Can a room be considered a bedroom if it does not have a window? I had a real estate agent ask me this question recently, and here is my response.
Question: We are selling a 3BR home, the third bedroom does not have a window. I am pretty sure code says that all bedrooms should have windows. Can we accept FHA financing? Can we call the third bedroom a den?
Answer: If the “bedroom” does not have a window, it cannot be considered a bedroom. Well, technically a bedroom should have at least two methods of egress, which means in addition to the interior door it must have either a properly-sized window or a second door to the exterior. According to the International Residential Code, a bedroom window can be no more than 44 inches from the floor, it needs at least 5.7 square feet for the opening, and it must measure no less than 24 inches high and 20 inches wide. If a room does not have a window (and no second door), it’s not a bedroom and is best considered something else. Financing shouldn’t be an issue since this is not a bedroom. The real issue is marketability. Will buyers pay less for this set-up compared to a traditional 3-bedroom unit that has windows in each bedroom? That’s the real question. It’s probably best to call this third area whatever the market would call it – maybe a den or potential bedroom, etc…
Any further thoughts or insight? I’d love to hear your take.
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What are your thoughts on a “bedroom” with a doorway but not a door? It isn’t even framed for a door. I have buyers currently in contract for a house marketed as a 3-bedroom but tax records (and common sense) claim it is a 2-bedroom.
Thanks for the comment, Corey. Does this “bedroom” have a secondary egress in the form of either a properly-sized window or a door to the exterior? If not, it won’t be considered a bedroom whether there is a door installed or not. If someone was sleeping in a room like this and there was a fire, the person could become trapped. If the room is basically prepped to become a bedroom once a door is framed, then I can understand how it is marketed (though the room obviously isn’t on par with a normal bedroom yet). If I were approaching this situation as an appraiser I would need to consider how the market would respond to something like this and maybe a cost-to-cure to frame the door. Does it have a closet too? A closet is not required to be considered a bedroom because there is no uniform standard that states there must be a closet, but obviously closets are normative. Most buyers probably want one. I’m curious about that.
There is a standard window, and the closet is negligible.
A full size closet door, but really more of a cubby hole than a closet (wedged in under the stairs). Maybe 3’x2′ and about 3 feet deep.
The seller was wondering why it was on the market so long ; )~
Sounds like it had some trouble being marketed. I’m glad for your client that there is at least a window. 🙂 Congrats on getting them into contract. I saw a “bedroom” recently that was actually too small to be considered a bedroom. Bedrooms should have at least 70 sq ft, and this one was not even that big. A twin bed barely fit in there.
You’ve already answered the technical questions. Indeed, it cannot be considered a bedroom without a second mean of egress, so that window must meet the code minimums, as you stated. (Ryan, you are so thorough in your research!)
The question is more about marketability, and in my mind, that means tempering expectations. Certainly a 3-bedroom house has broader appeal to most buyers than a 2-bedroom house, but since that space isn’t REALLY a bedroom anyway, I think it would turn off someone who legitimately NEEDS a third bedroom. If people bought properties sight unseen, a clever listing might dupe someone, but it would have been unethical anyway.
On the other hand, a prospective buyer who only needs 2 bedrooms might appreciate a “bonus room” or “den.” Plenty of people can see value in a little office nook or play area, even if they don’t need an extra bedroom. I think it’s much better to market it as a “bonus,” not an apologetic quasi-bedroom.
Thanks so much Shannan. I agree with you that it would turn someone off that needed a full three beds unless it was fairly easy to convert the room to a 2-bed. I like your idea of a “Bonus” room label. It seems like “Bonus” or “Den” is probably best fitting because it steers clear of saying “bedroom”. In practical terms I think a house like this would likely be listed as “2-3 bedrooms” in MLS so the property will show up in search results for both 2 and 3 bedrooms. When a property is only listed as 2 bedrooms, it will immediately be avoided by many buyers. If it is listed as “2-3”, it tells the initiated reader in MLS that something is different about the “third” room – that it is not typical for some reason. The difference can always be explained in detail in the property description. If it’s not explained and simply marketed as three bedrooms, that’s probably not best.
I get asked this question a lot too Ryan. I’ve been asked if this rule is in “writing” somewhere but I was not sure what to tell them. Do you know if there is a place to reference this rule?
Tom, it’s in the International Residential Code book section 310.1 (2012 version). It is on page 58-59. Here is a direct link: https://archive.org/stream/gov.law.icc.irc.2012/icc.irc.2012#page/n87/mode/2up
Thanks so much Ryan.
