Moving ensuite door from one room to another?

[Craikeybaby]

We are looking at buying a house, but the upstairs layout is a bit odd... On one side of the house there is a large bedroom at the front, with nice views through 2 windows, and a slightly smaller bedroom at the back. In between them is an ensuite, but the door is to the smaller, rear bedroom.



My wife and I will be the ones using the ensuite but would prefer to have the larger front bedroom - how big a job would it be to swap the door to be into the larger room? As the sink is opposite the door, the sink would also need to be moved, so I assume that would mean that the floor would need to come up. The shower/toilet would be able to stay in their current positions.

Would this still be a job for a bathroom fitter? Or would it move to a more general builder type job?

[OutInTheShed]

Is that the only bathroom?

[Craikeybaby]

No, there’s a large family bathroom on the other side of the house.

[Vanden Saab]

I fit bathrooms with a tame plumber and would happily do that if it is a stud wall but if it is solid would pass. Some bathroom fitters have the skills but not many.
If you cannot find one then get a builder in to either do the whole job or just do the alterations before the bathroom fitter arrives.

[Craikeybaby]

Thanks - that’s something to check out when we have a second viewing. I think that the wall which currently has the door is more likely to be the solid wall, as it is above what used to be the wall between lounge and dining room - it looks like there is now a steel replacing it. Hopefully it is easier that way around, rather than adding the door to the solid wall.

[anonymous-user]

How old is the house? How accurate is that plan? Enough room to move the stter slightly up and sink to the left? New door, Jack & Jill en suite.

[anonymous-user]

Like this.....

[Craikeybaby]

It might work, but we don't want our son coming in to our ensuite!

[LastPoster]

You could replace the existing door handle with a locking one.

But doors aren’t as noise and smell proof as walls and I wouldn’t fancy being that close to someone curling one out!

[DonkeyApple]

First step will be establishing which of the two side walls is a real one and which a stud. You would probably expect that the stud wall will be the one that already has the door which makes adding a door on the other wall a job for a proper builder most likely.

The other aspect to bear in mind is that if the stud wall is the one with the door then it'll also be the wall that all sound travels through.

[RicksAlfas]

Craikeybaby said:

It might work, but we don't want our son coming in to our ensuite!

Instead he'll get to hear all your bathroom related activities and will be in therapy for the rest of his life.


You have to think why it's laid out like that in the first place...

[DonkeyApple]

RicksAlfas said:

Instead he'll get to hear all your bathroom related activities and will be in therapy for the rest of his life.


You have to think why it's laid out like that in the first place...

The end result would also be a lifetime of someone stting in your ear given where the door will be in relation to the bed.

If a direct access stting cupboard is absolutely essential then the absolute minimum is to not have the cupboard door by one's face.

[Ham_and_Jam]

I’m guessing the master bedroom was the bigger / squarer room before the en-suite was added.

[wolfracesonic]

I’d say a general builder, you’re going to need a plumber, tiler, electrician, joiner and plasterer. A smaller outfit will have the contacts, a larger one will probably have those trades on the books. You could sort the trades out yourself but arranging everyone to follow on from each other could be a pain.

[Craikeybaby]

DonkeyApple said:

First step will be establishing which of the two side walls is a real one and which a stud. You would probably expect that the stud wall will be the one that already has the door which makes adding a door on the other wall a job for a proper builder most likely.

The other aspect to bear in mind is that if the stud wall is the one with the door then it'll also be the wall that all sound travels through.

Thanks, my gut feeling is that the one currently with the door is the solid wall, based on the layout downstairs, and where the wall between the lounge and dining room has been removed - but that will be my priority to check.

RicksAlfas said:

Instead he'll get to hear all your bathroom related activities and will be in therapy for the rest of his life.


You have to think why it's laid out like that in the first place...

It is probably too late for that, the layout in our current house already has his head the other side of the wall from the toilet... What ever the layout here will be an improvement.

Ham_and_Jam said:

I’m guessing the master bedroom was the bigger / squarer room before the en-suite was added.

Possibly, I also think that "bedroom 2" was also two separate rooms - as that would have been the full width of the front of the house before it was extended.

wolfracesonic said:

I’d say a general builder, you’re going to need a plumber, tiler, electrician, joiner and plasterer. A smaller outfit will have the contacts, a larger one will probably have those trades on the books. You could sort the trades out yourself but arranging everyone to follow on from each other could be a pain.

Thanks, juggling all the trades, especially as we're a bit out of the loop on who is good locally, would be a pain, so a builder with contacts might help with getting us up to speed on trades for the bigger projects downstairs...

[Craikeybaby]

We viewed the house again, and believe that neither of the ensuite walls are solid. I had also been playing about with layouts, including making "Bedroom 4" on the plan a dressing room for the back bedroom, and splitting the front bedroom into two rooms. But we really like the front bedroom, as it has a good view.

We put in an offer, which has been accepted, so the first job will be swapping the ensuite to the front bedroom.

[DonkeyApple]

Congratulations.

Out of interest, do you specifically need Bedroom 4? If not then I'd be tempted to make a an enormous master bedroom. Shift the dunny to the front so you can wave to people on the street while posting mud but have a proper ante room between the bedroom and the thunderbox which can either be a left and right wardrobe set up or a seating area etc?

[Sheepshanks]

Probably just me, but I think the main bedroom should always be looking out over the front of the house.

[Craikeybaby]

DonkeyApple said:

Congratulations.

Out of interest, do you specifically need Bedroom 4? If not then I'd be tempted to make a an enormous master bedroom. Shift the dunny to the front so you can wave to people on the street while posting mud but have a proper ante room between the bedroom and the thunderbox which can either be a left and right wardrobe set up or a seating area etc?

Thanks, Bedroom 4 will be an office, but we really want the front bedroom to be the master bedroom because of the views.

Sheepshanks said:

Probably just me, but I think the main bedroom should always be looking out over the front of the house.

I tend to agree - it is the layout that we have in our current house.

[DonkeyApple]

Craikeybaby said:

DonkeyApple said:

Congratulations.

Out of interest, do you specifically need Bedroom 4? If not then I'd be tempted to make a an enormous master bedroom. Shift the dunny to the front so you can wave to people on the street while posting mud but have a proper ante room between the bedroom and the thunderbox which can either be a left and right wardrobe set up or a seating area etc?

Thanks, Bedroom 4 will be an office, but we really want the front bedroom to be the master bedroom because of the views.

Sheepshanks said:

Probably just me, but I think the main bedroom should always be looking out over the front of the house.

I tend to agree - it is the layout that we have in our current house.

Yup, I wasn't suggesting not having the rear window as the primary view but that if bedroom 4 isn't required as a bedroom and the WC that is plonked between bedroom 4 and the master bedroom is just stud work then I think I'd be looking at the whole space as a single environment, removing the dunny from being a foot away from the bed and create a proper master bedroom with a proper en suite. Even if it's something as simple as leaving the stud wall in bedroom 4 in position but rebuilding the en suite for the master bedroom on the other side of it.

ETA:

What isn't helping is that I keep referring to bedroom 4 incorrectly. For that read the front bedroom on the other side of the dunny and your master suite being the back room.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Saturday 22 February 08:21