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I think its a good idea to have master suit in one end of the house and kids room in other side of house. When kids grow up, you want them to fight n make noise away from you so you have peace.
I like the suggestion of turning garage into master suit
My vote is to turn the garage into an open concept living/dining area and put the master bedroom downstairs. You could put the master bathroom right under the current bathroom, maybe even add on a third bathroom for the rec room if you want.
Split the basement into utility/laundry room, rec/TV room, and master bedroom and bath(s).
This will make the best use of the current plumbing runs, will allow you a comfortable area for entertaining upstairs. (Everyone always gathers around the kitchen), changes your home from a 2 bdrm/1bath to a 3 bdrm/2-3 bath home with a rec room (or office.)
This keeps all your company upstairs and makes the downstairs area private, family space.
Many people are reluctant to put in bathrooms in basements because you have to jackhammer out concrete to connect to the sewer. It ain't that big a deal.
It will also allow you the room to enlarge your kitchen at some point.
IDK about NJ, but in most places code requires an egress from a basement bedroom. Doesn't make undoable. If you are concerned with resale there have been several points already made,but IMO kitchen and bath considerations are priorities. Good work so far
I struggled with that too, but putting in another bathroom closer to the bedrooms would just be too expensive because it would require massive changes to the layout of the house. That said, it's still a fairly small house, and the kids won't be sleeping in those bedrooms until they're at least five or six, so nighttime accidents should not be a problem. As for middle of the night stomach bugs-we have hardwood floors throughout so at least cleanup is easy Just curious though-if you were to add/move a bathroom, where would you put it?
Since you are concerned about the cost of moving the bathroom (and I agree with the other posters that moving it nearer the new bedrooms is ideal), how about some reconfiguration of the existing bathroom to change the doorway to open onto the kitchen? Would still be expensive and complicated, but not nearly as much as plumbing out to the garage.
I would not move the master downstairs, nor would I move the master to the garage - your plan as-is looks fine with the exception of the bathroom.
My vote is to turn the garage into an open concept living/dining area and put the master bedroom downstairs. You could put the master bathroom right under the current bathroom, maybe even add on a third bathroom for the rec room if you want.
I would never have a basement master bedroom and leave my (someday) teenagers alone on the main floor near the front door! If they want to sneak out, they will at least need to work for it!
I would never have a basement master bedroom and leave my (someday) teenagers alone on the main floor near the front door! If they want to sneak out, they will at least need to work for it!
You make a good point. And if the master bedroom ends up underneath the teens' rooms, you've got all that noise.
But with the bedrooms on the opposite side of the house, sneaking out is but a shallow challenge.
Putting the two bedrooms in the basement (with egress windows, of course) might slow them down. And many people prefer the master bedroom upstairs. Then you could have two bathroom upstairs and one down.
When we have get togethers, everyone gathers around the kitchen. I am having a hard time envisioning how it would work in a house where the main entertaining space is in the basement.
If it works for this family and they don't ever need to sell, then wherever they put their master bedroom is fine.
However, if they ever plan to sell, I think they might be eliminating a lot of buyers who would think this was an odd arrangement.
I didn't read everything and just skimmed your drawings. We spent over $200k to put in a 2nd floor - bigger than avg bedrooms and a master bed/bath with cathedral ceilings - yet we only use them at nighttime / bedtime. We are always in the living room / kitchen. We as in every member of the family. Always, including weekends where we're just lounging. I'm guessing that will change once we have teenagers but for now, that's where everyone interacts on any level. I think it's a mistake not having that.
There's a style of house here that has a small dining area at the end of a living room. I think that works ok. Why you want to devote an entire room to eating, which is only a miniscule % of your day, is unknown to me. When you have guests over, they'd rather be in a living area with seating and entertainment than a dining room, imo.
Wow, OP. What are the possibilities of selling the property and buying something that fits your needs better?
As far as resale goes, you're not going to be doing yourselves any favors by eliminating the garage. Also, I don't see how you could make a bathroom be convenient to those minor bedrooms, which is a drawback as well. Finally - bedrooms right off main living areas (no hall/buffer space) turn off a lot of buyers. And finally - they're going to be asking, "Where the heck is the living room?"
This may not mean much to you, if you plan on being in the house 10 more years, but realistically that doesn't usually happen. Extremely unique properties, especially those missing such integral pieces as a garage (in a climate like yours even more important than in some other areas) are usually difficult to sell.
Extremely unique properties, especially those missing such integral pieces as a garage (in a climate like yours even more important than in some other areas) are usually difficult to sell.
I would never buy a house without a garage and I live in Southern California. Out here many homes have 3 car garages and the newest homes have a 2 car garage and a seperate 1 car garage, where the main garage faces the street and the extra garage is off to the side.
Saying all that, I thought that the OP stated that many of the homes do not have a garage but have additional bedrooms. Makes me wonder if they converted their garages to bedrooms or if when they were built the option was for either a garage or extra bedrooms. A few of the tracks around here that were built in the last 20 years offered 3 car garages or an option for a 2 car garage and a bonus room.
Too bad it is not a corner home. I know of one home in our area that the garage was converted into an extra room, with the driveway still an active place to park cars, and a garage built in the back yard that had another driveway on the side street, giving them room for 4 cars parked on two driveways and room for a couple more cars in the garage. (Ok so not everyone uses a garage for parking cars. LOL)
Around here they require a garage or carport with every single family home.
The detached garage would satisfy some buyers, but given the amount of remodeling ahead and the cost of building a new garage, I wonder too about whether selling the home and buying one that was a better fit would be the smart move.
I know moving is a lot of upheaval, but as the plan stands now, you have a living room in the basement, two bedrooms off the dining room, the expense of constructing a new garage and adding on another bathroom. After all the work and expense, you will have an awkward layout that likely will not appeal to a lot of buyers if you have to sell.
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Just curious though-if you were to add/move a bathroom, where would you put it?