Thanks for the above helpful comments. However, I need additional clarification as to the second egress.
If the room meets all the specifications of size, height, closet but the second egress (that also meet the specifications with slated opening above the window for continuous venting) opens to the same living area as the door; i.e., the door and the window are located in the same wall of the room.
Is this considered a third bedroom?
Hi Anthony. It sounds like you have an interesting situation. It’s always hard to answer without seeing the exact layout in person, but it sounds like there is no real second egress to the exterior, which is the key for safety. If I encountered this I would not consider it a bedroom, but probably count it as a den. You may wish to reach out to your local county or city code department to ask them a general question about whether this would be acceptable or not (without giving them your address so there are no red flags raised just in case).
can a room be classed as a bedroom if the door doesn’t open onto a hallway. For example is a small room off a bedroom?
Hi Donna. Thanks for the question. A bedroom needs to open up to the hallway as well as the exterior (by door or window of adequate size). It is not really a bedroom if it does not meet this criteria. Now whether someone uses it as a bedroom may be a totally different story.
My family renovated our basement 15 years ago into a nice semi-separate living situation that we are now trying to minimally renovate so that we can rent it as a second dwelling.
When you walk down the stairs (therefore it is technically still connected to the upstairs main living area), there is a hallway that attaches to a bedroom and a separate bathroom. Then the hallway ends with a door that opens to a family room.The main question I have pertains to the second “bedroom”.
When you walk through the family room, at the other end is door that leads to a bedroom. It currently has a window to code. However, there is a door that opens up to the remaining basement where there is a gas furnace and water heater. We are thinking of sealing off a small area next to the door to make a small “walk-in” closet for the room.
My question is, if we seal off the room from the furnace in the creation of a closet, presumably with sheet rock and some framing, will this room then be called a bedroom? My mother seems to think that it still couldn’t be called a bedroom since you have to walk through a living room to get to it, rather than walking through a hallway. Plus, there’s the added complication of the room being right next to gas-burning appliances. Note that we have a CO monitor/alarm in the room currently.
Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. We would love to be able to market the room as a second bedroom, however, we also want to make sure we are doing it legally and more importantly, safely.
Hi Kate. Thank you for the detailed comment. It’s difficult to visualize everything you are talking about because I don’t know the layout of your house. You have described it, but I’m not sure the visual in my brain is the same as it actually is. You are welcome to email a layout if you wish so I can maybe answer more definitively. Or maybe take a video on YouTube, set the link to private, and then share it via email if you wish. With that being said, to qualify as a bedroom it needs to have two methods of egress to the house and outside of the house, an adequate size, and adequate ceiling height. I actually have a post that helps define what a bedroom is, and there are many interesting comments too in case that helps: https://sacramentoappraisalblog.com/2014/09/09/the-4-requirements-for-a-room-to-be-considered-a-bedroom/ In this case it sounds like you have a window, which is great. Hopefully it is an adequate size of at least 5.7 square feet for the opening (basic code). I think part of me would want to be sure everything is okay with having access to the furnace nearby. I am not concerned there is a furnace nearby because that happens all the time in construction, yet I would recommend you are sure the room meets local code and safety elements in that regard. Some say a bedroom must open up to a hallway, so most of the time I do not consider something a bedroom if you have to walk through another area to get there. For instance, I appraised a house recently that was marketed as a “3 bedroom”, but when I got there I discovered the back bedroom was an addition that could only be accessed from the bedroom in front of it. While this rear “bedroom” technically met the requirements to be a bedroom, it was not connected to the hallway, so it was not considered a bedroom. I suppose some might still call it a third bedroom (but with functional obsolescence), but I did not make that call. However, in your situation it is a bit different since one has to walk through a Family Room instead. I am less concerned if one has to walk through a Family Room to a bedroom since people don’t sleep in a Family Room typically. This sounds like an odd layout, and ultimately I’d defer to your local code and the market whether it is a bedroom or not, but it sounds like it has potential to be considered a bedroom (take that with a grain of salt).
We have a room that is of adequate size to be a bedroom, opens into a Family Room with a door, but needs to have a window. We are thinking about changing some walls around so that this room will have a long closet and put a window in the end of the closet and leads to the outside of our house. Will the odd location of the window keep this room from being considered a bedroom?
