bye bye bathroom?
April 9, 2011 9:49 AM Subscribe
Am I insane for wanting to remove a bathroom from my house?
My wife and I have a 1350 SF, 3BR, 2.5 BA house. It's a nice little house - big deck, decent yard, two story house, detached garage, etc. The one thing it doesn't have, however, is closet space - we have a closet in the master bedroom, and each bedroom has a small closet, but that's really it. No hall closet, no downstairs closet - it's almost comical how little closet space we have.
What we do have downstairs, right off the living room, is a half bath. It's an odd shaped room because it's sorta under the stairs - as you face the bathroom from its door, the toilet is to the left under a sloping ceiling, and the sink is to the right under the full-height ceiling. It's also odd because it's right next to the living room - while it does have a door, it's not exactly a private place to do one's business, since people in the living room are sitting right on the other side of the wall from the toilet.
Ever since we moved in, all I have wanted to do is take out this bathroom and convert it into a closet, because it would make a really good closet space - shelves on the sloped ceiling side, and a space to hang coats on the other. My wife thinks I'm nuts because it will change the resale value of the house - will it?
Does the removal of a bathroom really impact the value of a home that much? My contention is that even if it does, it doesn't matter since we're in no position to move for several years anyway (yay Portland! Yay underwater house value!), so it seems to me that it wouldn't matter so much. I could be wrong, but it doesn't feel like a bad thing to do.
Anybody know if what I want to do is worth doing?
My wife and I have a 1350 SF, 3BR, 2.5 BA house. It's a nice little house - big deck, decent yard, two story house, detached garage, etc. The one thing it doesn't have, however, is closet space - we have a closet in the master bedroom, and each bedroom has a small closet, but that's really it. No hall closet, no downstairs closet - it's almost comical how little closet space we have.
What we do have downstairs, right off the living room, is a half bath. It's an odd shaped room because it's sorta under the stairs - as you face the bathroom from its door, the toilet is to the left under a sloping ceiling, and the sink is to the right under the full-height ceiling. It's also odd because it's right next to the living room - while it does have a door, it's not exactly a private place to do one's business, since people in the living room are sitting right on the other side of the wall from the toilet.
Ever since we moved in, all I have wanted to do is take out this bathroom and convert it into a closet, because it would make a really good closet space - shelves on the sloped ceiling side, and a space to hang coats on the other. My wife thinks I'm nuts because it will change the resale value of the house - will it?
Does the removal of a bathroom really impact the value of a home that much? My contention is that even if it does, it doesn't matter since we're in no position to move for several years anyway (yay Portland! Yay underwater house value!), so it seems to me that it wouldn't matter so much. I could be wrong, but it doesn't feel like a bad thing to do.
Anybody know if what I want to do is worth doing?
I'm not an expert but I think if you removed the fixtures - sink, toilet, etc but left the plumbing in place it would be pretty easy to convert back to a bathroom if you decided to sell.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:52 AM on April 9, 2011 [24 favorites]
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:52 AM on April 9, 2011 [24 favorites]
Can't you just store things in the bathroom? Put up some shelves, ignore the fact that a toilet lives there?
I grew up in a family of four in a house with 2.5 bathrooms. When the whole family gets sick at the same time, or when you have a lot of overnight guests, 2.5 bathrooms is NOT ENOUGH BATHROOMS. I think getting rid of a bathroom is a terrible idea.
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
I grew up in a family of four in a house with 2.5 bathrooms. When the whole family gets sick at the same time, or when you have a lot of overnight guests, 2.5 bathrooms is NOT ENOUGH BATHROOMS. I think getting rid of a bathroom is a terrible idea.
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
blaneyphoto has the best idea so far, in my opinion.
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:57 AM on April 9, 2011
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:57 AM on April 9, 2011
bathroom by living room? yeah, ditch that.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:58 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 9:58 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
We had a bathroom in this exact same spot growing up. I never even realized it was weird until one of my high school friends pointed out that he was worried I'd hear him poop (I told him to go upstairs).
