I would check and see how much a 4th bedroom is worth in your area. In mine it didn't seem to matter much so previous owners took away part of it and made a laundry room. I'd rather have the laundry. However I still don't know what to do with the remaining 9x11 room that now doesn't have a window. They didn't plan it very well when they did it.

If a 4th bedroom is a must (ie people want it when buying a house) or you loose value by removing it, could you still use the room as is for what you intended. It is always nice to be able to close the door when working or when wanting to watch something on TV and not disturb others.

Yes, we can use the 4th bedroom as office/playing/entertaining; however, since it is a room, it doesn't have the open feel like a loft, and if my 2 yr old is in the room by himself, I can't really hear him, but w/ a loft, it is wide open, and you can easily to see or hear him... We watch HGTV alot and got an idea to use sliding door, so we can close for privacy, and once open, it still has the openess instead of wall and 4 pannel door right now (I have to check w/ the designer to see if it is practical). We also have a murphy bed installed, so if the guest stays over, they can close the sliding door... How can I check if the value of the house decrease by making it a loft? w/ the realtor? Thx.

One of my neighbors is trying to sell their 3 bedroom home with a finished basement.

The major drawback they are getting from comments is, lack of a 4th bedroom.

Just something to think about.

WOuld it be that hard to put the walls back up if/when you go to sell? How long do you plan to be there?

If we do this, we are going to stay there for at least 5 yrs or more, who knows... But since we are going to remodel kitchen/bathroom at the same time, so we of course will stay there for long. In order to make it a loft, I will have to break down one wall only (w/ the door and the electrical outlet/switch). So it will cost money to move the electrical outlet to the other wall. And since it is one wall, I don't think it is that hard to put it up again if the future owner doesn't like a loft, but again, I don't know how much it cost to build a wall, you know... I just don't want to create a mess and regret later... So I would like you opinion. And anyone who has a loft upstair, do you think it is useful? I am afraid that we make a loft, and still go downstair for activities :-(

Yes, I would check with realtors to see what is popular in your area. Could you open the wall up and put bifold doors instead of removing the wall fully. Ie still have some side walls. This would make it easier to return it to a bedroom if anybody wanted to later.

Also have you checked to see if the wall in question can be removed? Is i load bearing or not?

Building a wall is not hard --- we are doing this in my moms house this weekend. You need to find out if its load bearing or not before its removed. My mom also removed a non load bearing wall herself and then we moved the electrical for her. If it was my house, and it would make it more useful and I planned to be there for 5+ years and I knew I could put it back when selling if needed, I would do it. We had a loft in our last house (it was a 1.5 story) and we used it for our office/computer area. I also was in a house that is like what you described -- they had the builder do the 4th bedroom as a loft and used it for an office area and it made the house look so much bigger.

Thanks for the responses. I will find out if the wall is removable. I thought I can be ok w/ the interior designer, but since it involves removing wall, I guess I have to hire an architect huh? I will try my best to make it easy for the future owner if he wants to make it a bedroom again.

You might look into consulting a structural engineer instead of an architect.

Yes, engineer not architect. A structual engineer should be able to look at it and tell you if it is a non load bearing wall. Load bearing ones can be removed but are more difficult as you have to plan for how the load will be carried by another structure, such as a column.

if you don't want to take out the electric you could create a half wall with a wood cap/ledge instead of removing it entirely and leave the outlet there.

In my area, if the bedrooms are a decent size you would always want the 4th bedroom for resale. But if its only one wall it can always be put back easily.