New house or renovating an old one, and the time to decide how many bathrooms the house should have is upon you. Now, deciding on the number may seem like an easy decision, but that’s only on the surface. When you dig a bit deeper, deciding on the number of bathrooms your house should have involves quite a few considerations.

We’re here to talk about these today.

Number of Bathrooms in a House: Things to Consider

Below are the six most important things to consider when making this decision.

#1: Number of Bedrooms

The number of bedrooms that a house has is generally the number one deciding factor in terms of how many bathrooms the house will have.

On average, the rule of thumb for most people is that a house with three bedrooms should have two bathrooms. Considering that, a three-bedroom house most likely has the main bathroom for the adults, and one for the children, guests, and other family members. This should be enough for most standard homes.

#2: Number of People

Something else that you should consider when deciding on the number of bathrooms that your home will have is the number of people who will be living there. The point here is that a three-bedroom house does not automatically mean that you will have people in all three of those rooms.

Maybe you are just a couple, or maybe even a single person who just happens to have a big house, in which case one full bathroom and one half bathroom would probably be more than enough. Of course, you do need to consider the number of people in the home regardless of the number of bedrooms. A family with two parents and a child or two should be fine with two bathrooms.

However, what about three-bedroom homes that are shared between multiple tenants, maybe even with each bedroom housing a separate couple, for a total of six people. If this is the case, you may want to consider having three full bathrooms. On a side note, remember that the number of bedrooms and people in the home doesn’t just dictate how many bathrooms it should have, but also what types.

#3: Number of Floors

The next consideration you need to keep in mind here is how many floors the house has, because after all if it is in the middle of the night, you don’t want to have to go up or down a flight of stairs just to use the bathroom. Most people would agree that at least one bathroom per floor is required.

Generally speaking, full bathrooms are needed on floors that have bedrooms, while a floor that just has the kitchen and the living room (or other related rooms), would probably do fine with a half bathroom.

#4: Plumbing Accessibility

Although this should not really be a problem with modern homes, if you are renovating an old home, you do need to pay attention to the current plumbing in your house. Although running new pipes through walls and to higher floors is always possible, the question of cost is always one to consider.

How much is it going to cost to extend the plumbing in your home to new bathrooms?

#5: Special Needs (Babies and Seniors)

Although these considerations will not apply to everybody, if you have babies or are starting a family, or if you have seniors with mobility issues living in your home, those are definitely things to consider.

For instance, if you have a senior living in the home who cannot easily traverse stairs, you will want to consider adding a full bathroom to the main floor to make their life a bit easier.

#6: Types of Bathrooms

The number of bathrooms is one thing to consider, but the types are another, as well as how many of each type you want to have. Let’s take a quick look at the main bathroom types you have to choose from, just so you know what you are getting into:

• Master or En Suite Bathrooms – The first type of bathroom to consider is the master or en suite bathroom. This is the bathroom that is usually reserved for the main or master bedroom, a bathroom that is only accessible from the master bedroom. These generally have all of the amenities you could think of.
• Full Bathrooms – Realistically, the only difference between a master or en suite bathroom and a full bathroom is that a full bathroom can be accessed from the hallways, with access not being reserved solely to the master bedroom.
• Half Bathrooms (Powder Rooms) – Half bathrooms, sometimes called powder rooms, have just a sink and a toilet, but no bathtub or shower.

How Many Bathrooms Does the Average House Have?

In terms of full bathrooms, studies (from the USA) show that 3.7% of new homes built for single families have one bathroom, 60.9% have two bathrooms, 26.7% have three bathrooms, and just under 9% have four or more. To put this in different terms, three-bedroom homes usually have either one or two bathrooms, with four and five-bedroom homes often having three, sometimes four.

In terms of the UK, studies show that a three-bedroom home ideally has on average 1.8 bathrooms, a four-bedroom home should have 2.6, and a five-bedroom home should have 3.5 bathrooms.

How Many Bathrooms Should You Put in Your House?

At the end of the day, how many bathrooms you put in your house is completely up to you. We aren’t going to give you a definite answer to this specific question, because we have already provided you with all of the factors that you need to consider.

However, let us repeat that the rule of thumb here is that a three-bedroom home should have two bathrooms. Now, of course, if you are just one or two people in that home, then one full and a half bathroom would do fine, but if you have kids, then two full bathrooms are called for.

Summary

There you have it folks, everything you need to know about how many bathrooms you should have in your home, as well as the various types at your disposal.