I think it depends on how many people live in your house. If it's just the two of you, you probably don't need the third toilet, even for guests. But if you have 1-2 kids, it's nice to have an extra place to duck into if someone needs to pee.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:04 AM on April 9, 2011
I think it depends on how many people live in your house. If it's just the two of you, you probably don't need the third toilet, even for guests. But if you have 1-2 kids, it's nice to have an extra place to duck into if someone needs to pee.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:04 AM on April 9, 2011
1350sf 3/2.5 is a pretty good size; and I think 2 bathrooms in the house is sufficient. The main customer for your house, if it was on sale, would be family with 2-3 children. This cover a large segment of the population; and for this hypothetical family, 2 bathrooms is sufficient. The only question is the convenience of guests; but does your house have a lot of entertaining features for guests? If it doesn't have a large living room and dining room, outdoor landscaped area, etc... I would think the potential buyer would not be someone who look to party much at home. Furthermore, the trend for group gathering in home tends to the informal today instead of the formal home visits of the past. I think guests to your home should be fine with using the kids bathroom.
Unless your mother in law move in.
posted by curiousZ at 10:04 AM on April 9, 2011
Unless your mother in law move in.
posted by curiousZ at 10:04 AM on April 9, 2011
Blaneyphoto has the right idea. When you remove the bathroom, make it so it can be most easily put back in place.
That includes taking pictures of where the pipes, exhaust vent, and electrical power. are after they are selled off below the floor. Make a little folder of info about what you did.
If you ever go to sell the house, give the realtor copies of it. The realtor will not be able to sell the bathroom as a completed and finished bathroom - but they can still sort of sell it as a bathroom. The biggest expenses in creating a bathroom will all still be there.
Leave in place as much plumbing as possible. Leave the electrical circuit in place. And do not remove the fart fan exhaust vent.
posted by Flood at 10:05 AM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
That includes taking pictures of where the pipes, exhaust vent, and electrical power. are after they are selled off below the floor. Make a little folder of info about what you did.
If you ever go to sell the house, give the realtor copies of it. The realtor will not be able to sell the bathroom as a completed and finished bathroom - but they can still sort of sell it as a bathroom. The biggest expenses in creating a bathroom will all still be there.
Leave in place as much plumbing as possible. Leave the electrical circuit in place. And do not remove the fart fan exhaust vent.
posted by Flood at 10:05 AM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'd use it as a closet and just ignore the fixtures if you possibly can, thus preserving the possibility of using it as a bathroom should you need it sometime.
If you're 100 percent dead sure that you'll never, ever use it, then I guess you could go ahead and remove the fixtures, but I would certainly not remove or destroy the plumbing. Just have a plumber cap them all off, leaving as much of the stems on the water lines as possible, and put one of the rubber expanding caps in the toilet waste.
If the bathroom is like some I've seen in older houses, it probably was a closet originally, but someone decided to convert it to a bathroom in order to get the extra 0.5 baths (which as phunniemee alludes to, might be worth a toilet's weight in gold if you have a family of more than two and everybody eats the same bad crab or something).
Removing a bathroom may well impact the resale value, and worse than that it might take the home immediately out of consideration from some buyers by having it suddenly just fail to meet their search criteria (i.e. "we want 2.5 baths minimum" — if they put that into a search engine or tell their RE agent that, your house might never get considered if that bathroom is gone).
OTOH, I've heard that removing a bathroom or bedroom can sometimes decrease your tax burden if you get the house re-appraised, since it'll change which comps they use in their calculation of the home's value. At least in my area this is the case, might vary by locality.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:06 AM on April 9, 2011
If you're 100 percent dead sure that you'll never, ever use it, then I guess you could go ahead and remove the fixtures, but I would certainly not remove or destroy the plumbing. Just have a plumber cap them all off, leaving as much of the stems on the water lines as possible, and put one of the rubber expanding caps in the toilet waste.
