Bathroom Addition Guide

On This Page:

1. Cost to Add a Bathroom
2. Where to Add the Bathroom
3. Plumbing Considerations
4. Is the Addition Worth It?

There can be many reasons why you want to add a bathroom to your house, though this might not be intuitive at first. For example, maybe you’re expecting more children and you already have too many people in your house per bathroom. Perhaps you are having extra guests coming that will need to stay with you for a while. Regardless of your reasoning, an extra bathroom is a useful addition to make to your home and it may even increase its value.

Costs of Adding a Bathroom

The cost for adding a bathroom can vary widely based on a number of factors. The lowest cost is going to be around $3,000. This is a good estimate if you’re taking an area that you already have all marked out that has all the necessary components. If you need to add an entirely new space totally from scratch, the cost will be closer to $25,000.

Of course, very large bathrooms that have a lot of extras can cost many times the maximum, so it’s worth paying attention to what you’re doing while you’re budgeting out the costs. Other examples of costs connected to adding a bathroom include the cost of installing a new tub or shower, which can be around $3,000. Tile averages in at around $1 per foot depending on what you’re actually using for materials. It often costs hundreds of dollars to install a toilet, with the average max somewhere around $500.

Unless you can do the electrical and plumbing yourself, you’re going to need to hire plumbers and electricians, and this rate is often going to be at least $50 an hour. And this isn’t even getting into the potential permit costs and other legal requirements. You definitely need to check with an expert in the area to make sure you’re not stepping on any toes by adding another bathroom.

Where Do You Add the Bathroom?

Here are some possibilities for where you can add the new bathroom:

• Hallways – This especially a good place to add a bathroom if you have one end of a hallway that isn’t used very much. If the end contains at least 30 feet or so, this is plenty of room to make your conversion. It also helps if there’s a window. Hallways can be convenient for this purpose since it’s good to have a bathroom located in a place easily accessible by several other rooms.
• Closets – Converting a closet to a bathroom is a wise idea as long as it’s big enough. If you have multiple closets that adjoin, this can also make it more likely you’ll have enough room. The recommendation is at least 4 feet by 4 feet of combined space.
• Laundry Room – If your laundry room is big enough, converting part of it into a bathroom can make a lot of sense. After all, you’re likely already going to have water and drain hookups necessary for the conversion. You can even switch over to smaller washer/dryer hybrid combinations or stackable appliances to give yourself enough room.
• Bedroom – Everyone likes to have a bathroom directly accessible from their bedroom since it’s so convenient. It’s usually possible to get a couple of feet on one side of a bedroom that’s large enough to make the conversion. A master bedroom bathroom is often particularly attractive to buyers.
• Garage – A first floor garage is convenient for bathroom conversion since it’s often going to be close to the areas you need to connect to anyway. Also, garages often tend to have a lot of excess space due to how they’re built.

Plumbing Considerations

There are a number of things you need to consider in regards to the plumbing part of the exercise. This involves primarily checking to see what the codes are in your particular area. You also need to see if an inspection is required.

This really does vary from state to state and town to town, but if you’re changing around the floor plan at all, you will likely need some type of official permission. This is also the case if you’re going to be messing with the ducts, electrics, or plumbing to any major degree.

You also need to decide how to find the professionals you need to get the work done, especially the plumber. You can look for such a person yourself online generally, or else you can be more specific and head to a local hardware store.

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Is the Addition Worth It?

If you’re looking for a half bathroom or powder room which consists of a shower instead of a bathtub, then you’re going to need a space that’s just a minimum of 3 feet wide and 6 feet long. So, the space you have available will determine this. If you don’t have this much space, and you can’t figure out how you would get it, then you may want to decide against an addition. If you only have enough for a half bath, and all you want is a full with a bathtub, then this is also a reason to decide against the addition. The reason for the space in the half bath is that you should at least be able to put a toilet and a sink in there.

Another important consideration is the amount of value you might add to your house by adding a bathroom. It’s important to note that you’ll get diminishing returns in terms of value if you already have a house that is among the highest in value of any other on your street. The conventional wisdom on this is that you’ll add about a fifth to your house’s value, in general, if you add a full bath.

If you add a half bathroom, then you’ll get about a tenth of the value added on. It’s a good idea to try to use the plumbing already installed in your house whenever you can if you’re going to add a bath because this will ensure you don’t waste funds.

You’d also be well advised to consider insulating against sound in any bathroom you install if you know there will be a bedroom or even just a living room nearby.

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