Mrs. Parthol and I are shopping for our first house, and because we’re pretty old already, we’re planning on this one being the one we raise our not-yet-born kids in.
During a day with the realtor yesterday, we saw one house that was quite promising but which had only one bathroom. (And before you ask – there wasn’t much room for adding a new half-bath ourselves.) Now, I’ve read in numerous books on house-hunting that a single-bathroom house is a bad idea for a full-sized family. On the other hand, my wife grew up in a one-bathroom house and doesn’t remember it being a problem.
Do any Dopers have first-hand experience in this matter? Will we live to regret it if we buy a one-bathroom house, or is it no big deal?
Depends on how many female type people you end up with. One bathroom with two girls would be a disaster. One bathroom with a son and a daughter would be miserable. One bathroom with two sons would mearly be uncomfortable.
This will make the house harder to resell, and the current seller is probably also facing fewer options due to the single bathroom. So you might want to haggle on price.
My mom grew up in a family of 4 girls with 1 bathroom. There was an additional sink added in one of the bedrooms. I think culturally we have become much less tolerant of the intimacy that shared bathrooms entail.
Mr. Spry and I and the 2 cats have 2 1/2 baths and honestly that seems about right.
My realtor informed me that a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home is “functionally obsolete” or something like that. He tried to insist that we look for a 3br/2ba home instead.
But, you know…we’re a family of 6, and although we have a bath and a half-bath, we NEVER use the half bath, although the cats spend a rather alarming amount of time in there. It’s a matter of insisting that the bathroom be used for bathroom functions–it ain’t a dressing room, it ain’t a library, it’s a BATHroom.
So when we house-hunt, the number of bathrooms isn’t important, except in that (as noted upthread) 1. you might use it as a haggle-factor, and 2. it will affect your resale value. And remember that a half bath can be a real lifesaver if you have mid-blizzard toilet issues.
You need two bathrooms. It will become apparent when one member of the family feels a bathroom emergency and the door is locked, or there are problems with toilet or sink clogs.
And even though you can enforce the rule that the bathroom isn’t a library or dressing room, it is a BATHroom, and with the tendency for most of us to take long showers or baths, all bets are off.
Hell, we have two computers on a router for separate internet connections to share among the four of us, and this itself is difficult. Sharing a single bathroom would be unthinkable.
I was born in '73, and there were 5 of us sharing 1 bathroom - from '81 to '87 there were 6 of us with 1 bathroom. That’s when the oldest of the kids went off to college.
There were never any problems. When we were older and wanted to shower in the morning before school instead of in the evening before bed, we just had to get up earlier so it could get done and we could still get to school on time. The bathroom was a place for bathroom functions - bathing/showering, toilet and the like. No one spent hours in there because they couldn’t.
It was also a small bathroom, it wasn’t a place to relax. The tub wasn’t one you really wanted to stretch out in and be in for an hour at a time because it was small. The shower, well, if you ran it too long you’d run out of hot water anyway, so you might as well make it fairly quick.
Yes, it can be done. Four people for one bathroom is easy, at least IMHO.
Dude, my family of five has never had more than one bathroom and we’ve never had problems. Y’all are spoiled. Yeah, sometimes you have to wait, but you deal. And we had me and my sister, two girls two years apart. Went through our entire teen years with no difficulties whatsoever, with just one bathroom. It’ ain’t gonna kill you. I would never even consider the fact that a house only has one bathroom to be a dealbreaker or anything.
Family of 4 here checking in and we have just a single bathroom. Sure, it is inconvienent sometimes but certainly something that can be dealt with. Our house is in a great location and met all of out other needs so keep that in mind in making your decision.
I grew up in a 3BR/1BA home as the youngest of three girls. It was horrific during our teenaged years, I think my poor Dad showered at work during the entire 80s. Fights over mirror time were a normal morning occurance, and it seemed like someone was always doing the peepee dance impatiently in the hallway.
There’re only two of us in my house now, and I just put an addition on with a huge second bathroom. Sure, I could wait when necessary, but I just don’t want to!
Only two computers for four people? I’m so spoiled, that sounds horrible! At most recent count, we have six functional (two retired) computers between three of us. Seven if you count my brother’s, which goes to him this weekend.
As for the bathrooms, I’d only go for one bathroom if I was alone. I’ve known some adults that can spend remarkably long stretches of time in there, let alone teenage girls.
I suppose most people didn’t expect as much from a bathroom 30 years ago. Now, we’re somewhat conditioned to expect more bathroom space and time (and hey, we need a whirlpool bathtub with a bay window, too, and some candles…). That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, though.
I have several friends in families of 4 who get along with one bathroom. They seem to survive all right. In my own family, we had one bathroom until the 4th kid came along (I was 7) and we grew out of the house.
I quite enjoy our two-bathroom house, but I could certainly cope if we didn’t have it. DangerDad, OTOH…
I am one of five children (four girls, one boy), raised in a house with one bathroom. For a family of seven, I don’t remember there being any dramam about sharing a bathroom, although I do remember all of us girls being done before we woke our brother up, since he spend more time than any of us prepping. That being said, it may affect resale value, so be aware of that.
I have no first-hand experience, but I’ll agree with others that when you’re shopping for a house, an important consideration is that you want a house that will be easy to re-sell. To be easy to re-sell, a house should meet your basic standard minimum qualifications for your area. In most U.S. suburbs, this means 3 or more bedrooms; at least 1 1/2 baths; and a driveway.
I grew up sharing one bathroom between four kids. I don’t remeber it being a huge problem and I am a triplet, so there were three teenage girls trying to get ready for school in the morning, plus my brother. We just kept mirrors in our rooms seperately and left the bathroom for showering and toilet usage. However, here is something else to consider; you say your “unborn children” and are assuming there will only be two. That is what my parents thought when they bought their house, imagine the shock a couple years later when the doc heard three seperate heart beats! Another bathroom went in. My parents had that one in their room, but it was completely OFF LIMITS to us.
We are quite spoiled. That being said, it seems that vanity keeps growing as a cultural value and to me that means that kids will be spending more and more time in the bathroom as they grow into pre-teens and older.
Unless the house and environs are wonderfully near-perfect, I would recommend you purchase a place with a minimum of two bathrooms. I am especially thankful we have two bathrooms that serve our family of four–especially as we frequently have house guests–grandparents, friends and we can offer them a little more comfort that way. And yes, your resale value will be diminished–our last house (when we were a family of three) had one bathroom and the lack of that second bathroom helped handicap the sales process.
I’m just gonna chime in on the “watch your resell potential!” chorus. Even if you think this is the only house you’re ever going to buy, you never know what the future holds.
When Mr. carlotta and me bought our house (our first) we swore we’d never move again. Everything was perfect, especially the location. Mr. carlotta moved 20 times as a miltary kid and was loathe to do it ever again.
Well, the house and neighborhood are still perfect, but despite being the best in his field (I’m not biased, no sir) Mr. carlotta has not been able to find a job since his employer went bust a year ago and has been working 4 hours away “temporarily” in an attempt to stay living where we’re living.
I think we’re going to have to sell. Thank goodness for that extra 1/2 bath!
Also, what are your own bathroom habits? If you personally love to read on the toilet for 30 minutes or more, or relish long hot baths surrounded by candlelight, then you better factor that in to your decision.
