Hi John,

I have been trying to figure whether there's a relatively simple way to add a second bedroom to the first floor of your 20' wide 1 1/2 story cottage.   I was wondering if you would mind giving a gut reaction to the approach in the attached drawing.   I'm thinking that I would cover the bumpout with a shed roof  that would also shelter the entrance porch.

Many thanks,

-Mike

Mike:

I think you are on the right track. I would sketch up a cross section through that roof and a modified elevation or two to see what pitch works best.

You will need to have a beam to span the added bedroom under where the bearing wall was.

You might try the addition shed at the same pitch as the porch (4:12?) and then see how high it climbs up the gable. It shouldn't be much more than the porch roof as it is only a bit wider.

John,

Great stuff, thanks for your insight and encouragement.

-Mike

I've got about a quibble and a half.

Is that second "bath" the real thing or a half-bath--i.e. no bathing facilities at all?   It is a lot smaller--although the bathroom in my trailer is barely 4x6 feet, with that lovely RV "tubette" that means it's fine for young kids to take a semi-real bath but not for adults.

One of my pet peeves is having to go through someone else's bedroom to get to the bathroom.  I don't want to have to do it at someone else's house, I don't want them doing it at mine--in this case, visualize the person in the second bedroom wanting to take a shower before catching a 7 a.m. airplane an hour away.  I'm also not real hot for duplicating--generally right expensive--bathroom fixtures and walls and floors and plumbing unnecessarily.

So, if it's not a full bath, would it be acceptable to make that area into a hall, with three--or even four doors--from the main room, into both bedrooms and the bathroom?  Surely at that size at least one would have to be a curtain or a folding door--those nasty vinyl jobs or one of the bifolds.

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for you thoughts.  The two rooms identified as "bath" are just placeholders for now and one could well turn out to be a closet.   I agree that I wouldn't want to make anyone go through a bedroom to get to the only bath or shower in a house; that's definitely not in the plan.


-Mike