Throughout the years as we have worked on the house, we have been very cautious and done everything possible to do sensitive renovations that fit the period of the house. I too hate to see lovely old houses where people have butchered them. In fact, last night as I was once again watching "Flip or Flop" on HGTV I thought to myself how sad that they are coming in and just rearing down all of those great lathe and plaster walls. We have three kids, and our "illegal" bedroom worked as a bedroom for one of them for ten years. We just stuck a wardrobe in one corner, so we know all about using a space that isn't technically a bedroom as a bedroom. Now it makes a great office, something else that I would think might be desirable to a lot of people. We know for certain that in our neighborhood a master bath would be a huge selling point. In fact, about five years ago, a Realtor told us that this is the only thing our house is lacking. I am starting to think that there is just not enough space in the existing footprint to justify doing this. We know that many people do want move-in ready which would make doing this a selling point. However, amazingly enough, in our highly desirable neighborhood many people do buy these expensive houses and then come in and make extensive renovations like additions. We always ask ourselves where in the world do they get the money to make a purchase that expensive and then immediately also sink a ton of money in the house. Thanks for all of the help.

Thanks, I checked the building code and I don't think it counts as a bedroom. The key concept in the code is that it needs to be enclosed, which would be easy enough to do if we had to, but then there are rules about close proximity to a bathroom and the only bathroom on the floor is the master bath and you have to go through the master bedroom to get to the master bath. I don't think that would fit the rules. I think it would be considered a bonus room or a den. I'm still debating about the appraisal. I can get a independent appraisal done for $200. The bank that currently holds our first mortgage charges $475 for the appraisal for a refinance. I don't want to pay that much to be told that the property hasn't rebounded enough. It may be worth it to me to pay $200 for an opinion on the current value.

Talk to a realtor in your area who can give you hard numbers. However, I would have to say that the project is only worth doing if you are able to incorporate that half bath into a master suite and add a shower or tub/shower. Depending on what type of footings were dug for the garage, your project may require demolition of the garage and new footings dug before you can use the space for living quarters. If the realtor gives you an idea of the numbers on this as far as any gain in value to the home, you will then need to contact your local permits office and find out what type of permits and inspections you will need to go through to do this. Do not even think of doing it without, as it creates a big nightmare for you to have unpermitted work at any eventual sale time. Plus, lots of neighbors just live to turn you in to the codes people. Then your third stop is a structural engineer to be able to assess the scope of construction needed for the project. As previously mentioned, the foundation will need assessing, as will the existing walls and roofing structure's ability to be insulated to current code without affecting the required head height. It could be a really simple project, or it might not be. After you have gathered all of the above information, then it's time to develop a written scope of the project with all of the specs for the products that you want to use and the structural requirements of the engineer. Then you use that document to seek bids from contractors so that everyone is bidding on the same project with the same products. For a mid range master, expect costs to come in somewhere between 120-140K if you have to rebuild from the foundation up. If your foundation and existing walls will work, then you can probably shave off one half to one third of that amount. If you DIY everything, then maybe one half to one third off again. So, between 30K and 140K depending on what the reports say and how handy you are.

We remodeled a classic old two story 1777 center chimney colonial, pretty sure it is 40 X 30, 2,400 square feet, not counting small 3rd floor bedroom and a little attic space under the roof. Plain rectangular shape, no frills outside. Quite open downstairs with kitchen, pantry or front closet under the stairs, dining room, good sized TV room for DH’s ginormous TV, living room with view, fireplace, downstairs bath with shower, constructed not metal circular staircase to basement, mud room area with bench, shelves and good sized closet at side, most used door, three bedrooms and two full baths on second floor, including large master and master bath and a fourth bedroom and pull down attic space under the roof, vaulted ceiling over the stairs. It is mind boggling to imagine what you have the opportunity to do without the constraints of pre-existing infrastructure and a good architect.