Counting the number of rooms when selling or buying a house is easy, but the patterns and rules for this calculation differ for different states.
Do Bathrooms Count as Rooms? Bathrooms do not count as rooms because they do not meet the standard requirements of the appraisals. A bathroom is not a living space and is used when necessary. The standard ceiling height, egress ways, windows, and the size of the place are some factors that affect the room count in the house.
Real estate agents have their own way of calculating the rooms in a house, such as the basement rooms, or the rooms in the house dimensions are counted on a different basis. Bathrooms are not part of the room counting, as they have separate counting and calculation.
Why are bathrooms not counted as rooms?
The general opinion and agreement on the room count in different states are different, and they set their rules and codes to add specific dimension areas as rooms.
They are not counted as rooms in the real estate world because they do not meet the standards and the requirements to be counted as a room.
It is always a topic of discussion among the house owners why bathrooms are not a part of room counting when selling a house. The reason is that they do not match the standard requirements needed for a room, such as ceiling, size, entrance, windows, and escape.
No matter how large the bathroom is, their building code requirements do not allow them to be a part of room counting. Other rooms in the house, such as closets, laundry, and attics, are also excluded from this calculation.
The appraisals in the United States do not count them into rooms because, according to the assessment, the living areas where you sleep, sit, eat, and live are counted as rooms.
You enter the bathroom when necessary or when you want to bathe, shower, wash your hands or face, and use the toilet.
This area is not considered in the living spaces; therefore, they are out of the counting. All the non-living spaces where you enter or use the area to do your business is not a room despite having a finished or unfinished ceiling, floor, and walls.
Can you count the basement bathroom as a room?
Most of the appraisals do not count the basement area in the square footage and the room counting. Rooms in an unfinished basement are not a part of any calculation of whether it is a finished bathroom or not.
Another reason for not counting the basement bathrooms and bedrooms is that the basements are not considered as above-the-ground areas. They are usually below the ground, and anything built below the home ground level is not counted as a room.
They do not meet the requirements; therefore, the appraisals and the real estate agents do not include them in the square footage and room calculation.
What factors make a space to be called a room?
Different factors affect the decision to count the bathroom as a room; some of these factors are listed here.
Minimum ceiling height
The ceiling height is an essential factor for determining the space as a room, and the minimum ceiling height to meet the standard requirements is 7 feet.
However, some bedrooms do not have 7 feet ceiling height because of any reason, but they will count as a room as long as they are above half of this value.
A bathroom with 7 feet high ceiling doesn’t have to be included in the room count because the bedrooms have many features.
Egress ways
It requires two egress or escape ways for a room to be counted as a room, meaning it must have a door, a window, or an emergency exit to leave or access this place.
The emergency exit door must connect to the exterior room, or the room must have a window big enough to climb through it in any emergency.
These commonly do not have any emergency exits, and the windows are not big enough to pass through them. In addition, there are some standards that a bathroom does not meet and therefore is not counted as a room.
Windows
The windows are necessary to add in a room for ventilation or emergency exit, and the minimum opening for a window in a room is 5.6-5.7 square feet.
For a bedroom to be counted as a room, the window can have a distance of 43-44 inches from the floor, and have a width of 20-21 inches and a total height of 23-24 inches.
You can count a bedroom as a room if all it all these requirements. The bathrooms may have any of the following windows sizes, but the appraisals do not count it as the room.
Size
The room can have at least 70-80 square footage and can be 7 feet in the horizontal direction. A master bedroom in the house may have a larger size and match all the standards.
However, the large bathrooms may have larger sizes but are not counted as rooms because they are not living spaces, and you do not sleep there.
What are the different types of bathrooms?
They are divided into four types, depending on the space, size, and plumbing fixtures installed there.
Full bathroom
It has four main parts, such as a toilet, sink, bathtub, and shower, and the area with any part missing is not considered a full bathroom.
Many house owners have at least one full bathroom to use all the plumbing fixtures in one place.
It adds value to the property, as you have all the necessary fixtures in one place and can decorate this place according to its size.
You can add different size fixtures to accommodate all there, keeping the building regulations in mind. It can cost varyingly to add all these plumbing fixtures in this place because it depends on the material quality, size, and features it contains.
Half bathroom
They do not have a separate bathtub and shower area and have only a toilet and sink. As a result, they are often called guest bathrooms.
The visitors or guests can use them, allowing more privacy to the house owners because the visitors will not enter the bedroom.
They offer less space to install cabinets, vanities, and closets to store medicines and other daily use stuff. However, they provide a better option to utilize this space under the stairs or garage to construct a small toilet room for quick access.
Quarter bathroom
Quarter bathrooms are small spaces utilized to install a toilet or a shower stall. They can cover the extra space in the house and use it as a separate toilet outside the main house.
The plumbers and electricians doing some home renovation projects outside can use this separate toilet area without entering the house.
However, installing a separate shower in a small space can add value to the property and allow the large family members to shower when someone uses the master bathroom.
Three-quarter bathroom
As the name shows, a three-quarter bathroom has three main parts, such as a toilet, sink, and shower/bathtub.
It is slightly smaller than the full one and has a compact space with the toilet and sinks next to the shower area. The shower or bathtub usually covers the area next to the wall or window, and the whole space looks compact and full.
They are more common than full bathrooms because they take less space and are less expensive to construct.
However, many house owners opt for a shower area rather than a half bathtub because the bathtubs with full size are difficult to adjust in this place.
Master bathroom
A master bathroom has a large vanity or two sinks, a toilet area, a separate shower, and a bathtub area with a spacious look.
It is connected to the master bedroom in the house and has a lot of space to accommodate all the plumbing fixtures, chandeliers, different furniture items, and cabinets.
They are expensive to build and add about 20-30% value to the property, as they add a luxurious and attractive look to the overall home interior.
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