If the bathroom is like some I've seen in older houses, it probably was a closet originally, but someone decided to convert it to a bathroom in order to get the extra 0.5 baths (which as phunniemee alludes to, might be worth a toilet's weight in gold if you have a family of more than two and everybody eats the same bad crab or something).
Removing a bathroom may well impact the resale value, and worse than that it might take the home immediately out of consideration from some buyers by having it suddenly just fail to meet their search criteria (i.e. "we want 2.5 baths minimum" — if they put that into a search engine or tell their RE agent that, your house might never get considered if that bathroom is gone).
OTOH, I've heard that removing a bathroom or bedroom can sometimes decrease your tax burden if you get the house re-appraised, since it'll change which comps they use in their calculation of the home's value. At least in my area this is the case, might vary by locality.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:06 AM on April 9, 2011
I meant, the biggest expense in the bathroom will still be in place, so the next buyer does not have to pay for them. A bathroom can be restored relatively cheaply.
posted by Flood at 10:07 AM on April 9, 2011
posted by Flood at 10:07 AM on April 9, 2011
Data point: my parents recently converted a bathroom in their house to a laundry room and it was the best decision ever. It makes the house a million times more functional.
You should make the house your own, especially when you have no intention to move anytime soon. I do agree with leaving the plumbing though and removing the fixtures so it's easy to switch back.
posted by hansbrough at 10:10 AM on April 9, 2011
You should make the house your own, especially when you have no intention to move anytime soon. I do agree with leaving the plumbing though and removing the fixtures so it's easy to switch back.
posted by hansbrough at 10:10 AM on April 9, 2011
If it's the only bathroom on that floor it may be inconvenient to have to go upstairs every time you need to use the toilet. I could see this being problematic for some buyers but maybe wouldn't be an issue for your family.
posted by 6550 at 10:17 AM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by 6550 at 10:17 AM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
So if you lose the half bath downstairs, you have to run upstairs every single time to use the bathroom. Maybe that's not a big deal ... but it's possible that you'll have older or disabled guests at some point who have difficulty with steps. Also do you want every visitor in your home to go upstairs? Unaccompanied? I'd feel funny about that somehow. Like, what if I forgot to make the bed or pick up the dirty laundry, or left my (non-existent) diamond earrings out on the dresser?
Just a few things to consider.
posted by Kangaroo at 10:18 AM on April 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
Just a few things to consider.
posted by Kangaroo at 10:18 AM on April 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
Or if you ever have guests with mobility difficulties.
posted by 6550 at 10:19 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by 6550 at 10:19 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think it's an okay idea as long as you don't have kids or visitors.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:41 AM on April 9, 2011
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:41 AM on April 9, 2011
The half-bath is useful if you ever have workmen on site. Do you want them traipsing though the house? What if a delivery person asks to use the bathroom?
Cut and cap the pipes, and you could probably take the fixtures out right down to almost nothing. Replace any tile with waterproofed sheetrock, the fixtures , being waterproof, could even be stored outside.
Check comparable real estate with and without a third half bath. In a NYC prewar 3 bedroom Upper West Side coop, that's at least a $50,000 differential.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:43 AM on April 9, 2011
Cut and cap the pipes, and you could probably take the fixtures out right down to almost nothing. Replace any tile with waterproofed sheetrock, the fixtures , being waterproof, could even be stored outside.
Check comparable real estate with and without a third half bath. In a NYC prewar 3 bedroom Upper West Side coop, that's at least a $50,000 differential.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:43 AM on April 9, 2011
The main advantage of having a half-bath on the main floor near the living room is that guests can potty or wash their hands or check their makeup without having to traipse around upstairs to use YOUR bathroom.