Hi Ann. Will the window actually be inside the closet? If so, that doesn’t sound normal. I have never seen that done. I’m guessing that’s not to code, but you’d have to check with your local code to be sure. If I found a window in a closet in my area I don’t think I would count it as adequate. I would maybe put a call in to the city or county too, but after seeing thousands of homes I have never seen that.
Thanks for replying, Ryan. I admit, having a window in a closet is weird. I took your advice and called the Building Inspection office and they said they “thought” it would be okay, but I do feel a bit unsure what would happen once ‘boots are on the ground.’ We’ll probably shy away from this idea. Thanks!
Ann
Thanks Ann. I appreciate the follow-up. Best wishes with whatever you decide.
If I have a small room off the master bedroom, such as might be used for a nursery (which is my intention), that has a door to the living room as well as a door into the master bedroom (which also opens into the living room), would this be considered a “bedroom”?
Hi Joe. Thanks for reaching out. It’s hard to visualize exactly what you are talking about. This area would need to have an opening to the exterior of the house also (either with a window of adequate size or a door). If it has a window or door, it might be considered a bedroom (but it definitely would be odd to have a door to the master though too).
Ryan,
Thanks for the quick response. I’m attaching a picture to show you what I mean, http://imgur.com/a/osuiZ. It is the room labeled “???.” I think you’re probably correct in saying that it isn’t, technically, a “bedroom.” However, I was wondering if you would know what to call this room exactly? Thanks again.
Hi Joe. Thanks for the image. Since the room has no egress to the outside, we are right to say it’s not a bedroom. What is it? Honestly, we could probably call it about anything. I could see something like this being referred to as an office, den, study, extra large walk-in-closet for the master, man cave, she-cave, etc… I think this is one of those multi-purpose areas that will probably be defined differently based on who a target renter or buyer might be. I wonder what locals in your area would call something like this. For instance, if you are in a college town and this would be rented to a professor, it would likely be a study or office. I would just be cautious at calling it a bedroom because it doesn’t seem to fit the bill.
I have a question about a window in a bedroom.
The condo I just bought doesn’t have a window in the bedroom. The only way out is through the front door or patio door encase of a fire. The bed room is on the other side of the home from these two exits. I want to ask if I can put in a window but with out the right information / regulations or fire codes. I’m afraid they will say no. I need proof that without a window its a hazard. Plse help me find a way to install a window.
Hi Julie. Thanks so much. I guess my first question would be whether all other units in the development are like this. If your unit is the sole one without a window, that would seem to be better for you. I might recommend you look up local code and/or call your local building department. Ask them if a secondary egress is required and ask them if they have something in writing. The thing is your unit may have been built before code, so it may be considered legal nonconforming technically. I think I would take the information you get from the building department and then start talking with the HOA board (or maybe put out feelers with one HOA board member first).
Our master bedroom has no windows but a door going into a sunroom and a second door going into the hallway. We are thinking of taking away from the sunroom to build a walk in closet. Meaning that the door to the sunroom will now be a door to a walk in closet. Will this pass inspection or be a fire hazard? Technically speaking, the master bedroom door to the sunroom door doesn’t exit directly to the outside.
Hi Dee. Thank you for reaching out. I can’t really comment on whether this will pass a code inspection or be a fire hazard. I can say it doesn’t sound like a traditional bedroom though and I would think there is the possibility you might not be meeting the traditional definition of a bedroom for your area. Before doing anything you might consider a quick phone call to the city or county (probably without giving them your property address (just ask a general question)). From an appraisal standpoint I would be concerned if there was no egress from a room that is supposed to be a bedroom, and I would mention that in my report. Pushing the definition of a bedroom aside though, you might consider safety. If you converted this room and there was a fire in the hallway, would you be trapped? That’s an important question to ask.
I thought that a bedroom needed a window for light and ventilation even if the room has two other points of egress (two doors). Also do both doors have to be 36″ wide (provide an opening of at least 32″?
Hi Fred. Thanks for your comment. Sorry for the slight delay too as I was out of town. Anyway, code is likely going to vary from place to place in terms of how much light is needed, so it’s hard to speak to that definitively. I’m guessing IRC speaks to that as well as door width, though I don’t know exactly what they say in terms of minimum requirements. As an appraiser if I encountered a door that looked like it was not adequate for egress, that would trigger me looking deeper into code. It is uncommon for a bedroom to only have a door instead of a window, but it could still be acceptable to be labeled as a bedroom in the eyes of an appraiser. I will say doors are typically not as wide as 36″ unless a home has been modified for a wheelchair. Many doors are not even 32″ either. This is where I would recommend for anyone to look up local code for a city / county in order to find a specific answer.
