Chances are, if you live in a semi detached property…
….and have a 140cm+ from the foot of your stairs to the front door wall like this…..
…you can turn it into a downstairs WC like this!
Meet Barry & Jean
Barry and his wife were becoming increasingly tired of trekking upstairs every time they needed to use the bathroom.
The obvious solution was a downstairs WC—but, as with many homes, there wasn’t an obvious room available for one.
Luckily they found us and we’re very experienced in finding innovative solutions to adding facilities to UK housing stock
(PS there are 2 main places we utilise)
By carefully planning the layout, drainage, ventilation and access, we transformed this previously underused space into a practical cloakroom—giving Barry and his wife a much more convenient home without the cost, disruption or extended timelines associated with a major extension (or house move).
How we Did it
We used our unique UK Bathroom Guru Roadmap to take Barry’s project from an initial idea through to a fully finished downstairs WC.
We began by establishing whether the space could practically accommodate a WC, assessing the home’s construction, the location of the sewer, potential supply-pipe routes, ventilation and electrical requirements, and the most effective use of the available space.
Once the design and scope were agreed, we sourced all the approved fixtures and materials before coordinating the various trades and managing the installation from start to finish, including dealign with local building control on the customers behalf.
This structured approach removed the uncertainty and disruption for Barry, while ensuring that every inch of the limited space was used effectively—giving him and his wife a convenient, comfortable WC without the need for an extension or repeated trips upstairs.
The plan
We produced a plan (below) and a detailed scope of works (with fixed pricing) and an installation timeline (so Barry knew what to expect in terms of disruption) and once we’d finalised procurement, we got to work….
Project management
Although it was a small space, it needed a lot of different tradesmen with unique skillsets to complete.
We handled everything from start to finish:
- Waste removal & house protection
- Joinery
- Brickwork
- Boarding & Plastering
- Painting and decorating (wallpapering)
- Floor fitting (carpets AND vinyl)
- Plumbing
- Electrics
- Tiling
- Groundworks
- Clean down & final handover
- Certification (Electrical and local council Building Control)
The install
Firstly, we protected the house, and took delivery of all necessary materials before removing the window next to the front door.
(Sometimes we have to relocate the front door but not in this instance!)
Next we built a cavity wall with matching bricks sourced from a local supplier and added a small cloakroom window with privacy glass to let in natural light and provide ventilation.
You can see how we covered the external tiles from damage with a plywood ‘step’ to protect them throughout the project.
Internally, we build studwork to define the new space (butted up to the bottom step for maximum space.)
Then we turned the bottom few steps through 90 degrees and relocated the newel post and banister to suit.
…then we ran the hot and cold feeds from the house bathroom on the 1st floor across the upstairs landing, and down into the space.
(Sometimes we pick these up from under the kitchen tap but Barrys house had a concrete ground floor so this would have been impractical.)
An internal panelled door was sourced to match the existing doors and fitted into the frame.
1st fix electrics were done at this point, adding cables for lighting and a fan (and relocating phone outlet points and sockets in the space)
All walls were insulated and boarded and a window cill was fitted.
Drainage pipes were added for the WC and basin and poked through the brickwork to the outside to be picked up by the groundworkers..
…who then connected these outlets to the main sewer by digging a trench in the block paved drive…
…to a new chamber (whilst avoiding gas pipes and electrical cables!)
The 4” underground pipework was then supported with gravel before the trench was backfilled and whacked with hardcore to prevent the block paving from slumping in the months and years following our work.
(this is beyond the remit / tools & experience of most ‘plumbers’ so you really need a specialist team for this!)
PS Block paved drives are the easiest to reinstate after this kind of work – concrete / tarmac and resin drives have to be patched in and the result is never as seamless.
Afterwards we re-fit the block paving, pressure washed everything and re-sanded the joints before whacking again.
Sometimes we can connect to the main stack above the ground level (which is much easier / cheaper) but the location of the coalstore door prevented this as the pipe would have had to run right across it.
You can see the circular manhole we added which is where our new pipework connects to the existing WC pipe before it enters the main sewer chamber.
Meanwhile, inside, we added a vinyl floor, painted all the walls and woodwork and installed a WC and corner basin, as well as an electric radiator operated by a local timer.
(We find corner basins work best in this layout as it allows for best passage through the room, and this floor mounted vanity unit provides additional storage space.)
We utilised the carpet we removed on day 1 from the space in front of the stairs to re-carpet the bottom few steps, and we wallpapered the external walls to match the existing décor.
The finished room:
Our goal is to produce useful spaces that look like they have always been there – by using sympathetic materials (bricks, carpet, wallpaper etc and by matching in door styles and hardware / threshold finishes etc.)
What about your house?
If you think your home is too small for a downstairs WC, don’t rule it out too quickly.
Under-stairs areas, unused cupboards and hallways just like this can sometimes provide more potential than you might expect.
Click below to send us details of YOUR space, and I’d be happy to let you know what’s possible for YOU.
Chris