adding another bedroom

[TMNT]

hi everyone,

just thought id ask, an area that has a lot of 2bdrs, the agents are saying 3bdrs are getting snapped up pretty quickly

on teh assumption, that it is physically possible to either split bigger rooms into 2 or cut down the size of the living room to make an extra room

assuming all done by professionals,

is it a simple case of deciding where the wall goes, put some frames up, nail the frames the roof frames, sheet up with room for a door, skirt up, add powerpoints if required, paint

presto!

also another area in qld, there seems to be a lot of highsets that have front verandahs, like this one

has anybody actually sealed of these areas properly and added 2 extra bedrooms to the property

 

[wylie]

The last house we bought looks a bit like your photo. It already has one side of the front verandah closed in and that makes a reasonably sized third bedroom. The other side is not closed off but we could easily do that to make a fourth bedroom (or ensuite from main bedroom), but instead we have left it as an extra "living" area to get away from the open plan living/dining (used to be divided, but we opened it up).

You'll find plenty of houses in Brisbane like this.

 

[TMNT]

The last house we bought looks a bit like your photo. It already has one side of the front verandah closed in and that makes a reasonably sized third bedroom. The other side is not closed off but we could easily do that to make a fourth bedroom (or ensuite from main bedroom), but instead we have left it as an extra "living" area to get away from the open plan living/dining (used to be divided, but we opened it up).

You'll find plenty of houses in Brisbane like this.

cheers wylie,

the above photo was an example in rockhampton,

with that one for an example, the left compartment you could wall up, put in blinds, install door, and it would be a narrow but decent sized bdr

but the right looks far too small, to change into a bdr

when you say, turn the right room into a second living area, how would you do that, would you knock down the wall in between? seems the best you could do for something like that is a storage area or a small plant room

im surprised ,people arent doing this more?? or am I missing something

 

[wylie]

... when you say, turn the right room into a second living area, how would you do that, would you knock down the wall in between? seems the best you could do for something like that is a storage area or a small plant room

im surprised ,people arent doing this more?? or am I missing something

I hadn't realised your stairs are not in the middle. In our IP the stairs run up the middle, so there is equal sized areas each side. I agree that in the above photo, the room to the right would be a study or storage... to small for a bedroom.

This closing in of verandahs happened a lot after the war. My grandfather was only allowed to build a two bedroom house due to restrictions on size and materials allowed to be used. The front verandah was closed up and used as a bedroom. This happened to thousands of houses. These days, people are opening them back up because they are raising them, renovating and extending at the rear, and the closed in verandahs are able to be returned to their original purpose.

The IP we have that is closed in with aluminium sliders is pretty ugly and we'd love to return it to its original cottage look, but we lose a fair sized bedroom and an extra living area, so we won't do it.

 

[TMNT]

hey everyone,

im looking at a property that is a 2 bdr, the main bedrrom has a sunroom,

the agent has informed me that it could easily become a 3bdr by kncoking down the sunroom wall and further dividing up the room,

has anybody done this before?

done by a builder/handman
im assuimg the knocking down bit is fairly easy, and putting up the wall is a simple case of putting upa few frames and sheeting them up, whilst moving the power points,

anybody give me a few pointers please

 

[Alex2095]

hey everyone,

im looking at a property that is a 2 bdr, the main bedrrom has a sunroom,

the agent has informed me that it could easily become a 3bdr by kncoking down the sunroom wall and further dividing up the room,

has anybody done this before?

done by a builder/handman
im assuimg the knocking down bit is fairly easy, and putting up the wall is a simple case of putting upa few frames and sheeting them up, whilst moving the power points,

anybody give me a few pointers please

Knocking down walls is easy as long as they are not load bearing. You woul want to make sure of this so get a carpenter in for a quote and while he is there ask him if the walls are load bearing or not.

Putting up walls is quite easy, just have to make sure you have a window in there or it won't be legal. Not a DIY job but a good carpenter could do it in a day

 

[TMNT]

thanks alex2095

yes, first step is to find out if its load bearing, I didnt think it would be too hard for a handyman,

if it was a loadbearing, do you simply remove it, and then make sure the new walls is loading bearing as well

 

[Angel]

thanks alex2095

yes, first step is to find out if its load bearing, I didnt think it would be too hard for a handyman,

if it was a loadbearing, do you simply remove it, and then make sure the new walls is loading bearing as well

No, usually the wall between the main part of the house and the verandah is very seriously load-bearing and if you just remove it there could be some serious problems. You add a steel beam across the top with support at each end and remove what is underneath, a bigger job but not impossible. It can require council application, engineer's drawings and extra costs.

If you don't remove the wall you can always call the small room at the front of your house a "study" rather than a bedroom.

 

[TMNT]

Thanks everyone

Can anybody give me their opinion on this one

First photo I took from the kithpchen, kitchen is tiny literally 1m long but fairly wide

Second photo is from the room next to the kitchen

First photo also shows the room next to the kitchen and bedroom

Agent has suggested to knock down the wall between the second room and bedroom and turn it into a large living space

If I'm gong to knock one wall down I may as well knock two down and make it a large open kitchen with living space

However I'm pretty sure they are load bearing

What's the best way to check and is this all too much trouble?

 

[TMNT]

Anyonepretty please?

 

[wylie]

I can't see the photo (on my iPhone) but a builder will tell you if a wall is load bearing.

 

[RetireRich101]

Anyonepretty please?

A quick check is go up into the manhole and check if the wall you intend to take down/remove, is extended further to the roof. A regular wall that is not load may just stop at the ceiling and does not extend all the way to the roof.

 

[Angel]

Hi, the photos wont open on the home computer either.

 

[TMNT]

hmm they seem to open for me at home, but when I go to a public place, they dont work, oh well, here they are again

 

[TMNT]

Before:

After:

thanks everyone,

please note this a really old hous,e the hous is also worth under $100k after reno will be under $200k so I dont want to go over board, the house looks like it hasnt been lived in 60 years

I also have the otpion of just renovating it, floors, walls, kitchen, bathrom all have to be redone so its not a small job, severe damage everywhere,

so my first option is to simply reno and leave it all the same

second/third option is: remove the wall/2 walls and open up the kitchen /dining areas while making hte sun room into antoher bedroom

this is the laundry which has the hot water system in which I will remove if I renovate it

 

[Angel]

Hi TMNT
I would definitely open up the kitchen wall and make it one large area if it is economically viable. I expect you will have to brace the roof when you go all the way across the house, twice, one beam at each end of the living area. At least remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make a larger kitchen, as your first choice, rather than the wall between the dining and lounge rooms.

Also you could relocate rooms all over the place. I imagine the plumbing and wiring needs redoing so you can relocate bathroom, toilet and kitchen at the same time if you wanted to.

I think it is a small house so one bathroom will be plenty. You could open up the corridor next to the laundry and make a laundry with extra toilet if you get the urge, but I wouldn't waste resources on a second bathroom. I suspect the demographic who would live there aren't going to be too fussed on Sydney creature comforts. I just spent last weekend at a 4 bedroom farmhouse and the backpackers living there with the farmer's son were happy to have hot water to shower under, internet connection and the inclement weather kept outside. They didn't care that there was no ensuite or that the kitchen wasn't the latest colour.

Have fun, I don't think I could take on a task that big unless I lived there to supervise every step.