help a newbie remodel a 2nd level

[abledsoe]

Looking for help with a remodel of a 2nd level. This is our first house we purchased a year ago and this was the big project we had in mind all along. Its a cape cod style house and the previous owners had it setup as 2 bedrooms for the kiddos with a small bath in the middle (the sink is actually outside of the bathroom in one of the bedrooms). There is a large window at each end of the level and a small window in the dormer. It currently has 2 very tiny closets.
We want to have one large bedroom with a larger bath and a walk-in closet. I want to do a lot of the work myself and am trying to not move the plumbing (at least not the toilet) to save money. Ive attached the old layout along with 2 new layouts ive come up with. Sorry I dont have all the measurements with me right now. #1 actually creates a slightly bigger bedroom but smaller closet. #2 has a much bigger closet but puts 1 large window and the dormer window in the closet. Both layouts would have me putting a skylight in the bathroom as there is currently no widow.
Looking for ideas, thoughts, tips etc. These are obviously pretty rough sketches but its all I have right now.
Also if anybody has any rough idea of what I can expect to spend. I know it would be ballpark but if it could at least give me an idea. Thanks again!

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[glennjanie]

Hello ABledsoe:
I like #2 better because of the larger bedroom. However, I think I would leave out the right wall of the bath and have a Walk-In Closet/Dressing and Make-Up room. The large window could be covered with shutters or the new wood blinds. You could use the dormer as a dedicated shoe storage area with racks from floor to ceiling.
You might also close off the steamy, odorifious part with a Vent fan.
Glenn

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Abledsoe:

I'm looking at your "Current Layout" drawing. Do your bathroom water supply and drain pipes come up to the second floor through an exterior wall? If so, that's verbotten where I live cuz of the possibility of the pipes freezing. I'm guessing it's not a problem in Kentucky cuz it doesn't get cold enough for long enough for that to happen.

If it wuz me, I would have a bathroom consisting of two separate rooms with a lockable door between them, and a door to each room. One room would have a toilet with sink and the other would have a shower/tub with sink. You need a sink in the toilet room to wash your hands. You need a sink in the tub/shower room to shave before showering. That way if someone wants to use the toilet, they can even if someone else is in the shower and vice versa. You still need access to the shower from the toilet and vice versa, which is provided by the lockable door, but keeping the toilet and tub/shower in separate rooms allows both fixtures to be used simultaneously and minimizes toilet tank sweating. That also means you need a ceiling fan in both rooms.

If you find yourself running any new piping, run 3/4 inch copper hot and cold water supply pipes instead of 1/2 inch. That's cuz, provided there's no bottle neck upstream, a 3/4 inch pipe can supply full flow to two 1/2 inch pipes, so you can flush the toilet without having an appreciable change in the shower temperature. And, I'd try to get those pipes out of the exterior wall if possible.

If you have time, maybe go shopping for an expensive recreational vehicle or yacht. The space inside those things has to be designed for optimal utility because of the very limited amount of it. Then see if you can work any of those ideas into your floor plan to give you more room with the same optimal utility.

 

[DaveyDIY]

How many bedrooms does the house have?
Total sq ft?
Basement?

If it is only a 2 bedroom house & you get rid of one you will probably decrease the resale value of your house. If you already have 4 bedrooms then getting rid of one isn't an issue

 

[abledsoe]

Nestor:

If you are looking at the drawing there is actually attic space behind both the "top" and "bottom" walls so the pipes are actually in an interior wall on the main floor and come out in the attic space on the second floor and through the "top" wall in the drawing. If I basically leave the toilet and tub/shower where they are there isn't room between the two for a wall. I really dont want the hassle of moving the toilet, the shower may not be that bad. But I do like the idea of having the toilet in a closeable room. Good idea on looking at RVs and Boats, hadn't thought of that.

Davey:
The house currently has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. I actually just had an appraiser out last week as we are trying to refi and take advantage of the lower rates. She said she would recommend losing the 4th room in favor of a master suite. I was concerned about that too. There is a basement in the house and am thinking about adding a half bath down there too. The house as is, without counting the finished basement is a little over 1500sq ft.

Another concern I was having is Im thinking about not having a tub at all in the new bathroom, there is still one in the bath on the main level. There is not enough room for any kind of jacuzzi tub anyway, and I feel like I could make a much nicer fully tiled oversized shower stall if I weren't trying to fit in a tub. There is not room for a seperate tub and shower either.
Is that a horrible idea?

Thanks again!

 

[DaveyDIY]

That makes sense, a Master bedroom will add to value
I'd say put the bedroom to the far right
You don't want to walk up the stairs right into the bedroom
Plus with 2 windows on that side its better

You also want the bedroom as open as possible
It will look bigger
Hard to tell, need measurements

Is the exisiting wall load bearing?
Window is easier then a skylight
But I like skylights - especially venting

Our new Master suite on the 2nd floor has a venting skylight in each bathroom:
1st (exisiting) Toilet, sink & shower
New: 3x5 steam shower & a 6' vanity - 1 sink
Plus a large walk-in closet

 

[abledsoe]

We cant add any windows unless we build another dormer. The long side walls are actually only half walls, or about 5' tall and there is attaic space on the outside of each. Each end of the level is the only full height wall and they both have large windows already.

My drawings werent very accurate, when you get to the top of the stairs there is actually only about 2'-3' until you hit the back wall so there would be enough room to extend the closet the rest of the way down from the bath.