"Non-Conforming Bedroom?" How About "Not A Bedroom"

Last week I wrote about how bedrooms don't need closets to legally be called bedrooms.  That post got me thinking about this similar but opposite topic.  If a room doesn't have a proper means of egress, why call it a non-conforming bedroom?

I've only heard the term "non-conforming bedroom" applied to bedrooms in the basement that have very small windows that would be tough to get out of.  As I mentioned last week, there are a ton of requirements for bedrooms - ceiling height, natural light, ventilation, heat, electric outlets, etc.  Why not call a bedroom non-conforming if it doesn't have any one of these things?

Another phenomenon I've noticed is that bedrooms only get labeled non-conforming if the windows are really tiny, and the bedroom is in the basement.

What about a basement bedroom with huge windows but tiny window wells that don't allow for proper egress?  Or deep wells without ladders?  Or large basement windows that aren't quite large enough to meet egress requirements?  These never get labeled non-conforming... yet they certainly don't conform.

Another one is bedrooms on the first floor that don't have proper egress windows - just look at about half of the old ramblers in Bloomington and you'll see what I mean.  Some of these windows would be almost impossible for anyone to get out of.  I've never seen these houses listed as "zero-bedroom" houses.

I would love it if the real estate community could figure out exactly what makes a bedroom a bedroom, and be consistent with it.  Stop calling rooms 'non-conforming'.   It just confuses people when I come along and say that none of the bedroom windows are 'conforming'.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Bloomington Home Inspector

Bedrooms Don't Need Closets

Everyone knows that you need a closet in a bedroom to call it a bedroom, right?  While this is a universally accepted standard, good luck finding any type of authority that will back this up.

The funny thing about the ''requirement' to have a closet in a bedroom is that there isn't anything in the International Residential Code (IRC) that requires a closet in the bedroom.  There's also nothing in the Minnesota State Building Code that requires a closet, and there's nothing in the Minneapolis Maintenance Code.  So where does this thought come from?  I'm guessing HUD, FHA or VA require closets... but they're not authorities on the matter.

Minneapolis defines a bedroom as "A habitable room within a dwelling unit which is used, or intended to be used, primarily for the purpose of sleeping, but shall not include any kitchen or dining room." Minneapolis also requires the following for any sleeping room:

• Seven foot ceiling height
• Seventy square feet of floor area, not including any closet area
• A source of natural light (8% of the floor area)
• A source of natural ventilation (4% of the floor area)
• Can not be arranged such that access to a sleeping room can be had only be going through another sleeping room or a bathroom or toilet room.
• Proper Egress - the requirements for this are long and complicated, and depend on when the building was built and when the last windows were installed.

There are a few other requirements, but there's nothing about a closet.

What exactly is a closet anyways?  The IRC defines a closet as "A small room or chamber used for storage."  A chamber is "a natural or artificial enclosed space or cavity".  This means that a 6" box with a door that's installed on the wall could be called a closet.  Ok, maybe that's silly.  How about an armoire or a wardrobe?  I've seen plenty of houses with only wardrobes in the bedrooms, and nobody had a problem calling them bedrooms.

The bottom line is that bedrooms do not need closets to be called bedrooms.  The next time you hear someone tell you that a bedroom needs a closet, ask for proof.

Oh, and don't let common sense get in the way (everyone still needs a place to store their stuff!).

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Home Inspector Saint Paul

ps - Almost everything I blog about deals with topics that I have knowledge about, and I can almost always prove whatever I write.  For this topic, I'm writing about something that I don't have proof of. If anyone reading this blog can find evidence that I'm wrong, please post a comment.