What Are The Benefits of Putting in a Second Bathroom?

Most modern homes are built with either a second W.C. or an en suite bathroom, these days. But there are still a shockingly large number of family homes with multiple users that don’t have them. Is it simply that these people are so organised in their daily schedules that they don’t need one? Or is it that they haven’t weighed-up the benefits of sacrificing a little bit of box room or closet space and putting in a stunning new luxury second bathroom?

Add value to your property 

The value of putting in a second bathroom, washroom or W.C. to your home will be around 5% of its current value. The average house price is currently around £231k, making that added value worth £11,550. Not bad, considering that the cost of adding a second bathroom might be as low as £5k (although you might want to budget closer to £7k for an already higher value home with more luxurious fixtures and fittings). If you’re thinking of re-selling in the coming year, it’s a great investment that will also give your property an edge over your one-bathroom-home competitors.

Give that awkward, otherwise useless space a purpose

Box rooms are great if you’re a collector of boxes. But, for most of us, they tend to be little more than unruly dumping grounds for the afterthought items of our daily lives. When did you last even set foot in yours? Why not gather up your old school exercise books, documents, VHS tapes and teenage wardrobe, sort through it all, throw out what you don’t want and then properly shelve that which you do wish to hold onto? That way, you can put in a fantastic new bathroom that will give the space a much more useful purpose and a reason to actually go in there?

Get your privacy back

This is especially important if you have children who mean that even your relaxation time is continually interrupted. Whether they’re pre-teens, clamouring at the tub to jump in with you and ruin your otherwise perfect Cleopatra moment, or grumpy teenagers rattling at the door handle, badgering you to, “hurry up in there,” there’s no irritation quite like that of being jolted out of your bathroom tranquillity by demanding offspring.

Putting in a second bathroom, particularly an en suite, will give you a little haven of luxury that’s all your own. Even if it’s not an en suite, a second – perhaps downstairs – bathroom will mean that you’re able to gain back some alone-time in peace because it frees up the other one for the rest of the family to use. Finally, a chance to get through a whole chapter of your favourite bathroom book, uninterrupted!

Never fight for bathroom slots again

Somewhat related to the last point, but a complaint all of its own: the morning bathroom schedule. If you have children or if you don’t have a double-sink basin between you and your other half, then the morning fight for bathroom slots can be eventual grounds for seriously losing your cool. Putting in a second bathroom – especially one with a gorgeous walk-in shower – cuts the morning traffic in half so that the only rush hour you have to face is out on the roads, not right there in your own home!

Scratch your interior design and DIY itches

Let’s face it: some of us just can’t sit still in our seemingly perfect, beautiful homes. We need to feel like the space is somehow developing and becoming even more homely and amazing than it already feels. Maybe you’re busy flipping through the Grand Designs Magazine, checking out all the jaw-dropping interior designs and thinking to yourself, ‘I need this in my home.’ Perhaps you’re feeling like it’s been too long since your overalls were covered in plaster dust and you’re champing at the bit to get into a substantial DIY project. Either way, putting in a second bathroom is one of the best excuses to scratch that remodelling itch.

Main picture: PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL COSTELLO