You can always find creative ways to add more storage space to a house, so getting rid of a bathroom to make way for a closet seems really counter-intuitive. But, as others have said, it's your house and you have to do what feels right for you.
posted by amyms at 10:44 AM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
You can always find creative ways to add more storage space to a house, so getting rid of a bathroom to make way for a closet seems really counter-intuitive. But, as others have said, it's your house and you have to do what feels right for you.
posted by amyms at 10:44 AM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Whenever I go to an open house and see a bathroom off the living room (or even off the dining room *choke*), I always get the feeling that the place must have been a subdivided rental house at some point in it's past. Then wonder what other weird, bad things may have been done to it and covered over.
I vote to remove it and leave the plumbing.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2011
I vote to remove it and leave the plumbing.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2011
This suggestion totally depends on the layout of your space, but perhaps you could build a closet on one of the walls that frames the bathroom? What that could achieve is make the bathroom more private and isolated from sound, plus it would potentially be cheaper to build.
posted by xo at 11:04 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by xo at 11:04 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
2.5 bathrooms is NOT ENOUGH BATHROOMS.
Dear me. In the American context, a single bathroom is obviously a demerit when it comes to selling on, but going from 2.5 to 2 doesn't seem like a huge loss, especially if the space makes more sense fulfilling a different function. (We have a similar setup, except it's a 1.5 with a weird .5, and the best way to deal with it would be to extend for an ensuite and closet space, and get rid of the half-bath.) As others have said, cap the plumbing in a way that won't cause future problems, but don't rip it out.
posted by holgate at 11:07 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Dear me. In the American context, a single bathroom is obviously a demerit when it comes to selling on, but going from 2.5 to 2 doesn't seem like a huge loss, especially if the space makes more sense fulfilling a different function. (We have a similar setup, except it's a 1.5 with a weird .5, and the best way to deal with it would be to extend for an ensuite and closet space, and get rid of the half-bath.) As others have said, cap the plumbing in a way that won't cause future problems, but don't rip it out.
posted by holgate at 11:07 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
IKEA has a line of customizable wardrobes - just install a big one of those.
posted by yarly at 11:28 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by yarly at 11:28 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
You will have no bathroom downstairs if you take it out, right?
Bad Idea. But if you must, leave the plumbing.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:31 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bad Idea. But if you must, leave the plumbing.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:31 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
The issue is not the number of bathrooms; we have 1.5 bathrooms, and it's enough for our family of five. The issue is having at least a toilet and sink on each floor. The first reason for this is that it's inconvenient to go up/down stairs every time you need to use the bathroom. The second is that if you have guests for dinner or whatever, you have to make sure your upstairs is "guest-ready," plus they will be traipsing outdoor stuff all over the house. The third is that if you have little kids, it's very hard for them to make it to a potty if they have to run upstairs every time, especially given that a lot of people with small kids have babies/toddlers, too, and so often want to gate off the upstairs.
And even if these things don't matter to you, they matter to a lot of home-buyers, which is why this decision will negatively affect resale value. Most people would prefer to put in a free-standing wardrobe or two, and thereby get the storage space without dealing with the hassle of no bathroom on the main floor. When I was home-shopping in a neighborhood of older homes, no bathroom on the main floor was a deal-breaker; little closet space was not.
posted by palliser at 12:18 PM on April 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
And even if these things don't matter to you, they matter to a lot of home-buyers, which is why this decision will negatively affect resale value. Most people would prefer to put in a free-standing wardrobe or two, and thereby get the storage space without dealing with the hassle of no bathroom on the main floor. When I was home-shopping in a neighborhood of older homes, no bathroom on the main floor was a deal-breaker; little closet space was not.
posted by palliser at 12:18 PM on April 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
You could have it both ways by having the plumbing capped and either storing the fixtures (if you have room in a garage) or buying new (they aren't too expensive) and re-installing when you decide to sell.
posted by cyndigo at 12:39 PM on April 9, 2011
posted by cyndigo at 12:39 PM on April 9, 2011
No, I wouldn't do it. Your stuff can go away or be stored better. But once you take out a bathroom, you are pretty much stuck without a bathroom until you get a plumber to put it back in. Pare down your stuff, then buy some free standing closet units. My sister lives in a 100-year old house with very little closet space. This is what she did. You can get some nice units for your house. They can go in hallways, bedrooms, wherever.
