So my son is starting HS this year and I'm seriously considering turning our dining room into that fourth bedroom we couldn't afford. I have an oversized entry from the foyer and a pocket door to the kitchen to deal with, along with figuring out where I'm going to setup my own WFH situation after this gets done.
I'm guessing I can knock this out pretty easy. The most expensive part of the whole job should be the new prehung door into the foyer. After stripping down the moulding and adding a couple new studs and a header if needed for the door, I was thinking about creating a plug/insert of sorts to make the pocket door disappear without actually ripping it out.. that would be a chore. The material cost for this whole thing is actually quite low.
Now that the TL/DR is out of the way, the real question is should I concern myself about making this reversible? I would imagine a fourth bed/office would be more marketable than a formal dining room these days. We aren't planning on moving anytime soon but life is life, unexpected things happen. Has anyone done this before and what was your choice?
what is the existing flooring? how much space will there be between the existing wall and the one you are putting in? Does the light switch for the room need to be moved? What does the HVAC setup consist of? It can't officially be considered a bedroom unless there is a closet. You may also want to consider throwing some insulation in the wall to help deaden any noise (this is going to be a teenager's room).
It's laminate, bad job at that - they ran almost the entirety of the non-bedrooms as a single floating member. It's on top of some tile in most areas, condition unknown. None of the utilities need to be altered. I suppose a closet could be added later without too much fuss, it would actually be a good sized bedroom 11*12.
>It can't officially be considered a bedroom unless there is a closet
This isn't true in most places. Look it up.
>It can't officially be considered a bedroom unless there is a closet.
This is a realtor meme. The IRC does not require or even mention a closet in a bedroom.
It's a regulatory/advertising thing, to advertise a house with 3 bedrooms, each bedroom has to have a closet, otherwise they have to list it as something else, like office/workspace. In some states.
I have actually been thinking about doing this to my dining room to turn it into an enclosed office.
I don’t think you’ll need to add a header. A header is already in that opening. You’ll just have to add any framing to it to create the doorway.
Make sure you tear the Sheetrock all the way back to the far end of the pocket door so you can put tiss up otherwise you’ll have nothing to mail the door to. You may also have to put in a sill plate on the floor and drill it into the concrete with lab bolts.
4th bedroom is way more valuable than a dining room when it comes to resale. Nobody eats dinner together anymore. Everyone is in their phone now.
*studs not “tiss”
>4th bedroom is way more valuable than a dining room when it comes to resale. Nobody eats dinner together anymore. Everyone is in their phone now.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. We do eat together, but we have an eat-in kitchen.
Not everywhere, true. It is true here though.
Only issue adding a closet would be the ceiling. It goes up kind of like a pyramid. I have no intention of flattening it out, the added height makes swapping the ugly chandelier for a ceiling fan better for air circulation. That would be a long term thing though, was just planning on throwing a wardrobe in there for the time being.
>Only issue adding a closet would be the ceiling. It goes up kind of like a pyramid.
Just make the closet stop where the slope starts if it'll be high enough inside. From there you can just put plywood on top and some molding to cover the top edges of the drywall and you've got a handy high shelf.
Much discussion about a closet ITT, but whats actually important is if it has a window. I assume you thought of that but sometimes dining rooms are in the middle of a house so its worth asking. All bedrooms need a window to the outside to be considered a bedroom per code.
>Much discussion about a closet ITT, but whats actually important is if it has a window. I assume you thought of that but sometimes dining rooms are in the middle of a house so its worth asking. All bedrooms need a window to the outside to be considered a bedroom per code.
Not only that, but they need a window that's at least 8% of the total square footage, and it must open at least 4% of the total square footage so a double hung qualifies. That is the code minimum for a bedroom at or above grade.
Yes, actually the window is a bit large and low for my liking. I know low windows are required these days and are normal, but this house was built in the early 80s before all that nonsense.
After the original comment about the closet I did look it up, a closet is required in Florida for a space to be considered a bedroom. Two egresses, one of which needs to be a window; any enclosed space 5' or less cannot be taken into account for room square footage; must be at least 70ft2 and finally the room cannot be smaller than 7' on any side. There's more but only applies to mobile homes.
Long and short of it is, if I wanted to make it a permanent change I'd have to add a closet. I guess the other variable is what defines a closet.
Yeah I can throw some lines together, it's really not complicated but I probably didn't explain it well.
Nutshell version
Looking to erase/hide the pocket door and put a door in the main entry to the room that's about 60" wide.
Honestly who gives a shit about code compliance for bedrooms, if you sell it you just call it a bonus room in the listing .
Can OP draw an MS paint floorplan because I can't visualize what exactly is going on here.
Bedrooms in my area must have a closet and if in the basement an egress. Just cover the pocket opening with a jamb side. If you can tape and do trim this is all pretty straight forward.
Tell us what county you're in, and list the actual codes requiring it. I'm unaware of any state that requires it.
Nah it's in there,
https://m.flsenate.gov/statutes/381.0065
Interestingly, according to the statute a door doesn't have to exist if one can be reasonably installed.
Check your count codes. Seminole for example has even further restrictions on bedrooms.