I am looking at a 3 bedroom to purchase but I have a question about 2 of the bedrooms. The house was built with an atrium in the middle of the home. They turned it into an enclosed den. The two bedrooms in question only have one window each that looks into the den. Obviously the windows used to open into the atrium. These two bedrooms have no opening to the outside. Are they considered bedrooms? The den is opened into the living room with no door. There used to be a slider into the living room.
What an interesting scenario Cathy. I’m guessing this is maybe a Mid-Century Modern house? In that case I’d say if it was built that way, it would likely technically meet code because it’s grandfathered in. In a normal ranch house it’s not common to see a setup like this, but sometimes different types of architecture have things like this. Yet the modifications made to the atrium could be a bit of an issue because there is now no opening at all to the exterior of the house. In my mind these aren’t adequate as bedrooms. Though on one hand it’s hard to think there was a real exit anyway in light of the original construction (unless you could exit to the exterior from the atrium). In this case it’s possible the market might call these bedrooms still. What I mean is people could walk in and they wouldn’t think there is only one bedroom in the house. But on a practical level I’m concerned about this situation. It’s hard to say anything more definitive without seeing it.
If it was still an atrium you would have to go up through the slats on a ladder to get out. Much like a two story you would have to go down a ladder. Now it has an enclosed roof so that is not possible.
The reason I am questioning this is because it has gone pending 4 times since July 3rd and always fallen out 5 days or later. No one will tell us why. Could it be no lender will lend as a 3 bedroom and will only lend as a 1 bedroom?
We really like this house but think it is just not worth it.
Hi Cathy. It’s hard to say why it’s falling out of contract, but this is obviously an issue. I would think any appraiser who goes to the property is going to have to figure this out. If these rooms really don’t have an exit, that’s a big deal, and I imagine some lenders wouldn’t be okay with it. Keep in mind when a house has issues like this the issues will follow every transaction in the future. So right now it is a hurdle for you potentially, but you may face the same thing with every future refinance or sale. I think that’s worth considering as you think through this property. I wish you the best.
I plan to build a sunroom which is attached to my family room. But it will make the window of one bedroom connected to the sunroom instead of open to exterior. The bedroom has the only one window and the door is connected to indoor hallway. In this case is this bedroom still considered as bedroom?
Hi Jeff. That’s tricky. On one hand I’d say the market could look at it and think it’s a bedroom, but on the other hand there may be a code violation in order. In my area this would violate code and I know at least one city that made a resident rip out a non-permitted enclosed patio addition like this. On the other hand I’ve seen homes sell with set-ups like this, so it’s not like the market no longer looks at the room and says “it’s not a bedroom.” I’d guess people are still going to use it. Have you maximized safety? Have you violated code? Those are some of the bigger questions in my mind. On a practical note I could see opinions on whether this is a bedroom being split. I imagine some appraisers would say YES and some appraisers would say NO. There is a hint of ambiguity here to a certain extent.
Love this dialogue and have a question. We will be selling our 3-bedroom home but the third bedroom does not have a window because we added on behind the room and made the wall solid. We are prepared for an appraisal to count this as a den, but if the home is listed as a bedroom in the MLS, will the bedroom situation become a loan CONDITION (Conventional loan buyer)? Again, we understand there may be an impact on value… we just don’t want a loan condition that cannot be satisfied. Thank you!
Hi Erica. Thanks for reaching out. The appraiser is going to have to make the determination what a certain room is and isn’t. It’s hard to visualize the room exactly. To me it sounds like you added on to the rear of the house and now the original third bedroom egress is blocked. If this is the case I think you’re wise to consider the appraiser is likely going to call this a den or something like that. I would be surprised if this was a loan funding issue though unless all inspectors involved flagged this as a safety issue. So if for some reason this raises the issue of safety, then it could be an issue. But otherwise I see houses like this go through all the time. I wonder if you got permits on the addition though. Did the county or city allow you to add on like this? That’s always my first question when seeing a set-up as such. It simply raising more questions.
If I’m not understanding your words correctly, let me know. It’s not always easy to conceptualize a layout based on one comment. So you are welcome to clarify if I’m not getting it.