My personal option, as a person perpetually short of closet space and adores clothes, this is a bad idea.
posted by wandering_not_lost at 1:36 PM on April 9, 2011
My personal option, as a person perpetually short of closet space and adores clothes, this is a bad idea.
posted by wandering_not_lost at 1:36 PM on April 9, 2011
So is this the only bathroom downstairs? If I were your buyer, I would not buy the house because my in-laws have trouble with stairs. Both of them, but for different reasons. It's not uncommon. If your house was one level, I could see getting rid of the half-bath. But I think there's a reason why two story houses usually have a toilet downstairs. Buyers will expect it.
posted by Knowyournuts at 1:45 PM on April 9, 2011
posted by Knowyournuts at 1:45 PM on April 9, 2011
This maybe a UK thing, but growing up I never knew anyone with more than one bathroom - and they were always upstairs. There were four kids and two adults in our house at one point and I don't remember anyone suffering unduly for want of a spare loo, but we certainly needed and used every inch of closet space my parents could extract from the place. Your home should work for you.
If you rarely use the .5 bathroom and won't miss it then there's no reason not to go for it. Leave the plumbing in as stated above.
posted by freya_lamb at 1:46 PM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
If you rarely use the .5 bathroom and won't miss it then there's no reason not to go for it. Leave the plumbing in as stated above.
posted by freya_lamb at 1:46 PM on April 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yeah, if you're stuck in this house for a while, make it more functional for you. A half-bath has its advantages, but one off the living room loses some of them. Just cap off the pipes and put in some shelves. You can even keep the toilet and vanity in the basement!
When it's time to sell, it's easy enough to restore it to a bathroom if that's what your agent suggests will help.
posted by dhartung at 2:00 PM on April 9, 2011
When it's time to sell, it's easy enough to restore it to a bathroom if that's what your agent suggests will help.
posted by dhartung at 2:00 PM on April 9, 2011
Maybe you should conduct a study. Either
1) count how many times you, your wife, and guests use the bathroom in a month's time, or (and perhaps better)
2) lock the door / disable turn off the water / remove lightbulb / whatever to render the lil' powder room unusable, so that everyone has to go upstairs. Wait a month. How do you like your closet idea now?
I've only got 1.5 ba—and no "public" closets either—and I'd hate not to have the half that's downstairs. We make do with a standing coatrack and a big row of pegs on a short hallway off the entry.
posted by mumkin at 2:43 PM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
1) count how many times you, your wife, and guests use the bathroom in a month's time, or (and perhaps better)
2) lock the door / disable turn off the water / remove lightbulb / whatever to render the lil' powder room unusable, so that everyone has to go upstairs. Wait a month. How do you like your closet idea now?
I've only got 1.5 ba—and no "public" closets either—and I'd hate not to have the half that's downstairs. We make do with a standing coatrack and a big row of pegs on a short hallway off the entry.
posted by mumkin at 2:43 PM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with 1.5 bathrooms and virtually no storage space, and I would LOVE to turn that .5 bathroom into a nice closet. So I say go for it.
posted by emd3737 at 4:30 PM on April 9, 2011
posted by emd3737 at 4:30 PM on April 9, 2011
Do what you want with the space and just cap off the plumbing. Installing fixtures from existing plumbing is not difficult or expensive. Voila -- resale problem solved.
But I'm not a big fan of fretting to the nth degree over the resale value if you're not actively planning a move. You're not renting the home from the pickiest future-owners ever -- you bought it, and it's yours right now. No need for you to keep a toilet next to the living room because lots of other people happen to like their downstairs powder rooms.
