2 doors into toilet/ensuite?

newname

Hi

Has anyone here any experience or opinions on bathrooms with two door access? I have a small back toilet and a wardrobe space I was considering knocking them together to make a larger back toilet with a door from the bedroom to double as an ensuite. Or would I be better to turn the wardrobe space into a 1 meter wide ensuite and have a small back toilet and a small ensuite rather than a larger bathroom that could double as a downstairs toilet and an ensuite? I hope that makes sense

Mellor

Its possible, but to doit well it needs careful design, to retro-build it (well), would require alot of luck.

newname

Hi Mellor

Do you mean the larger bathroom with two doors or the ensuite in the wardrobe space would work. Which would you think would be best use of space?

topcatcbr

newname wrote: »

Hi

Has anyone here any experience or opinions on bathrooms with two door access? I have a small back toilet and a wardrobe space I was considering knocking them together to make a larger back toilet with a door from the bedroom to double as an ensuite. Or would I be better to turn the wardrobe space into a 1 meter wide ensuite and have a small back toilet and a small ensuite rather than a larger bathroom that could double as a downstairs toilet and an ensuite? I hope that makes sense

I have designed this many times and it can work. It would not work if this bathroom is to be the main house bathroom. It only realy works where the bathroom will be used between two (maybee Three) Bedrooms & where their is another main bathroom for the rest of the house.

I hope this helps.

archtech

We often do it, it can work quiet well, however as topcatcbr has said it doesn't work so well if its the sole bathroom (which reading the op appears not to be the case).

You should consider who will be generally be using the facilities. eg will kids be using the toilet to wash their mucky hands after playing in the garden etc, and making a general mess while the "ensuite" will be used by a grandparent? You many need to look at how well that kind of arrangement will work in your instant. Of course it may not be applicable

Slig

I had one ensuite with 2 doors in a previous house and I hated it. every time you used it you had to lock both doors and then unlock both doors, doesnt sound like much but it gets iritating. I'd be on for 2 Bathrooms, if nothing else then it should increase the value of your house.

RKQ

A bathroom with two doors can work very well, if it serves two bedrooms.(Jack & Jill) One door can be permanently locked, if it becomes a problem!
Size is important in any bathroom / en-suite / wc.

One big bathroom will add more valve that two tiny wc's. Pokey rooms should be avoided.

Personally, I hate being in a room without a window! I know its common now but I just can't stand a "room" without a velux / window. I assume your wardrobe doesn't have a window.

Slig

RKQ wrote: »

A bathroom with two doors can work very well, if it serves two bedrooms.(Jack & Jill) One door can be permanently locked, if it becomes a problem!
Size is important in any bathroom / en-suite / wc.

One big bathroom will add more valve that two tiny wc's. Pokey rooms should be avoided.

Personally, I hate being in a room without a window! I know its common now but I just can't stand a "room" without a velux / window. I assume your wardrobe doesn't have a window.

Personally I disagree with en-suites completely, you shouldnt have a toilet opening directly off a habitable room. But there is no denying that the higher the no. of en-suites the better the house will sell. Same with no. of bedrooms. The same house with 4 pokey bedrooms will cost more than one with 3 decent sized ones, its just the way things have been going here for the last 10 years.
If there is only one bathroom in the house then no matter how big it is a second one would be a welcome addition, even if only for the morning showers.
If there is the option then possibly think of putting a shared walk
in-wardrobe between the two bedrooms with a single bathroom accessed off it.

newname

Hi,
Thanks for the replies, the bathroom won't be the main house bathroom but it will be the only bathroom downstairs if I go ahead with knocking out the wardrobe space. It would mean that this bathroom would be used by everyone downstairs and also double up as an ensuite. I'd be a little worried about that.
My house has just been built and is not plastered yet so i'd like to make the correct decision. I already feel bad about not sorting this out at the design stage, so I'm quite anxious not to proceed down the wrong route.

rosnacanee

I am planning at the moment and was wondering about having a similiar bathroom situation downstairs. I got a good idea somewhere for the problem with the two doors. You can wire the lock on one door to the other door so that when you lock one the other locks too. If you only at the construnction stage it shouldn't be too much more expense.

Have you thought about wheelchair access especially if it's a downstairs toilet. Might not be needed now but in the future who knows??

Best of luck

RKQ

All new houses, by law, are to have a downstairs wc that has disabled access. (Accessable by a disabled visitor) I assume your house complies with the Building Regulations.
I don't see two doors as a issue, unless its a B&B! It really depends on what you would like.
A downstairs bathroom that can double as an en-suite might prove useful for visitors, especially if they are eldery. If you ever had the misfortune to break a leg, at least you would have the option of using this bathroom as an en-suite!
In the meantime your could simply lock the door to the bedroom.

Mellor

rosnacanee wrote: »

Have you thought about wheelchair access especially if it's a downstairs toilet. Might not be needed now but in the future who knows??

This isn't an option, its a requirement

newname

Yeah, wheelchair access is already provided for in the current layout. I would just increase the size by knocking out the wardrobe space and creating a second access from the downstairs bedroom.