Thank you. You are correct that we added to the rear of the house thereby removing the egress in BR 3 (window was removed and replaced with a solid wall because the room now backs to a den). All permits were obtained (County records reflect the new square footage and still consider the home to be 3-BR home) and all of the work is structurally sound and safe. We’ve always known that it might not appeal to some buyers to not have a window in that “bedroom” but we just have concern that if it is in the MLS that an appraiser will say that the home is worth $XX subject to Bedroom 3 having an egress. This is obviously a condition we cannot satisfy so we don’t want to blow up the deal. Hopefully we are overthinking it, and the appraisal may just reflect it being a 2 BR + Den home?? Thank you!
Keep in mind if this was permitted and it’s okay in the eyes of the city / county, then it doesn’t seem prudent for an appraiser to come in and wave the wand of there being a safety issue. If the local government has signed off and it truly is legit, who am I to argue with that? My expertise is in value and not code anyway. With that being said, an appraiser ought to rightly not label this room as a bedroom in my opinion because of the egress issue. But to call this a safety issue or say the addition needs to be removed sounds absurd. That’s my take anyway with all the information I have above. I honestly wouldn’t worry about a condition from the lender. I do recommend you have signed-off permits to show the appraiser too as that can help.
For what it’s worth, here’s a post I wrote about a house that was technically two bedrooms (but almost three). It’s not the same situation, but there might be some takeaways in terms of value. https://sacramentoappraisalblog.com/2016/03/07/why-did-the-appraiser-say-it-was-only-two-bedrooms-it-should-be-three/
Best wishes.
Thanks again, Ryan. This is exactly the feedback/info I was looking for.
I enjoyed the post about the bedroom/den that you linked. Good stuff!
So glad to hear that. Best wishes Erica.
Hi I had a question, if the window in the room is located in the hallway, instead of outside, will that still be considered a room?
Hi Mahoginy. The key here is there needs to be an adequate egress to the exterior of the house. That can be found with a window or door of adequate size. It would likely be uncommon to see a window on the interior wall, but that wouldn’t disqualify it from being a bedroom if there was also adequate egress to the exterior too. But in all things, I would defer to your local code as the definitive source. That’s my take.
Does this room at the top of the stairs count as a bedroom? You have to walk through it to get to the real bedroom (blue room) and there is no door….
https://www.royallepage.ca/en/property/ontario/welland/127-dover-road/10641621/mls30771181/
I think it is not… but I’d like an opinion.
It’s really hard to say here without seeing the property. It almost looks like this was maybe built as an office or loft. Typically when you have to walk through one room to get to another, they’re not both considered bedrooms. Sorry I cannot be more definitive here without seeing it. I know in my market when something is almost a bedroom we typically see it marketed as “2-3 bedrooms”. Here’s an example of a room that was once labeled as a bedroom though and I didn’t consider it one because you had to walk through a middle bedroom to get there…. https://sacramentoappraisalblog.com/2016/03/07/why-did-the-appraiser-say-it-was-only-two-bedrooms-it-should-be-three/
Can a room be considered a bedroom if it has no windows but has 2 doorways, neither connected to outside? a 2 car garage partially converted into a room. 30% of the garage was kept as storage space. The sectional garage door is intact and functioning. Doorway 1 is connected to hallway of main house. Doorway 2 is connected to “garage.”
Hi Lyn. Thanks for the question. This is a bit hard to visualize as there are lots of moving parts, but the tell for me that this is not a bedroom is there is no egress to the exterior by a window of adequate size or a door. A bedroom must have egress, so if this space doesn’t have that, I would not count it as a bedroom.
We have a basement “bedroom” with large closet. The room has 3 doors..1 goes to the game room which has easy access to the back door, 2nd goes to the utility room which has an exit to the outdoors and the 3rd goes to the garage with an exit to the outdoors. No windows. Are these doors sufficient for classification as a bedroom. Thanks
Hi Kay. It’s not always easy to visualize, but based on what you are saying there is not a direct egress to the exterior, so this doesn’t sound like a bedroom. If there are no windows either one would wonder if it meets requirements for light as there are usually code requirements for a certain amount of light.
