Whis is a first-floor powder room a must-have?

[Anonymous]

Must have absolutely.

[Anonymous]

It's for both of the reasons you described. I don't want workmen tromping upstairs and blowing up my bathroom or my kids' bathroom. I don't want casual dinner guests near our bedrooms.

[Anonymous]

I think some houses are just too small for it. I lived in a tiny colonial without a first floor bathroom, and it wasn't a problem for us day to day. It would have been nice for elderly guests if there were also a bigger foot print. But when a guest asks to use the restroom, they kind of prefer to wander off and have a moment of privacy, right? My neighbors' house had the same layout as ours but an added powder room. The back wall of the living room was partitioned to do it. I just can't imagine sitting and having a conversation, and then someone has to use the bathroom five feet away. Yeah there are worse problems, but If it were me I'd just make an excuse to run home, and yes take the flight of stairs.

[Anonymous]

I don't care about the privacy thing, for me it's two things:

1) Potty training! 2-4 year olds cannot be expected to navigate a flight of stairs every time they have to pee. Honestly, if you have kids in this age range (or will have kids in this age range) I think this might be a dealbreaker.

2) General convenience. I don't want to have to go up and down stairs every time I have to pee (but I also pee a lot). This, though, would just be an annoyance, I'd overlook it for the right house (or in a tough market).

[Anonymous]

Call me lazy, but I just want it for myself. I like a bathroom on every floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't care about the privacy thing, for me it's two things:

1) Potty training! 2-4 year olds cannot be expected to navigate a flight of stairs every time they have to pee. Honestly, if you have kids in this age range (or will have kids in this age range) I think this might be a dealbreaker.

2) General convenience. I don't want to have to go up and down stairs every time I have to pee (but I also pee a lot). This, though, would just be an annoyance, I'd overlook it for the right house (or in a tough market).

I'm on team powder room as well, but potty trained our daughter in a house without one. Honestly, wasn't a big deal!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my elderly parents don't want to go up or down stairs.

I've only ever seen one house in real life that didn't have a first floor bathroom. It was a 2 bedroom condo/townhouse where the bathroom was upstairs. And the people who lived there complained bitterly. They had a nice camp bucket set up in the garage for their mom when she visited.

I’m sorry, what?

[Anonymous]

Yes, privacy. I agree that the upstairs is private and the main level if public.

Guests to the house do not need to have access to our personal bathrooms to snoop. And everyone has at least one friend who would snoop if given the opportunity. No thanks. You are welcome to use the generic powder room where you don't have access to things that are none of your business.

I also am willing to let contractors/workers/strangers in the house use a powder room, but really don't want outsiders going upstairs to our private spaces.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was mostly about having a bathroom for guests to use where no one is keeping a toothbrush, etc. We have a first floor bath but during parties I often send people to the basement because the powder room is through the office and sometimes I shut that off for mess. The basement is fine as a powder room.

[Anonymous]

Our 1920 rowhouse doesn't have a ground floor powder room. I'd like one but there's no way of adding one unless it's directly into the kitchen and I'm not ruining the other rooms for the sake of squeezing in a half bath. We send guests downstairs to the basement bathroom and it works out just fine. And I agree with the comment about privacy. It's nice to wander out of sight to use the bathroom. The ones directly opening off a kitchen or family room are always awkward!

[Anonymous]

For me, it's about having a bathroom for guests. I don't want guests using our bathroom and I don't think they want to either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my elderly parents don't want to go up or down stairs.

I've only ever seen one house in real life that didn't have a first floor bathroom. It was a 2 bedroom condo/townhouse where the bathroom was upstairs. And the people who lived there complained bitterly. They had a nice camp bucket set up in the garage for their mom when she visited.

I’m sorry, what?

It's a portable toilet setup. It's not as awful as it sounds and it's padded. What's the alternative? Handing her a diaper?

If I could have my wish- it would be to have a full bath on the first floor. My house has a huge closet in the powder room that I would create a shower out of if my parents came to live with me. It's just so needed to age in place or really to convalesce from a lot of surgeries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was mostly about having a bathroom for guests to use where no one is keeping a toothbrush, etc. We have a first floor bath but during parties I often send people to the basement because the powder room is through the office and sometimes I shut that off for mess. The basement is fine as a powder room.

Glad all your guests can navigate stairs. Mine, including my 101 year old grandmother, cannot.

[Anonymous]

I don't want to run up and down the stairs every time I need to pee.

If these were one story ranch houses, it wouldn't be a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's for both of the reasons you described. I don't want workmen tromping upstairs and blowing up my bathroom or my kids' bathroom. I don't want casual dinner guests near our bedrooms.

You are fine eating with them but need them to stay away from the level with the bedrooms? Are the rooms very messy? Just close the door. Otherwise? I do not have 1. I would like one but that is not what was built in our 1960's neighborhood we love. It means our bathrooms are always clean and uncluttered. I potty trained 2 kids. We are just used to it.