I'm presuming that you've got an upstairs master bath and a hall bath? So I don't see how anyone is traipsing through particularly personal space to get to the bathroom.
/We have only one bathroom, and it's in the upstairs hallway. It's really not a big deal. We have parties, we have friends with little kids, we have relatives who walk with a cane, we have had bouts of illness, and no-one has peed on the kitchen floor yet.
posted by desuetude at 4:46 PM on April 9, 2011
But I'm not a big fan of fretting to the nth degree over the resale value if you're not actively planning a move. You're not renting the home from the pickiest future-owners ever -- you bought it, and it's yours right now. No need for you to keep a toilet next to the living room because lots of other people happen to like their downstairs powder rooms.
I'm presuming that you've got an upstairs master bath and a hall bath? So I don't see how anyone is traipsing through particularly personal space to get to the bathroom.
/We have only one bathroom, and it's in the upstairs hallway. It's really not a big deal. We have parties, we have friends with little kids, we have relatives who walk with a cane, we have had bouts of illness, and no-one has peed on the kitchen floor yet.
posted by desuetude at 4:46 PM on April 9, 2011
I disagree with most people here and agree with your wife. You don't seem to have thought about guests. If I were a guest in your home, I'd prefer to use the downstairs half bathroom than have to run upstairs into your personal space to use the restroom (also if it were my house, I wouldn't want my guests to have to use my bathroom, I wouldn't want to have to keep it clean, always make sure I stash unmentionables away, etc...). Also, have you considered what you would do if you had guests who are unable to make it up stairs or people for whom it would be incredibly difficult to get up stairs?
Why can't you just buy a wardrobe or other large piece of storage furniture for your downstairs area? Or put in hooks and shelves in an out of the way area? I would try to be more creative with your current storage areas or find furniture that you can use creatively to store things rather than convert a bathroom into a closet. For example, we have a bar cabinet because we don't have space for those things in our kitchen, and a very large storage ottoman with a tray top rather than a coffee table. We have a huge covered basket for shoes in our entryway and hooks for coats and bags.
P.S. Check out Apartment Therapy for good small space storage ideas.
posted by echo0720 at 5:47 PM on April 9, 2011
Why can't you just buy a wardrobe or other large piece of storage furniture for your downstairs area? Or put in hooks and shelves in an out of the way area? I would try to be more creative with your current storage areas or find furniture that you can use creatively to store things rather than convert a bathroom into a closet. For example, we have a bar cabinet because we don't have space for those things in our kitchen, and a very large storage ottoman with a tray top rather than a coffee table. We have a huge covered basket for shoes in our entryway and hooks for coats and bags.
P.S. Check out Apartment Therapy for good small space storage ideas.
posted by echo0720 at 5:47 PM on April 9, 2011
I asked a real estate agent this very question recently because we were looking at a two bedroom apartment with a bathroom and an ensuite, and we really would rather have enlarged one of the bedrooms at the expense of the ensuite.
His answer was that having a bathroom per bedroom adds about 10% to the value of your house. This is in a city with a strong rental market. The reason is that investors find it easier to rent out houses with a separate bathroom for each bedroom, because they are strongly desired by groups of unrelated people living together (roommates).
If you are in a university town, or one where buyers are more frequently investors than owner-occupiers, this might be something to consider.
Also, whether you'd rather have the 10% extra value at resale, or the increase of your day-to-day enjoyment of the property in the meanwhile.
posted by lollusc at 6:29 PM on April 9, 2011
His answer was that having a bathroom per bedroom adds about 10% to the value of your house. This is in a city with a strong rental market. The reason is that investors find it easier to rent out houses with a separate bathroom for each bedroom, because they are strongly desired by groups of unrelated people living together (roommates).
If you are in a university town, or one where buyers are more frequently investors than owner-occupiers, this might be something to consider.
