Bedroom - Legal Closet ?


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What's the real requirement for a Bedroom Closet?  How big does it need to be and can it just be a Cabinet or does it have to have enclosing walls?

 

I have a couple of different scenarios:

 

1.  A relatively small Bedroom where I'd like to just install a 36" wide x 84" tall Cabinet (3 Drawers at the Bottom and Double Doors at the top with Hanging Space)

 

2.  A large room (11'x13') off the Master Bedroom (no Door-just a 4' doorway) with the same type of Cabinets along 3 walls.

 

Do either of these result in a Non-Legal Bedroom?

 

 

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I'm not sure it is code

 

but appraiser's might  not consider it a bedroom without a closet

 

not sure what qualifies as a "closet"

 

check the appraiser rules ....

 

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/building-interior-home-inspection-commercial-inspection/4301-closet-myth-not.html

 

http://appraisersforum.com/showthread.php?t=137884

 

Lew

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I've done some checking on the Web and it seems there is no actual code requirement for a Closet.  I'm not sure just where this requirement came from - is it a myth?

I don't think you need to have a closet to call it a bedroom.  The health dept. looks at almost any room as a bedroom when it comes to septic requirements.  Real estate people do their own thing.  Think back a few years,  hutches and chests were more common than closets yet they were still considered bedrooms.

 

A bedroom does not need a closet to be called a bedroom.

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Back many years ago there were FHA Min Property Standards that were required for an FHA/VA loan. That required min. 6' of rod for each bedroom, closets had to be 2' clear for air circulation, no bedroom could be smaller than 9x10-6, etc.

Realtors, appraisers, and mtg underwriters all referred to this standard. 

I know that I am showing my age!

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Back in the early '80's I designed a 78 Unit Townhome project that went after FHA/VA financing because interest rates were approaching 19% for a 30 yr fixed. We had to conform to the design aspects of the FHA Minimum Property Standards to qualify the project. They were all reasonable requirements so it was not difficult. I had a conversation with an appraiser that frequently was onsite for inspections, and end loan arrangements. He shared with me that when appraising an existing home, they were not required to measure the rod length, or turn down a Bedroom that didn't meet the 10 x 9-6 requirement.

 

I'm now in Huntsville, AL where a 10' x 7' room is a Closet.  :)

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In Houston with the Planning Department, if a room such as a library, study, or whatever, has a smaller room within it that is only accessed by that room named (or a similar room "name"), the City of Houston looks at it as a possible future closet and therefore that room could become a bedroom which then needs to meet the requirements of a bedroom such as egress and smoke alarms. When we have these situations like a Study, and the client wants to have a small room in it (closet) to hold a gun safe. We recommend waiting until after all inspections are final and then build it. This has been the case as long as I have been permitting in Houston which is about 12 years. 

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I do all my standard closets 24" deep clear.  That is basically adequate room for a standard shelf and pole and room to hang clothes and still have the a bi-pass door clear the hanging clothes.  I think anything any deeper tends to just be wasted space.

 

Not aware of any codes that require a minimum size.

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haven't seen it as Code anywhere but I have seen it mentioned on TV shows (Flip This) eg about L.A.,Cali., that it can't legally be called a bedroom for Real Estate advertising Purposes and can thus adversely effect the Selling Price.  ie a 4 bed house is worth way more than a 3bed... just cos it has a 2ft wide closet..... nevermind the room is now 9'X9'  :) 

 

M.

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Joe, I've designed here in Canada, Thailand, and Germany and can honestly say closets have never had to be in a bedroom. In all cases I always, at the very least, provided space for cabinets. Currently, there are no requirements under the codes here in BC for a closet to be in a room for it to be used as a bedroom, just standard window/door egress requirements. In Europe, I never included a closet. I did however make sure there was a spot for a client to place a large cabinet on a wall. IKEA was the biggest supplier of these units. For me, it's all about the need for egress, not the need for storage. But I'm willing to be wrong on this.

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Around here if you have more than 4 bedrooms, you must have a 3 car garage, so I'm mostly trying "not to call" out bedrooms, and use other words like Study, Retreat, Bonus etc.

Of course I leave the closet out.

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I did an attic to BR conversion a few months ago with a 6' ht door to a closet in the clipped area of the room and the permit writer wanted the ht of the closet specified.  She said it was not a legal closet if it was not of a certain ht. - never heard that before and I am still not sure if she was correct - I pulled it out, anyway, to get the permit.  Should have kept it low, said well, it's not a bedroom then and not worried about egress, etc, but I tend to try to get egress, anyway - hate to see someone get stuck in a fire.

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What's the real requirement for a Bedroom Closet?  How big does it need to be and can it just be a Cabinet or does it have to have enclosing walls?

 

I have a couple of different scenarios:

 

1.  A relatively small Bedroom where I'd like to just install a 36" wide x 84" tall Cabinet (3 Drawers at the Bottom and Double Doors at the top with Hanging Space)

MIN. SIZE FOR A HABITABLE ROOM i.e. bedroom is 7'-6" min width and 70 sf........  per ubc...... assuming CRC is the same

 

2.  A large room (11'x13') off the Master Bedroom (no Door-just a 4' doorway) with the same type of Cabinets along 3 walls.

IF THERE IS NO DOOR,  THE DOORWAY MUST BE 50% open and then it will not be considered a SEPARATE ROOM

 

Do either of these result in a Non-Legal Bedroom?

Back to the original question,  it depends on whom is making the decision on whether it is a bedroom or not.  Whether it is considered a bedroom will dictate:

 

-Is egress required (building dept.)

-is natural light required (building dept.)

-is ventilation required (building dept.)

-size of septic tank (health dept)

-whether a real estate person can call it a bedroom (real estate board)

-number of garage spaces (planning dept.)

-number  of  parking spaces for apartment projects  (planning dept.)

-are smoke alarms required (fire dept.)

-FHA loan requirements (FHA dept.)

-property taxes (per Lew,  did not think of this one)

 

WOW,  what an education, thanks guys.

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Scott:

 

good summary

 

you missed the taxing assessor

 

taxes can be higher for more bedrooms

 

I converted my one-car garage to office with full bath

 

I added a 15' x 21' addition as a "family" room

 

neither have doors, only doorways and thus don't qualify as bedrooms

yet, with a few hours of labor they could have doors

 

thus, if I ever sell my appraised 2-bed

I can list it as a 4-bed :)

 

yes, both rooms have decent sized closets....

and proper egress windows etc

 

Lew

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