Floorplan Advice - Add Bedroom

[maadha]

Hi all,

Thinking of adding a bedroom to an IP in Western Sydney and would appreciate some advice on the floor plan attached.

What would you do?

The reason for this would be two fold:
1- get more rent from the extra bedroom and
2- increase the value when getting a revaluation done 12 months after purchase.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Jacque]

Looks easy on the plan, but always trickier in real life
I'd open up the kitchen area by removing the wall (circled in red) make the family room Bed 4 and split the laundry into ensuite so it becomes a 4 bed 2 bath property. Best of luck with it all

 

[Peter 14.7]

Good solution Jacque.

AND

I would put thin depth basin in the LD to enable a door to be made outside at that point. Looks like you have enough for that and he wm and dryer. Subject to the window design sliding door would bring in a lot of light.

Put a big skylight even a lined opening to skylights over the new family (next to kitchen) to get some outside in.

AND

Remember to try as best to keep it all the same. It looks better

Peter

 

[wylie]

Jacque's plan looks great, but a word of caution. We changed layout to make a fourth bedroom. The "original" third bedroom is so tiny the agents don't want to call it a bedroom as potential tenants think they are coming to a proper four bedrooms.

We plan on turning that tiny bedroom into an ensuite.

But the other thing the agents have said is that even if this tiny bedroom was a good sized bedroom, the living areas of the house are too small for a four bedroom house and that tenants have an expectation that a four bedroom house has at least two separate living areas.

I would get the thoughts of some local agents as far as knowing how much value you will add with the fourth bedroom (and losing the second separate living area) for both rental and sale purposes.

 

[propertyVIC]

If it's a house which appeals to share house type living location-wise then the lack of a second living area would be outweighed by the extra bedroom.

 

[devank]

I would simply close off the second bath with a door facing the laundry.

You will lose the back door to the house if you create a room out of family room.
It might be illegal to have only one entry to a house. I have no basis for that though

 

[wylie]

If it's a house which appeals to share house type living location-wise then the lack of a second living area would be outweighed by the extra bedroom.

I agree that it very much depends on its location. But I believe local agents should be consulted before such alterations.

It might be too late once the walls come down (or go up). I've just arranged a similar appraisal tonight to give us an idea on what to do with a house that is very tired. Once we have a sales and rental appraisal I'm hoping it will become clear which way we renovate.

 

[moyjos]

Is the bathroom in the middle of the house with no window the original position?

I personally HATE any rooms in the middle of houses without windows.

 

[tcocaro]

The issue here is unless the front has a fantastic aspect (doubtful) this solution completely separates the rear yard from the living areas of the house destroying the usability of the backyard, any aspect, sense of space and usability of the pergola area.

Personally I am having trouble myself to come up with a solution which simply "adds" a room with minimal cost because there are other glaring issues with the original plan that scream attention namely the location of the kitchen and bathroom. I feel this should be attended to first and will have a much better chance of improving value than forcing a single additional (very small) bedroom which is effectively a study once you account for the wall and corridor required.

I personally think its better to save ones money and keep the property as-is or look at doing a more substantial change i.e. attending to the kitchen\bathroom and at the same time add a room.

In summary adding the additional room will make the house even more closed in, the bathroom already has no windows the kitchen is already in the middle of the house and converting the "family" into another closed off bedroom will be the final nail in the coffin completely closing off the rear yard. One may aswell live in a bomb shelter with no windows or light.

I just re-read this post and sounded like I completely attacked you Jacque not my intention so don't get offended just being to the point..

Looks easy on the plan, but always trickier in real life
I'd open up the kitchen area by removing the wall (circled in red) make the family room Bed 4 and split the laundry into ensuite so it becomes a 4 bed 2 bath property. Best of luck with it all

 

[skater]

I would simply close off the second bath with a door facing the laundry.

You will lose the back door to the house if you create a room out of family room.
It might be illegal to have only one entry to a house. I have no basis for that though

While at first Jacque's plan looks like a quick and simple soloution, like Devan said, there would now be no access to the backyard, without going through the forth bedroom. The measurements of that forth bedroom, mean it would be quite small, however there are plenty of existing homes in the area with bedrooms that size, so that, in itself is no real issue.

If going down that route, then I wouldn't split the laundry to create an ensuite as the bedroom with the ensuite is a small bedroom, and it removes all entries to the backyard. If the only access to the backyard is through the laundry, then you lose a certain appeal.

Jacque's plan looks great, but a word of caution. We changed layout to make a fourth bedroom. The "original" third bedroom is so tiny the agents don't want to call it a bedroom as potential tenants think they are coming to a proper four bedrooms.

Horses for courses, Wylie. Western Sydney has many 4 x 1 homes with only one living area and small bedrooms. So long as it's an older home in an established suburb, then there should be no issue. Of course, if it's Hills area or one of the newer subdivisions, then all bets are off.