Also, whether you'd rather have the 10% extra value at resale, or the increase of your day-to-day enjoyment of the property in the meanwhile.
posted by lollusc at 6:29 PM on April 9, 2011
wandering_not_lost writes "But once you take out a bathroom, you are pretty much stuck without a bathroom until you get a plumber to put it back in."
Plug the toilet drain, cap off your supply lines and the sink drain about 2" from the wall and any handy man could reinstall a toilet and pedestal sink in less than a day. And unless there is something special about the fixtures (designer, weird colour or pattern that matches the rest of the house) I wouldn't store them unless you can stick them in the attic or somewhere completely out of the way. A toilet especially is a pain to have hanging around and is easily damaged when not bolted to the floor.
Cover the toilet flange with laminate flooring.
I'm firmly in the camp of making your house your own if you have no immediate plans to sell; Along with decreasing operating expenses it is the big advantage over renting. If it really would affect your property value by 10% then even on $100,000 home you have $10,000 available to you to make it right if you ever move. Spend $1,000 of that regressing the closet back to the bathroom and enjoy your home the way you want it in the mean time. If you live in your home for five years before selling the closet will cost you fifty four cents a day.
Be aware that having a light fixture in a closet that doesn't shut off when the door is closed can be dangerous (and depending on the exact layout against code in Canada). At a minimum consider a LED bulb(s) in the fixture or replace the fixture with one designed for closets.
Also if you are taking a poll I'm on the side of no moderate sized family requires more than one bathroom. It's nice but many survive without apparent trauma even today with a bathroom shared between several family members.
posted by Mitheral at 8:13 PM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Plug the toilet drain, cap off your supply lines and the sink drain about 2" from the wall and any handy man could reinstall a toilet and pedestal sink in less than a day. And unless there is something special about the fixtures (designer, weird colour or pattern that matches the rest of the house) I wouldn't store them unless you can stick them in the attic or somewhere completely out of the way. A toilet especially is a pain to have hanging around and is easily damaged when not bolted to the floor.
Cover the toilet flange with laminate flooring.
I'm firmly in the camp of making your house your own if you have no immediate plans to sell; Along with decreasing operating expenses it is the big advantage over renting. If it really would affect your property value by 10% then even on $100,000 home you have $10,000 available to you to make it right if you ever move. Spend $1,000 of that regressing the closet back to the bathroom and enjoy your home the way you want it in the mean time. If you live in your home for five years before selling the closet will cost you fifty four cents a day.
Be aware that having a light fixture in a closet that doesn't shut off when the door is closed can be dangerous (and depending on the exact layout against code in Canada). At a minimum consider a LED bulb(s) in the fixture or replace the fixture with one designed for closets.
Also if you are taking a poll I'm on the side of no moderate sized family requires more than one bathroom. It's nice but many survive without apparent trauma even today with a bathroom shared between several family members.
posted by Mitheral at 8:13 PM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
You don't seem to have thought about guests. If I were a guest in your home, I'd prefer to use the downstairs half bathroom...
Well, my pee-shy self would rather not use a bathroom that's basically next to the couch. And what about guests who need to emit unappealing noises or have digestive issues? Does everyone want to nibble the hors d'oeuvres and listen to someone try to discreetly honk out a fart?
posted by desuetude at 9:25 PM on April 9, 2011
Well, my pee-shy self would rather not use a bathroom that's basically next to the couch. And what about guests who need to emit unappealing noises or have digestive issues? Does everyone want to nibble the hors d'oeuvres and listen to someone try to discreetly honk out a fart?
posted by desuetude at 9:25 PM on April 9, 2011
I'm on the side that if there is no other bathroom on the first floor I would keep it. Not even necessarily for guests, what if one of your family members breaks a limb and has to be located on the first floor during the healing period? Or has foot surgery or the like? It would be much easier to set them up on the ground floor, with a bathroom, then have them going up and down stairs to live while healing.
