# Is it easy to add upstairs bathroom above kitchen?



## TOTALN00B (Feb 18, 2011)

I'm looking to buy an absolutely stunning 1886 Eastlake cottage filled with meticulous folk art, but a possible deal-breaker is that there is only 1 bathroom, off the kitchen downstairs, and it is TINY. Like outhouse tiny! With one of those standing showers you can't move in, and no ventilation (windows don't open, no fan, yet surprisingly no mold or water damage). Looking up the history of the house at the local library, it appears that what is now a sunroom off the bathroom was once a larger bathroom. However, we don't mind keeping this one as it is, if we can affordably add a second one upstairs. Does anyone have experience with this, and costs for a simple one? Here is the situation we'd be working with:

There is an unfinished room upstairs, off the master bathroom, that is directly above the kitchen and the water heater (conveniently?). Would this make things easier/cheaper? We'd like to keep it simple, probably with a claw foot tub, salvaged sink, and some storage shelves. There's a single tall window and I don't believe there's any sort of ventilation currently. This house has a new roof. A skylight would be nice, but we are on a budget. We live in a really wet area (northern California coast) so I'm always concerned about preventing mold.

Here's a picture of the unfinished space as it is (I'm not sure why there is a raised platform. This room is level with the upstairs bedrooms). 












And just for fun, here is the tiny bathroom downstairs, which looks like it belongs in a log cabin and has no relation to the rest of the house's decor:


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## Just Bill (Dec 21, 2008)

"Easy" depends on a lot of things. If the proposed bathroom is directly over the existing one, it is easier to extend supply and drains. If not, it is much harder, but not undoable.

The 'second floor' looks more like a loft, more pics might help.


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## tcleve4911 (Nov 6, 2010)

With enough money and planning, anything is "easy".

The fact that the plumbing is in the same vacinity only makes it so less pipe has to be used. The "hard" part is making everything work and hiding all the plumbing and electrical.
We didn't see any pics of the kitchen below so we can't comment on how "easy" that part would be.


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## TOTALN00B (Feb 18, 2011)

The kitchen is a very narrow space so I didn't really get a good photo, but this picture of the back of the house may help? The two downstairs windows are where the kitchen is (the sink is right below the one on the left), the little attached shed with the pitched roof is where the water heater is, and the upstairs window directly above that is the room where I'd like to put a second bathroom. The current bathroom is just to the right of the kitchen - you can see the pipes.










And below is a picture of the kitchen (viewing from the bathroom).










The second story was an addition in 1902, according to the local tax assessor, where they raised the roof, put in two bedrooms, but kept the room I want to use as an unfinished storage space.


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