Bathroom attached to office- worth it?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

We are in the process of designing our home. At one point we decided to add a bathroom that is accessible only from the office. It will not have tub, just a shower. We also will have a regular 1/2 bath on the main floor. We also have 3 full baths on the 2nd floor. Our realtor recommended the additional bath because she says they make homes much easier when we go to sell. We may not stay in The home longer than 5 years So it is a consideration. The cost is about 12k. Does anyone have opinions on this? I can answer more questions if necessary!

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Mark Bischak, Architect

3 years ago

Most likely it would be better to design it as a first floor bedroom suite and use it as an office, rather than to design an office with with an attached bathroom and try to use it as a bedroom some time in the future.

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Comments (9)

Caroline Hamilton
3 years ago
We have a 5th bedroom on our 1st floor that I use as an office. We put French doors on it, but should we ever need to use it as a bedroom we can replace them. Since all of our other bedrooms are on the 2nd floor we added a shower in the bathroom adjacent to the office. We have already lived here for 21 years but our intentions were, if we ever needed it, to have a bedroom and bathroom on the main level for aging parents or ourselves. So my vote is yes for this reason and it would be an attractive selling feature down the road.
lyfia
3 years ago
I agree with Caroline as it can make a great guest room too away from family assuming the rest of the room is designed to function as a bedroom. I think from the standpoint of an appraisal it would also be higher in value. Extra bath and an extra bedroom would likely appraise higher or at least would in the locations I've lived in during my adult life.
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Thanks for the response kirkhall! Here is another piece of info that's important: ***Bedroom #3 is actually big enough to be a master bedroom by my neighbourhood standards, and has back deck access. I feel weird giving this bedroom to one of my 2 kids, not only because it has the deck access, but also because it is so much larger than the other child's bedroom. (Currently, both kids are in the tiny bedroom, but this needs to change soon.) Another option would be to give one child the big master bedroom (19x11) and keep Bedroom #3 for myself, but then the issue is that one child gets a HUGE bedroom (bigger than their parents') and the other gets a tiny one. So in short: I would really like a new bedroom layout with roughly equal sized kids' bedrooms AND a bigger bathroom, if possible. I think this would be good for resale too.**** Here are my comments on your ideas: - I really like the idea of stealing room from bed #3 to make the existing bathroom bigger. I'll need to play around with that. It would be less costly, I would imagine. Bed #3 would then become a bit smaller, and would be more in line with the other child's bedroom. The back deck access is still an issue, but maybe it's ok. You can't have everything. - In the existing layout, I really like your idea of stealing space from bed#1 and giving it to bed#2 and then putting a powder room in there, maybe in between them, but HOW? - yes, ceiling downstairs is unfinished, and I have ready access to underside of main floor. Comments on my plan: - bed #2 in the new design DOES meet the code for my province. The code is 6 square metres (64 square feet) if a closet is provided, or 7 square metres (75 sf) where no closet is provided. At 77.64 (with closet), and 86.32 sf (no closet), it seems to pass. - privacy: Where the current bathroom is situated, you can peer into it from the living room. So, even though it's far away from the living space, it is still visible.
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User
3 years ago
Make it hall accessible, and yes it adds value. Only office accessible is less utilitarian by far.
colindbmc
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks everyone! We won’t have it accessible from the hall- there is a powder room on that floor already. the office does have closets and can act as a true bedroom. Sounds like most agree this is a worthwhile investment.
Denita
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
IMO it is definitely worthwhile for many reasons. Here in my area of S Florida having a bedroom with a full bath (only shower counts as full bath) attached makes this a 'junior master suite' unless it is sized as a full master which is even more desirable for marketing and selling. Yes, using it as an office works, but it also works if you have multi-generations living in the house or long term guests or need to have a first floor master bedroom rather than an upstairs master due to injury or other reason. There is no downside that I can see at all. Especially since you are doing this additional bath right at the beginning. Good luck in your build.
worthy
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Depending on the size of the office/bedroom, you may want to rough-in provisions for a kitchenette as well. I've done that on a number of houses. Undoubtedly puzzling homeowners a century from now.
Caroline Hamilton
3 years ago
Yes also to the walk in closet. We have that as well and even for office use it comes in very handy!
strategery
3 years ago
Sounds weird unless the office also serves as a bedroom.

Bathroom attached to office- worth it?

Mark Bischak, Architect

Comments (9)

Caroline Hamilton

lyfia

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Bathroom attached to office- worth it?

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