Home Renovation - Master bedroom addition

The owners of Oak Lane wanted to expand their living space. In order to do this, they had to make some major architectural changes. Their decision to add a new master bedroom suite on top of the existing garage, served to expand the first floor, increase square footage and give the main part of the home a new “ranch house look and feel”. But nothing is ever easy… Building that new bedroom above an existing structure demanded changes to that room as well. The garage required reinforcement and additional alterations in order to support the additional room above. To start, we converted the single garage door to a double-door. This allowed for a center steel post as well as another steel beam for placement across the ceiling, providing support for the subfloor above. With the addition of the new living space above the garage, came new fire code requirements, making it necessary to insulate the garage and dry wall. Spray foam was used on the ceiling in order to deliver the tightest seal possible and keep the bedroom airtight. With the master bedroom suite a distance away from the main rooms and systems, a decision was made to add a separate 90% efficient furnace and air-conditioning system specifically for the suite. The walls used 2x6 wall construction for extra insulation. The home owners are able to control the temperature in the bedroom comfortable, while saving on heating and cooling costs in the rest of the house. The roof of the garage was removed to make room for the new walls. The plywood and rafters from the original roof were in excellent condition, and were able to be used again to create the exterior walls, and lift up the sunken 70’s style living room, making the main floor one continuous level space. Once the garage was insulated and structurally sound, we began building out the master bedroom suite. As in every project, something invariably goes wrong… This time – one of the bedroom windows was built in the wrong location. Looks like somebody didn’t follow the blue prints. Whoops! It became a three day set back, but now you can’t tell it was ever in the wrong spot. A reminder to measure twice and cut once – or maybe measure three times! To create the entryway to the master suite, we used the original shower location in the old guest powder room. The bathroom was then reconfigured, and the shower kept for guests to use after swimming. The master suite walk-in closet is a wonderful example of reuse and recycled materials, using both pre-owned and new pieces of do-it-yourself closet units. The unique barn door is a real conversation piece. This sliding barn door was used, instead of a conventional door for easy, space saving access. No swinging door blocking the walkway here! The master bathroom is a nice size with all the necessary luxuries; a shower stall tiled to the ceiling with a built-in bench, rain water shower head, glass sinks, custom dark oak cabinets, whisper quiet fan, and dual-flush toilet. The dual-flush toilet helps save on the water bill. Push one, for liquid waste with .8 gallons a flush. And push two, for solid waste with 1.6 gallons a flush. The new bedroom ceiling created significant changes both inside and out. Inside, a large raised ceiling runs the full length of the bedroom with a smaller raised ceiling in the walk-in closet, both helping to create an expansive and open air feel. Outside, an obvious change to the roof design was done to bring balance to the look of the entire home. This in turn created a need to balance the new addition with a raised ceiling on the porch entrance. The result – a pleasing look and feel with curb appeal. The completed bedroom suite is around 515 square feet, with plenty of room for a king size bed as well as a sunny nook for reading and relaxation.