En-suite advice. How do we go about installing one?

My friends had a toilet and wash-basin installed in one of their bedroom cupboards. I don’t know the plumbing details, but I’m sure it’s possible. I was told you don’t need planning permission for changes made within your house. I could be wrong but do enquire about it. Good luck

Saniflo are noisy. Scared my young GD so much she nearly made herself ill not going to the toilet. One word of caution about en suites. We have three but no single toilet. Workmen and visitors etc have to traipse through one of our bedrooms. We will change this when we can.

Ask some different builders or bathroom/companies for their opinions. Sometimes someone will just suck their teeth a bit because they’re not really interested in a particular job. If they all say it’s not possible, so be it, but at least you’ll know.

Nandalot, it really is about the fall. However, most things can be done with enough money thrown at it .To avoid this you may be better off changing the layout upstairs to site a new ensuite nearer the existing waste pipe. A lot of people end up with a 'no solids' policy for a saniflo as there can be blockages.
You don't have to have an outside window in a bathroom if you have a really good fan. Draw your upstairs layout, then start plotting!

We once had a wardrobe turned into a small en suite shower room, it was in the bedroom next to the bathroom

Have a think about the areas directly adjacent to your existing bathroom, perhaps a new wall to divide the bathroom or even a small shower room downstairs.

When I lived in a 1930's house we had a shower , bath and washbasin in one room and a huge long narrow room with just a toilet.
We needed more and a plumber and architect came up with the solution of a much smaller bath which was rarely used and a toilet near the soil stack in that room, then they took a small part of the bedroom next to the toilet and put in a shower and washbasin and a toilet using the existing stack.
A friend has a sani flo and you can hear it right through the house also they have to be very careful as to what thickness of loo paper they can use.
If you know your plumber well they might know people who do house renovations which is where we got our architect from.

We had an en-suite fitted with a saniflo over 10 years ago and have had no problems. It’s great! Contact a few plumbers and get estimates is my advice.

** Following this thread for when I get back home to give this project more thought.

Our saniflo is about 4 years old. It is much quieter than the old one and I would highly recommend it.

There really isn’t anywhere else it could go. The other, very large, dual aspect room we have divided into two so that DGS and DGD can have a room each. DD has the second largest room and we have the largest which is where we want to site the en-suite. The smallest room is the study/craft room and that is crammed full with stuff.

Back in 2011, I gave myself a retirement pressie of having an en-suite installed in my 1930's terrace house. All water was at the back of the house (kitchen downstairs, bathroom upstairs

My bedroom was in the front of the ho, use. Some years earlier had taken away airing cupboard, between the two main bedrooms, and this area was now stairs up to loft extension (where visiting g.children slept). I worked out that there was just about enough room for a very small en-suite (loo being situated under the slope of those stairs).

It meant bringing water into the centre of the property and I used a local company who had loads of recommendations. I can remember that they needed to check the way the joists of the upstairs ran -fortunately they ran the correct was for them). Small square shower area, tiny wash hand basin, but it worked perfectly. They ran the water and waste underneath the back bedroom floorboards, into the bathroom and then out of that rear wall to join up with the pipework. Was not cheap.....cost me back then in excess of six grand. But it lovely having this, and I would never again be without an en-suite,

You ned to get a really good builder/plumber, one that can properly plan and know what they are doing and you will need to pay for this expertise. Any electrical work needs to be checked and have certification.

It is worth having done if you can afford it. But do not skimp .

Go for it. It turned out well for me though mine is connected to the main drains. We had a walk-in cupboard in an attic bedroom. I asked a plumber, who was used to doing these things, to fit a shower, toilet and whb. It all fits and is a Jack and Jill. ie: it opens off a bedroom and the landing.

I looked into the composting type loos and they seemed ok but perhaps a step too far for me at the time.

It is a good idea, but you will need professional advice from a recommended builder & plumber. Just wondering if there is an alternative position for the en-suite, closer to the main soil drain, where the water & drainage could be easily incorporated. Can you swap bedrooms with another family member? It would be more cost effective if there was enough space to install it.

We once had a wardrobe turned into a small en suite shower room, it was in the bedroom next to the bathroom

We did this. We also incorporated the airing cupboard which was on the landing adjacent to the bedroom, wardrobe and bathroom so it made the plumbing easy for the toilet, washbasin and shower.

It was the second size bedroom which we used, our two sons shared the largest bedroom at the time.
We've since had the dividing wall between the two bedrooms moved, so now both bedrooms are the same size.

One thing I'm really glad we did at the time was to pay the extra and have a window cut through the outside wall in the old wardrobe. It's so nice to have daylight and fresh air in the ensuite!

Just contact a number of plumbers and get all their opinions and don't forget to get everything in writing.
I would take professional advice, it's a bit step and will cost quite a bit of money so you need the best advice from a professional.

The issue here is obviously the fall to the soil pipe.

If it's an outside wall can you take everything outside and add a new section to the drains...or is it still too difficult?

Can you put it downstairs? Just a shower and WC?
Maybe a small extension?
Do you have a laundry type room - my mother-in-law put a toilet in hers and her neighbour put a shower in his.
Can you store craft items in a big bedroom cupboard (where the en suite would go) and lose some of your craft space to a shower/wc?

Hope you find a solution.

Just realised you also have a cloakroom already.

So if you can't manage a bath I'd just switch it for a shower. You may fit another shower straight onto the landing (which our neighbours did).

Can you have a family chat about use of the bathroom?
Many of us have had your problems and resolved it by talking.
It won't be forever. We went from 5 children (aged aout 10 to about 20) to just us in no time!

Good luck.