Found Spaces: Adding a Bathroom

As your family grows, one of the biggest reasons for considering moving or renovating is to gain extra bathrooms for those additional family members. Before you list your home and start on the search for a larger place, consider looking around the property you already have. You may just find the space you need to add a bathroom to your existing property. 

8 Places to Add a Bathroom in Your Home

Whether you need a small powder room for guests or a large spa oasis, there are likely spaces around your home you didn’t initially think of as a prime place to add a bathroom. From a tiny nook under the stairs to a large, unrealized opportunity in an attic or a basement, we’ll show you where you can carve out space to add the bathroom you need.  

1. Under the Stairs

In many homes, the area under the stairs is utilized as a closet or open, non-descript space. That footprint below the stairs is also a prime place to add a small powder room for yourself or guests. Stairs are frequently placed near living areas, making a bathroom in that space incredibly convenient. 

2. In a Basement

Chances are, you have a bathroom on the main level of your home. If you have a basement below that bathroom, you have a prime opportunity to add an extra bathroom. This is even more convenient if you already use that basement as a secondary living area, with a workout, lounge, or entertaining space. There are even toilets specifically designed for use below ground level that just seem to defy gravity.  

3. In the Attic

Just as you can add a bathroom below an existing one, you can also add a bathroom above an existing one. Attics are often unfinished spaces just waiting to be utilized. Because many attics are the same square footage as the floor below them, they are a great opportunity to add a large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. 

4. Deck or Patio

Outdoor living spaces are often used as an extension of the home, but did you know you can close them in and make them a true part of your square footage? An existing deck or patio can be prime real estate for adding a guest bathroom, pool bathroom, or ensuite bathroom for an adjacent bedroom.  

5. Existing Bedroom

When you have too many bedrooms but not enough bathrooms, turning a bedroom into a bathroom, two bathrooms, or even a bathroom and a walk-in closet is a great solution. In many older homes, the tendency was to have many small rooms but not very many bathrooms. Take an unused bedroom, parlor, or other living space and use it to carve out room for a new bathroom.  

6. Closet

Closets provide valuable storage around the home, but often, they can offer just the space you need to add a small powder room or expand on an existing bathroom that’s too small. Closets are often located in close proximity to bathrooms, providing them with convenient access to plumbing. 

7. Converting a Laundry Room

The laundry room is usually located conveniently close to the bedrooms or the primary living area of the home, making it ideal square footage to use when adding a bathroom. If you do convert a laundry room to a bathroom you can incorporate the washer and dryer into the design of the space or relocate the washer and dryer to a garage or basement.  

8. Formal Dining Room

Many homes include both formal and informal dining spaces. If you find that your formal dining room tends to be a place you only use on a few occasions a year, it may just be the space you need to add a powder room the household can use on a daily basis. Because formal dining rooms are typically much bigger than a powder room, consider turning a portion of it into a bathroom and transforming the rest of the space into a first-floor bedroom, a home office, or a large and welcoming foyer. 

How Do You Add a Bathroom to a House?

Once you’ve decided that you need another bathroom in your home, it’s time to determine how you go about it. No matter where you plan to carve out the space, adding a bathroom will be both faster and less expensive if you can choose a location above, below, or beside an existing bathroom because your plumber will be able to work the new pipes in with the old piping. 

Determine Your Needs

The first step in deciding on any addition or renovation is to determine what’s currently lacking in your home and what bathroom addition would best meet your needs. Do you need a secondary toilet so guests have designated spaces to use the restroom? Are you looking to add a bathroom for a child, or are you looking to add or enhance a primary bathroom oasis? Perhaps accessibility has become a concern and you need an ADA compliant bathroom in your home. 

Really thinking about what your household needs are and what results you want after your bathroom addition will help you communicate openly and effectively with your general contractor.  

Consult with a General Contractor

Once you have a rough vision for what you need to make your home work for you, it’s time to talk to a general contractor about completing the project. Make sure to tell the general contractor as much as you can about what you need and about what your vision is for the space. It’s also a great idea to have your general contractor walk the whole home to see if he finds space for the bathroom you may be overlooking. Their experience often brings with it some pretty brilliant remodeling ideas.  

Once you’ve had your initial consultation with a general contractor, they’ll create a full building plan for you and give you a projected budget for the completed build. Keep in mind that the total square footage of the project and the quality of the finishes you choose for your bathroom will affect the final budget. You don’t have to know exactly what items you want to choose at the onset of the project, but communicating a general vision for the space will help that proposed budget be as accurate as possible.  

How Much Does it Cost to Add a Bathroom to Your Home?

