It seems like every other day there is a “controversy” over what constitutes a bedroom. The most common subject that gets bantered back and forth is the “requirement” for a closet and how big it must be.
Well, if a bedroom must have a closet then in my market I show houses with no bedrooms and many of them sell for a half a million dollars or more.
And I’m almost certain your market has some of these houses.
Have you guessed what I’m referring to?
Houses in my market built 100 years or so ago often had no closets in their bedrooms. So are they bedrooms? Do we have to say 5 bedroom house, all non-conforming?
Let’s make a deal. The next time someone feels compelled to go down the “closet required” argument, ask them to provide a source. It may be that a local building code requires a closet.
But here is what the IRC (International Residential Code) says:
International Residential Code
SECTION R304 MINIMUM ROOM AREAS
R304.1 Minimum area.
Every dwelling unit shall have at least one habitable room that shall have not less than 120 square feet (11 m2) of gross floor area.
R304.2 Other rooms.
Other habitable rooms shall have a floor area of not less than 70 square feet (6.5 m2).
Exception: Kitchens.
R304.3 Minimum dimensions.
Habitable rooms shall not be less than 7 feet (2134 mm) in any horizontal dimension.
No closet mentioned.
Comments(5)