Hi, Thank you for such a informative thread. I have a situation of a home with a finished basement. It was built in 1973. The basement was finished when my homeowner bought it as a four-bedroom. She bought it in 1995. She then converted the two basement bedrooms into one large bedroom. It has a closet and meets the square footage requirements of being a room. However the window is only 1 foot by 3 foot and it’s located inside the closet? It also exits underneath the porch which is approximately 6 feet high. They have used this room as a bedroom for many years and she has been taxed for a 3-bedroom 3-bath home. So now she’s listing it on the market and I am trying to decide whether to Market it as a three bedroom three bath or a two bedroom with bonus room.. can I use verbage in the listing that states it as 2-3 and describe that it has a very large bonus room currently being used as a bedroom downstairs? I guess I’m just trying to find the perfect verbage for the situation… Thank you for any insite you can give.
Hi Christy. It’s always important to be as clear as possible. I find in many cases I see agents do something like, “2-3” bedrooms or “3 bedrooms” with a notation very clearly in the property description that the basement is included. What is the correct way to market the property? I would defer to a real estate broker on that. I just know absolute clarity is the key. As an owner I would personally prefer saying three bedrooms and including an asterisk to explain what that means. But that’s just me.
A masterbedroom with no window, but has a exit sliding door to patio that is now enclosed with a window inside could that be considered as 2 bedrooms?
Hi Fay. It’s always hard to say with precision since I have not seen the layout in person, but from what you are describing it sounds like there was an addition of an enclosed patio off a bedroom. Keep in mind a bedroom does not need a window as a door of adequate size ought to suffice. In this case the sliding door should be fine. I wonder if there was simply an addition here? As an appraiser I would not look at this as two bedrooms. It sounds like one bedroom with an enclosed area that was likely added. Of course part of me wonders if this area was added with a permit too… Hope that helps. Take care.
Hi – I just bought a house with a large family room with an attached bath. The bathroom has a door to the exterior of the house. I am thinking of adding a wall with a door, to split the family room into 2 areas – a bedroom with the attached bath & a smaller open area . Is it considered a bedroom if the exterior egress is via a door in the attached bath? There are also narrow long windows that open to the exterior of the house
Hi there. My understanding has always been that there needs to be direct egress from a bedroom to the exterior (not via a bathroom or different room). If I am incorrect someone can chime in to speak truth, but that’s the way I’ve always understood it.
Thank you – is there a restriction on the size of the window – I have seen 2 ft somewhere – is that right?
There are minimum requirements for windows for a bedroom. Here is a different post I wrote where I reference IRC code to say the opening needs to be 5.7 sq ft. https://sacramentoappraisalblog.com/2014/09/09/the-4-requirements-for-a-room-to-be-considered-a-bedroom/ I would definitely look to your local code for the definitive answer. Keep in mind some bedrooms may have smaller windows if they were built years ago, so if past code changed, these windows are now basically legal nonconforming in a sense.
I am looking at a house where it had a 2 car garage under. They turned one of the bays into a room. Now it fails Title 5 (septic) in Massachusetts because it was 3 bedroom now they are listing it as 4 bedroom. Who determines if that is a bedroom or not? The homeowner? The city inspector? Can it be reclassified?
Hi Patrick. I don’t know unfortunately. I would think the city / county has significant sway here though if this property is now failing septic. In real estate there is always the way buyers and real estate professionals might see something and then local government. If this conversion is not directly accessible to the main house though, as the owner I would try to make the argument it is not a part of the living area. That may or may not matter to local government, but that would be my first line of arguing. Can it be reclassified? I would ask the city this question.
Thanks for the reply. I was going to go through the classifications that you mentioned. 70sqrft, 7ft ceiling. It would appear to me that the seller, maybe under the advice of a realtor, decided 4 bedrooms looks better than 3. Now they put themselves into a pickle.
That could be the case. One thing I didn’t mention though in this post is living space is all under one roof and directly accessible. Thus if this extra “bedroom” is not directly accessible to the main house because it’s just a converted garage bay that is essentially detached from the rest of the living space, then it really doesn’t get lumped into the bedroom count from the appraisal perspective. However, does the county or city lump it in? That’s the real question and the answer could be different from the appraiser. I think I wonder about permits here too.
all of this code stuff seem to be non sense. If there’s a condo that has a bedroom without a window what I’ve read, it’s not considered a bedroom. It does not have the second egres but how could this be? What about 2,3,4,5,15 and so on story condos even with windows. How does this make sense.
Hi Jack. You’re right these rules aren’t going to apply to tall buildings. This is where we would defer to local code. I suspect on some level code could require egress in the form of a fire escape in some situations. This is exactly where I would look to local code as the trump card.
