the second will lead to a recycling tank after its water has been filtered / separated.
We had one bathroom for two adults both working full time and one, then two smallies.
Last year, we put in a downstairs loo and sink. It has made a big difference to the liveability of the house. We had initially hoped to have a shower put in as well, but we didn’t have the space in the end. In fact, its not necessary. Until the children are teenagers and wanting to have showers in the morning, don’t see a need for more than one bathroom and one downstairs loo.
I hate en suites. In my dream no-money-spared house, I would have four bedrooms, a study, with two bathrooms and one loo, none of which would be en suite.
The future Mrs JammyB and I have a small list of must-haves we’re allowed to use to poo-poo the other’s selection of houses. The en-suite is on that list. It doesn’t mean we won’t buy a house without one, it means that one of us can kill a house stone dead if it lacks the en-suite.
Personally, I’d be happy with 1.5 bathrooms, but not 1. Showers can be co-ordinated, and we’re doing it today, but our 1-bath house is a nightmare when we’ve guests over, so it’s unsustainable for kids. A minimum for me is a WC under the stairs or something. Showers can be synchronised, but bowel movements are asynchronous. Herself is rarely impressed to open the shower door and discover me expelling last night’s curry.
the Glasraí proposed a levy on extra bathrooms due to the “extra” water usage a while back. I don’t know about you but I don’t shower/defecate more based on an increased facilities to do so
Dunno about that. When I changed from apartment living to house-living a couple of years back, the re-introduction of a staircase into my life definitely increased the amount of bladder pressure I was willing to tolerate. It’s therefore not impossible that I flush once or twice less per day on average
