Do Bathroom Count as Rooms?

Do Bathroom Count as Rooms? (Things You Should Know)

A bathroom does not count as a room because it does not meet the requirements a room must possess before being considered a room. That is why listed houses are displayed as either 2 bedrooms flat with 2 toilets or 2 bedrooms flat with 3 toilets.

However, the question, do bathroom count as rooms has been a matter of discussion for days now whereby people are confused about whether the bathroom is counted as rooms.  Since the bathroom is where we take our bath, the question is, does it count as a room?

Do Bathroom Count As Rooms?

No, a bathroom does not count as a room because it does not meet the requirements a space must have before being considered a room such as the ceiling height, entrance, escape, and size, etc. Even if your bathroom is large, it can never be larger than your bedroom. 

Bathrooms are not the only exception; other rooms in the house, such as the laundry room and the closets, are not counted as a room despite how large it may be.

Why is Bathroom Not Counted A Room?

The bathroom is not counted as a room because it does not meet the requirements it is supposed to possess before taken as a room. Bathrooms are usually small. Even if your bathroom is large, it can never be more extensive than your living room or bedroom.

A bathroom is a place we visit when necessary, unlike standard rooms. We enter our rooms all the time, but the only time we visit the bathroom is to pop, urinate, bath, or do one thing or the other that involves the toilet.

Moreover, in the United States, property appraisals do not count any non-living areas in the house as a room. That is why a bathroom is not considered a room.

A room has to be where you live. Not where you enter when necessary. It doesn’t have to be necessary before you can enter your room. If it’s not like that, then the closet would have counted as a room. Yes, despite how large your closet is, anytime you want to list the house, it is not counted as a room because it’s a non-living space. The question now is, what qualifies a room to be called a room?

What Qualifies a Space to be Called a Room?

Many things qualify a space in the house to be called a room. For this article’s sake and a better understanding of the context, let’s use the bedroom as a point of contact. From that, you will understand the difference between them. Meanwhile, their differences are among the things that make one a room and bathroom less a room.

What makes bedrooms room are the:

  • Entrance: Any bedroom must have an entrance, which should be a door and a window.
  • Ceiling Height: The ceiling height of bedrooms should at least be 7 ft tall.
  • Escape: The way a bedroom should have an entrance is how it should have a means of escape. It can also be in the form of a door and a window.
  • Size: The bedroom should at least be 70 sq ft. Bedrooms should not be less than 7 feet in whatever horizontal direction it is.

However, from the requirements above, you will notice that both bathroom and bedroom have almost similar features to a room, but there are certain areas where a bedroom supersedes a bathroom.

In terms of living space, the bathroom is not a living space. The question you should ask yourself is what makes a room a living space? Do you sleep in the bathroom? Seriously, do you sleep in the bathroom? (LOL).

As reiterated earlier, a room must have to be a living space before it considers a room, and bathrooms do not fall into that category because we only visit the bathroom when necessary.

Nevertheless, even though both the bathroom and bedroom have an entrance, escape, and ceiling height. Their sizes are not the same. No matter how big your bathroom is, it can never be larger than your bedroom or the parlor. Except maybe some of the modern rooms we see in some exotic hotels these days. Aside from that, the bedroom is always more extensive than the bathroom.

Every living room in a house has different yet similar feelings it gives. The bedroom gives the resting vibe, the living room or parlor gives that relaxed vibe, while the bathroom gives a refreshing vibe because that is where we go to refreshen up after the daily hustle.

Importance of Bathroom

The fact that the bathroom is not considered a room in a building doesn’t make it less important. As a matter of fact, the bathroom is one of the most crucial parts of a house. If you don’t have a bathroom in this modern world where shower and toilet are installed in the same room, how are you going to manage?

Feces is not something one can hold. No matter how long you hold your feces, it must indeed comes out when it’s due. Besides, holding-in feces inside your body for so long is not good for the body system. Once you get the sign, visit the toilet and free yourself.

  • A bathroom is a place you poop, urinate and wash.
  • A bathroom is a place we take our bath.
  • A bathroom is a place we start and finish each day. The reason is that, before you go out for the day, you must first visit the toilet to do one thing or the other. And after the day’s activities, you also visit the bathroom to do one thing or the other.
  • A bathroom is a place to be free because you are naked, you are not worried about what you are wearing, and you are not worried about anyone seeing you.
  • A bathroom is a perfect place to decompress. Imagine sitting in your bathtub while disconnecting from the world or while you are taking the amazing shower after the day’s activities. Imagine how it feels to disconnect from the world, forget all the worries and sorrows.

Can I Count a Bathroom in My Basement on an Appraisal

Bathrooms in the basement are not counted as rooms when listing a house because the basements are usually not above-grade areas. Above-grade areas are areas above the ground, and since basements do not fall into this category, appraisals are not allowed to count them.

Conclusion

Even if the bathroom is not considered a room, it is still a very important aspect of a building that we cannot do without. The feelings we get any time we enter the bathroom after a long busy day is priceless, and the feelings we get after taking a cool or hot bath is second to none.