What if the room has an entrance door and another door that connects to a bathroom? No windows. It has a closet. Is this room a “Bedroom?” Does the bathroom require a 20X27 window?
Hi Bill. It’s definitely odd to not have a window and it makes me wonder why there is no window. Was this a conversion? Or was a bathroom added that now covers the original window? I would defer to local code here for certain when it comes to the bathroom, but these are my initial questions. I find bathrooms don’t always have the same window size compared to bedrooms, so my main concern here is the bedroom. If I inspected a property like this as an appraiser I would want to get to the bottom of why it is like this as it’s not customary.
Thanks for your reply. You picked up on the oddities, sight unseen and not being made aware of the “Building Standards” for this zero lot line golf community. You are good.
One “side” of the houses protect privacy by not allowing windows. So, windows are front, back and one side. One bedroom is kinda “land locked” with no access to the side, for a window. Hence, “Bedroom” status is challenged. However, the room has two doors. One from a hallway and the other to a bathroom that already has a window to the rear of the house. If the window is brought to egress size compliance, will this satisfy “Bedroom” requirements. Sorry, I have no floor plan to offer.
Thanks Bill. It’s hard to speak to this without really seeing the house, but I will say it’s important from the appraisal perspective at least to weigh how the market views this setup. In other words, if all the other homes have this feature and they are all listed as bedrooms during sales and buyers undeniably consider these bedrooms, it becomes hard to argue with that. I can seem some colleagues splitting hairs over formal definitions in light of a lack of a window (and that’s also hard to argue with), but it’s important to ask how the market views this too. I know that sounds very subjective, but there is something to this that we ought not ignore. This is definitely odd though and I suspect in my area at least the oddity would be disclosed in MLS clearly. On that note there could be some level of gray when we consider how appraisers, real estate agents, lenders, and buyers might look at spaces like this.
The house was recently sold, with this no window room, as a “bedroom.” The house is a vacation rental. The new rental agency requires “bedrooms” advertised meet local code requirements. A window was about to be added to the room when the HOA Architectural Committee wouldn’t allow a window on that side of the house. This restriction is decades old and met by another 25 houses. No two houses are alike but none have windows on the one similar side. The fire inspector wants a window. Apparently, he will be fine if the bathroom window meets egress size code.
So….. can this room be declared a bedroom, even though the only window is in the bathroom?
Hmm, that’s a sticky situation. I wish I could give you a definitive answer here. I would be concerned about calling this a bedroom in light of this not meeting code and the fire marshal wanting a window. That’s compelling information. On a practical note and from a valuation perspective this may not be an issue because it’s possible the market considers these rooms as bedrooms. I suppose you could look at all the previous listings and see how these properties were advertised and decipher whether buyers paid a similar amount for these units compared to others with no issue. But that’s not really your aim here. Based on what you just mentioned it sounds like a liability to call this a bedroom. I won’t say with certainty what it is and what it isn’t, but if local code and authorities are not willing to call this a bedroom, that is the trump card for me.
Hi – I wanted to get windows of size : 47.5-in x 35.5-in. (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milgard-Style-Line-Left-Operable-Vinyl-New-Construction-White-Exterior-Sliding-Window-Rough-Opening-48-in-x-36-in-Actual-47-5-in-x-35-5-in/50017590 ) – Looks like this meets egress requirements right? But it says, it does not in the link above. Wondering why that would be?
Hi Sree. Thanks for reaching out. You know, I would defer to a local contractor and your local code for the definitive word here. I wish I could speak definitively to this, but I think it would be best to defer to someone who is installing the window who could definitively let you know if it meets code or not.
Hi – Is the 5.7 sq ft requirement different for first floors (where it is only 5 sq ft?) . I see this in the IRC: “Exception: Grade floor openings or below-grade openings shall have a net clear opening area of not less than 5 square feet (0.465 m2).”
Hi Sara. I really appreciate the question, but unfortunately I don’t know the answer. I would defer to local code and/or a licensed contractor who knows his/her stuff.
I have a question as we r building our house and we want to place a door size glass window instead of door to the sunroom or duct area,my question is, if we have a door of 30″ to the bathroom on the same wall what should be the size of the glass window? Can it b 36″ wide or should b of same as bathroom door?
Hi Syeda. Thanks for the comment. You know, I would defer to a contractor on this issue. A contractor should be connected with local code. If you are building with permits too, that should be a safeguard to help you install the correct sizes. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.