When you’re thinking about adding a bathroom to your home, it’s helpful to know roughly how much it will cost you to complete the project. Proximity to existing plumbing, the total square footage of the bathroom, and the finishes you choose are all factors that play into the total costs. 

The High and Low Range of Adding a Bathroom to Your Home

When you’re adding a small powder room to your home, it can cost as little as $5,000 to complete the project, including contractor costs. Of course, the price is only going to increase from there. Letting your contractor know your budget upfront will help them guide you toward finishes you can afford while still providing the finished look you want.  

For a small powder room, expect to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. The primary factors in how much a powder room costs are the proximity of the space to plumbing and the final fixtures and finishes you choose.  

A full bathroom will cost roughly between $10,000 and $25,000. The proximity to plumbing, flooring, and shower tile you choose are going to be among the biggest price influences when it comes to your space.  

If you’re creating a larger primary bathroom, expect prices to start around $25,000 and go up from there according to both total square footage and the fixtures and finishes you decide to put in the space.  

Is Adding a Bathroom Worth the Expense?

The size of the bathroom, the location of the bathroom, and the finishes you choose for inside the bathroom are all factors that contribute to the final cost of adding a bathroom to your home. 

Is the Project Within Budget?

To start, consider how much money you have to dedicate to adding a bathroom to your home. The budget will be smaller for a powder room than it will be for a grand primary bathroom. Consider how much money you have available and compare that amount to the projected budget provided by the general contractor. Can you afford the remodel? 

When you’re looking to make renovations to a home, pulling out a home equity loan to cover the costs is an option, but you’ll want to make sure that the home value increases, as well.  

Will it Add Value to Your Home? 

Sometimes, adding a small powder room won’t do anything to actually increase the value of your home. It may, however, make your home more appealing to home buyers than it would have been otherwise. It can also increase how quickly your home sells when you do put it on the market. It can also completely transform the way you use your home and provide value in that way.  

Usually, adding a full bathroom to your home will increase the home value because it limits how many bedrooms need to share the same bathroom. This can also be true when you either add an on-suite bathroom or expand an existing primary bathroom to make it more luxurious.  

How Will it Affect Daily Life?

Sometimes, the real value of adding a bathroom is how it will change your daily routine, especially if you love your home and want to make it one that you can continue living in for a long time to come. Assessing the value of adding a bathroom really comes down to what problems it will solve in your home.

Do you have children that are fighting over sharing a bathroom and need their own space? Do you have an aging parent moving in with you that needs an accessible bathroom that’s all their own. Maybe you love your home but your primary bathroom just isn’t as large and luxurious as you would like. Sometimes the reasons you’re choosing to add a bathroom to your home make it worth the expense. 

How Much Space Do I Need to Add a Bathroom to My Home?

How much room you need to add a bathroom to your home is completely dependent on what type of bathroom you want to add. A powder room with just a toilet and a sink will require a lot less square footage than a full bathroom or luxurious primary bathroom.  

The Size of a Powder Room

A powder room is a small (usually first-floor) bathroom that has just a toilet and a sink in it. Because it does not contain a shower or bathtub, you only really require 15 to 30 square feet of space to add a powder room to your home.  

The Size of a Full Bathroom

For a full bathroom with a vanity, toilet, and tub or shower, you’ll require roughly 35 to 40 square feet of space. The actual configurations of this square footage can vary based on what space you transform into a bathroom, as many different bathroom layouts are possible.  

The Size of a Primary Bathroom

When it comes to a primary bathroom, they can be as small as 40 square feet and get all the essentials in, but they can often be much larger than that. When it comes to adding a primary bathroom to your home, the more space you have, the more luxurious the final result will be.  

How Long Will It Take to Add a Bathroom to My Home?

Adding a bathroom to your home can be a disruption to your daily routine. So how long will it take from start to finish? How large the bathroom is, how long it takes to source materials, and whether or not you hire professionals to do every aspect of the job will all help determine the total timeline. From start to finish, you can typically expect adding a bathroom to take between one month and two months.  

Some of the biggest factors to that timeline include getting the proper permits, getting the inspections completed, and sourcing all the materials. One way to speed up the process is to make sure that all the finishes and fixtures you choose are ones that are in stock.  

Other Functional Home Additions

Adding a bathroom to your home isn’t the only way to increase the functionality of the space. Once you’ve made the decision to stay in your space and make it the home of your dreams, stop to think about what it would take to create the ideal home. Look around your home, considering what spaces are currently under-used. Next, think about which types of rooms would make the best addition to the home, keeping in mind the specific needs of you and your family. Consider transforming a formal dining room or secondary living space into another bedroom or home office. Finish a basement to create an additional living or recreational area, or transform an attic into a primary bedroom and bathroom. The possibilities are endless.