Chuck finished the bamboo flooring treatment in the master bedroom. What a transformation! We love it. With about $200 in materials, some specialized tools, and Chuck’s design and fabrication expertise it all came together.
Now the whole room is a warm, cozy retreat. I love how the how the wood tones are reflected in the orange and brown wallpaper, along with more accents of orange and blue in the pillows, lamps, upholstery and carpet.
The master bedroom is becoming a spacious retreat, with its own ensuite bath, abundant windows, generous sitting area and dedicated backyard access. You may recall this room was the 265 square foot (25m²) formerly “unpermitted” space that wasn’t legally part of the house. After we closed the deal, we heard from neighborhood folks that other potential buyers were spooked by the illegal space, afraid of the cost to rehabilitate or tear it down.
We gambled and won! We learned that with some inexpensive fixes involving bolts, epoxy, and a building inspector it could be brought up to code and instantly add 27% more legal square footage to our house. We bought a 980 square foot (91m²) house and turned it into 1245 square feet (116m²) with no heavy construction!
Our house is like the “Tardis” from Dr. Who. It’s bigger on the inside!
As part of the transformation, Chuck (my amazing designer husband from C W Quinn Home) decided to add a closet to the back wall. It took just two feet that would have otherwise gone unused. And it’s essential for a real bedroom to have a real closet. I love the custom storage that Chuck designed and built-in himself.
As a reminder, here’s what it looked like before.
Here’s the closet in progress.
And here’s after! We still have to add handles to the doors and wallpaper to the back wall but it’s 95% done.
We now have a working toilet for the first time in a month. It was installed late last week. You have no idea how essential indoor plumbing can be until it’s gone.
And we’ve added a spacious closet to the back bedroom. Although technically it was a bedroom before, few potential buyers would count the space as a real bedroom without a closet. It will only take two feet (0.6m) from a back corner that would otherwise be wasted space. You should always consider resale issues like the number and quality of bedrooms when you’re renovating.
And even on a drizzly, chilly day the view from the kitchen through the new opening is spectacular.
We just added 27% more square feet to our house without any new construction! How? Remember the “unpermitted” space? That was the 12×20 foot (3.6×6m) bedroom, plus a 5×5 foot (1.5×1.5m) bathroom, that a previous owner added on years ago without building permits. Because it was “illegal,” the space didn’t count for selling or valuation purposes. While the house technically had 3 bedrooms, it could only be listed as a 2 bedroom. Well, we just made an honest room out of it. It’s been brought up to code.
Unpermitted space in our floor plan
Without any new construction, we’ve expanded our 980 square foot (91m²) house by 27%. It’s another 265 square feet (24m²), for a total of 1245 square feet (115m²)! Since comparable real estate in the area is selling for well over $300 per square foot, we’ve added at least $80,000 to the house’s value at minimal expense. With its own direct backyard access and ensuite bath, this area has potential as a wonderful master bedroom suite.
And how did we perform this real estate magic trick? With our structural engineer and local building authorities, along with some epoxy and bolts. After an initial inspection, the city said that legalizing the space would require securing the outer walls properly to the foundation with construction-grade bolts and adhesives. However, the work had to be done while a building inspector watched to ensure it met their standards.
And so we set to work. Here’s the original room, smelly carpet and all:
Before: big room, ample windows, nasty carpet
Next step: taking up the carpet (phew!), carpet pad, and five million staples in the plywood subfloor.
This unfinished door project was not our work. Someone years ago removed this door, leaving a giant drywall patch, and never bothered to fill it in properly. We’ll handle it soon.
Next: one of our contractors bolting the wall to the foundation through this hole cut in the subfloor. Soon after this step, the epoxy was injected into the holes, and our room became completely legal!
930 Stratford 