Then,I do think about the guest issue, as if I were to go to a friend's home and they had not ground floor bathroom I would have to leave, as I am disabled and could not make it up a flight of stairs to use the facilities. I would find a different spot, maybe even taking a part of another room and turning it into a closet by building it out, before I would get rid of the only bathroom on the ground floor.
posted by SuzySmith at 11:49 PM on April 9, 2011
Then,I do think about the guest issue, as if I were to go to a friend's home and they had not ground floor bathroom I would have to leave, as I am disabled and could not make it up a flight of stairs to use the facilities. I would find a different spot, maybe even taking a part of another room and turning it into a closet by building it out, before I would get rid of the only bathroom on the ground floor.
posted by SuzySmith at 11:49 PM on April 9, 2011
Get rid of stuff, and listen to what SuzySmith says. You will really miss that 1/2 bath if you break a leg or something.
posted by mareli at 3:24 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by mareli at 3:24 AM on April 10, 2011
The issue is not the number of bathrooms; we have 1.5 bathrooms, and it's enough for our family of five. The issue is having at least a toilet and sink on each floor.
This. At our house we also have a full bath upstairs and a half bath downstairs.
Two years ago I broke my leg and had to sleep in the living room for 8 weeks because going up and down the stairs was too painful and dangerous. If we had only had a bathroom upstairs I would have likely been housebound.
For me, the issue wouldn't be the number of baths, but their location.
posted by anastasiav at 6:28 AM on April 10, 2011
This. At our house we also have a full bath upstairs and a half bath downstairs.
Two years ago I broke my leg and had to sleep in the living room for 8 weeks because going up and down the stairs was too painful and dangerous. If we had only had a bathroom upstairs I would have likely been housebound.
For me, the issue wouldn't be the number of baths, but their location.
posted by anastasiav at 6:28 AM on April 10, 2011
In our ~1400sf 3bed house, we have one bathroom upstairs. My mom spent her first visit to our very first WoohooWeOwnA-House suggesting ways in which we could try to cram a half-bath in on the first floor. Things like under the stairs (a 3x4' space with 4-6' sloped ceilings), or converting part of the 3-season porch and putting a door off the kitchen, or restructuring the whole area around the back door and pantry. She absolutely could not understand that the husband and I were fine with the one-bath layout. We don't have kids. We do throw parties. It works for us. The previous owners had 1 kid and few parties, and it worked for them. My mom and stepdad have each claimed one of the bathrooms in their 2-bath house as their own and seem oddly territorial when us kids are home visiting. To each their own.
I'd say do it. It's your house. Others will disagree, and that's their prerogative. But it's your house, this is why you pay the mortgage on it.
I would do as others have said, take the fixtures out and leave the plumbing capped. It's just for storage, though, not for looks, so I wouldn't make a big deal out of converting it to look like there'd never been a bathroom there. Leave the tile (if any) on the floor and walls. Ditch the toilet because it's in the way. Get rid of a pedestal sink but depending on the vanity it may make sense to just shut off the water and use the storage space underneath for gloves/hats/rollerskates/whatever.
Have fun, and good luck!
posted by aimedwander at 7:23 AM on April 11, 2011
I'd say do it. It's your house. Others will disagree, and that's their prerogative. But it's your house, this is why you pay the mortgage on it.
I would do as others have said, take the fixtures out and leave the plumbing capped. It's just for storage, though, not for looks, so I wouldn't make a big deal out of converting it to look like there'd never been a bathroom there. Leave the tile (if any) on the floor and walls. Ditch the toilet because it's in the way. Get rid of a pedestal sink but depending on the vanity it may make sense to just shut off the water and use the storage space underneath for gloves/hats/rollerskates/whatever.
Have fun, and good luck!
posted by aimedwander at 7:23 AM on April 11, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
I say do it, why not. Don't worry about house value if you aren't planning on moving, especially if this is the .5.
posted by TheBones at 9:52 AM on April 9, 2011