Can you have TOO many bathrooms? (floor, curtain, sinks, cleaning)

[fabumom07]

I am in the process of looking at larger homes for my large family- there are 6 of us total. Three daughters. In our market, homes are affordable, and a few of the homes have 5-6 bathrooms. As in 4 full baths, one for each bedroom, and 2 half baths, probably one guest bath, one basement bath.

Its like the Eagles song..."I was thinkin' to myself, this could be heaven or this could be h#ll..." . I wonder what the pitfalls could be. Do they pull extra water bills in any way ? Could all those fixtures mean more to fix or does lowered use per fixture even that out?

I have never had more than 2 1/2 baths, and quite frankly I don't absolutely LOVE to scrub toilets, but I do because that's one area you don't want to neglect. The kids help with general wipedowns, but of couse mom still sanitizes. It seems that it would be good for my daughters and eventually my young son to be responsible for her/his own bath, unable to pass the buck on who dirtied it.If I had 3 sons I would be more hesitant. We will not have a housekeeper, that's for sure.

Does anyone have any input on moving to a house with lots of baths, was it a burden or a blessing?

[CHTransplant]

I think you'll find the extra baths to be more of a convenience than a headache. My current house has a full bath for each bedroom, plus a first floor hallway half-bath.

I think each kid appreciates having their own bathroom - especially as they get to be teens. It lessens the conflict over whose stuff is where, who gets to shower when, etc.

The one downside is there is more to clean.

[Mjames]

As CHTransplant mentioned, the downside is more to clean. A huge upside is probably your sanity because your kids won't be fighting over the bathrooms!! Also, I think the only way they would pull extra water is if your kids take longer showers because they know there is nobody waiting to use the bathroom.

My house has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms for 5 people and at some point I will be adding another full bathroom in the basement (its already plumbed for it).

[Chango]

I live with a spouse, 3 kids and 1 toilet. I would LOVE to have 5-6 bathrooms. So...no, you can never have too many bathrooms.

[icibiu]

When I first saw the title of your post my first thought was "Of course not IF you have a housekeeper!!" and since you already cleared that up...

I think it's great if you plan on having each kid clean their own bathroom, but be honest with yourself unless your kids are neat freaks chances are at least once a month your going to have to get in there and actually sanatize and disinfect and stuff. Are you willing to do that 5 or 6 times? I'm not saying you won't be, I'm just saying be honest with yourself.

Also as far as the water bill, it's definitely going to go up somewhat since as someone else mentioned the kids will probably take longer showers if no one is waiting for them to get out. You can probably off set this (a little) by going out and buying low-flow shower heads for each child and talking to them about time limits. Maybe impose a rule? If they consistenly take longer than XX minutes in the shower, you will remove the doorknob, so you can go in and shut the water off, for a week.

Another thing to consider, these bathrooms will each need to be decorated and each child will probably want to decorate their bath to their taste (much like their bedrooms) If money is an issue, I would suggust buying each kid the same standard and inexpensive bathmat, shower curtain, curtain rings, trash can and hand towel. Anyone who wants to decorate/upgrade their stuff can do it with their own money.

Good luck in your decision!!

[Ohiogirl81]

Too many bathrooms is a gigantic waste of living space. And they have to be cleaned. I'd never want any more than 2 1/2 ; we have one right now -- oh, the horrors!!!!! -- and it suits us just fine. Another one would be great, if only to have a spare when the other goes down for whatever reason.

As for kids ... how do they learn to share if they don't have to share a bathroom?

[bibit612]

I wish I had an extra full bath, 3 1/2 instead of 2 1/2. The latter is fine when you have two kids of the same gender, but in my case, I have a girl and a boy who share the bathroom. Even with dual sinks, she creeps on to his space. I have a maid come once a month for deep cleaning, but I expect each kid to alternate weekly swishing the toilet and scrubbing the sink of toothpaste junk. Of course, unless you command them to, that goes by the wayside. With a bathroom for each, both of them would have to clean their own and I can yell at the appropriate kid when it's not done, instead of the weekly "I did it last time" routine!

[Steve Bagu]

TOO have or NOT to have TOO many bathroom is the question.

Have a large gathering or a wedding reception at home or a family gathering and the like and ask the question again.

There will never be enough bathrooms when everyone is partying and drinking.

As for just the family...wife and I had combined 7 kids with i bathroom and you can imagine what we went thru.

Steve

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by bibit612

I wish I had an extra full bath, 3 1/2 instead of 2 1/2. The latter is fine when you have two kids of the same gender, but in my case, I have a girl and a boy who share the bathroom. Even with dual sinks, she creeps on to his space.

Sounds like the problem is not with the gender of your children, but with your daughter's inability to share.

[Cattknap]

There are only two of us and we have 4 bathrooms - we use them all because of convenience...3 floors. What I find is that even when bathrooms are not used, they still need to be dusted, moped, bath tubs cleaned, etc....dust settles on everything over time....but love having the 4.