Anonymous wrote:We put our rowhouse powder room under the stairs. Is that a possibility for you? It was a pretty common location in our neighborhood.

I know--I'd so prefer that. But our 1st to 2nd floor stairs are stacked above our basement stairs, so the space that could go to a powder room is used for the basement stairwell. And our house is so narrow--it's hard to imagine it carved out of anywhere else. Thanks, though. I agree that's the best place for the half bath.

Anonymous wrote:I did a DC row house renovation some years ago and went for the larger kitchen and did not put in the powder room. Almost immediately regretted it. You can create a truly tiny powder room that will still get the job done. And just put in a fan and you won't have to listen to people pee during dinner parties.

Thank you for this. That's very helpful. I am a little sad to give up the kitchen space but I think it's a necessity.

We put our rowhouse powder room under the stairs. Is that a possibility for you? It was a pretty common location in our neighborhood.

I did a DC row house renovation some years ago and went for the larger kitchen and did not put in the powder room. Almost immediately regretted it. You can create a truly tiny powder room that will still get the job done. And just put in a fan and you won't have to listen to people pee during dinner parties.

Deal killer for me and I'm in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very important. Deal killer if no powder on the main level.

NOT a deal killer. We bought our house in the middle of the recession without a powder room. There were 3 offers on the house. We live in DC. Maybe it's a deal killer in the suburbs.

It is for many people, both urbanites and suburbanites. If you have a house without any facilities on the ground floor, you can estimate that you'll lose between half and 2/3 of interested buyers because of the fact. If your house has other features that set it apart or above other comps then you're alright. But if you have a house that is average or below average for the category (type of home, number of rooms, sq footage, accessibility, public transit, etc) then you really should consider making space for the bathroom or you will have a lot of difficult selling at any time but a true sellers market.

Near the kitchen is gross!

Not a deal breaker in DC. But I sure would love one with a 1 and 3 yo. I'm constantly going upstairs to "wipe" and having to take the 1 yo with me. Ugh. When we first potty-trained, we kept a little potty off to the side on the main level. Won't mind it nearly as much once the youngest is old enough to wield the stairs.

We sold our home in 20016 without a powder room on the main- not a deal breaker.

But when we were looking for a home, potty training two babies and being pregnant, definitely wanted one. We ended up buying a split level so the pr or br is only 5 steps away- not a big deal and definitely more private.

Anonymous wrote:Very important. Deal killer if no powder on the main level.

NOT a deal killer. We bought our house in the middle of the recession without a powder room. There were 3 offers on the house. We live in DC. Maybe it's a deal killer in the suburbs.

An absolute must. Who wants to go running upstairs all the time? Not to mention guests. Wouldn't consider a house that doesn't have one.

I hate being at someone's house and having to go to the basement (or worse up stairs which should be private if you ask me) to use the bathroom. Put it in.

It is the one thing I wanted but didn't get in our home renovation...we just didn't have space for it on the first floor without carving it out of our living space. I think it is preferable for guests to use rather than our master bath or even the kids' bath in the hall upstairs, but I definitely agree that it needs to be private, otherwise it isn't worth doing.

Absolutely need a first floor toilet. Definitely soundproof it!

That's a deal-breaker for a lot of people. I took my parents with me to look at a townhouse I was considering and when they saw that it had no first floor powder room they literally laughed at me.